U.S. soybean meal has had a steady hand on the wheel of demand for many years, with oil riding shotgun. But it’s a new day — oil’s in the driver’s seat, offering new routes to farmers.

Demand for soybean oil is on the rise; it’s a popular input for a wide variety of products. According to the USDA Production, Supply and Distribution database in February, soybean oil demand has grown even within the past year. During the last marketing year, 9% of U.S. soybean oil was exported, 54% was used for food, feed and other industrial uses and 37% went to biofuels. Compare that to this marketing year, with a dip in exports to 5% and a bump in domestic demand for use in biofuels to 42%.

The global soybean crop keeps shrinking, led by a massive decrease in South America. Last summer, USDA was expecting the combined 2021/22 soybean crop in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay to be a record.

The United Soybean Board (USB) released results of a new survey, highlighting consumer perceptions of U.S. soybeans, soybean farmers and the U.S. food supply chain. According to the survey, consumer support of domestic agriculture has only grown stronger, with 78% of consumers – an 8% increase since the last survey in December 2020 – saying it’s important to purchase U.S.-grown food, including soybeans.

For weed control in soybeans, especially for grasses, you need a back-up plan to your back-up plan this season, says Jared Greuel, founder of Greuel Farm Services, based in east-central Illinois

“There are too many foundational products that just aren’t available for whatever reason,” he says. “People are going to have to expand their comfort zone to figure out what they can use. Whether we like it or not, or want to do it or not, it’s just the situation we face.”