Farm Bill Summary

2000 Soy Stats

	Welcome
	Introduction
	Table of Contents
	The Miracle Crop
	Composition of a Soybean
	Soybeans' Many Uses
	Government Program Costs
	Farm Bill Summary
	State Soy Board Offices
	ASA International Offices
	U.S. Soy Statistics
	State Soy Statistics
	Consumption & Exports
	World Statistics

The SoyMark trademark serves as a guide to the wholesome goodness of SOYOIL. The SoyMark symbol assures that the foods on which it is displayed are prepared with a blend of low saturated fats that are at least 80% SOYOIL.

The SoySeal trademark is used to easily identify industrial products made with SOYOIL. When you see this red, white and blue oil droplet, you know the product uses SOYOIL... a renewable, U.S. grown product.

WELCOME TO SOY STATS

Farm Bill Summary

The Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996 has substantially benefited U.S. soybean producers in competing for domestic acres and foreign markets. The "Freedom to Farm" concept eliminates government's role in managing production of major crops, making programs and policies that promote U.S. agricultural exports and enforcement of foreign trade agreements essential to the future viability of U.S. agriculture.

The FAIR Act established nonrecourse marketing loans for crop years 1996 through 2002. Rather than being frozen at $4.92/bushel, ($180.76/MT), the national average soybean loan will be set at 85% of average prices received by farmers in the previous five years, disregarding the high and low years. This has improved the safety net for soybean growers. The soybean loan will have a floor of $4.92/bushel ($180.76/MT) -- the rate for 1995 -- and a cap of $5.26/bushel ($193.25/MT). The average loan rate established for 1996 crop soybeans of $4.97/bushel ($182.60/MT) increased to the $5.26/bushel (193.25/MT) cap for the 1997 crop.

Under marketing loans, producers have the option to repay at the loan rate, plus interest, or at a level the Secretary determines will;

minimize potential loan forfeitures;
minimize the accumulation of stocks of the commodities by the Federal Government;
minimize the cost incurred by the Federal Government in storing the commodities; and
allow the commodities produced in the U.S. to be marketed freely and competitively, both at home and abroad.

The planting flexibility provision of the FAIR Act allows any crop to be grown on contract acreage except for fruits and vegetables. There are no restrictions on haying and grazing of contract acreage, allowing alfalfa and other forage crops to be grown on contract acreage without loss of payments.

The conservation provisions of the FAIR Act reflect a common sense balance between producer land use interests and protection of natural resources and wildlife. Major conservation issues addressed include reauthorization of the Conservation Reserve Program (CPR), expansion of the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), much-needed changes in conservation compliance and wetland regulations, and the creation of the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) to cost-share producer conservation, water quality, and waste management efforts.