A new study shows that the soybean industry has a huge financial impact on the US economy.
Soy Checkoff produced the 33-page report in collaboration with the National Oilseeds Processors Association. They found that the soy industry contributes an average of $124 billion each year, including about $86 billion from soy production and less than $10 billion from soy processing.
The total wage impact averaged $10 billion. The United Soybean Board says it’s not just the money, but soy helps create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
“As a farmer, sometimes we get caught up in our daily routine and don’t think about the bigger picture, and this study by USB and CRUSH Department showed us some great results and some eye-opening contributions the soy sector makes to the national economy. $124 billion per year. That’s a big, big number. We have a lot of jobs falling into that economy, with 223,000 full-time paid jobs. So, those are really big, big numbers and will emphasize the importance of the soybean sector,” said Ed Lammers.
Lammers says studies like this help show the importance of what other farmers do every day, and he says soybeans are now used in more than 1,000 products.
