I n the United States the total soybean production in 1924 was 1.8 million acres harvested. That grew in 1954 to 18.9 million acres, in 1994 61.8 million acres, and 1996 63.4 million acres of soybean harvested. E arly soybean production was concentrated in the eastern and southern United States. In the 1930s oil extraction mills were built in the Midwest and since has been the hub of U.S. soybean production. Iowa and Illinois annually produce one-third of the total U.S. soybean production with Iowa producing the greatest number of bushels in recent years but Illinois having the largest number of acres planted to soybean.
Weather plays an important part on who leads the nation in soybean production.
The top seven producing states in the United States are found in the Midwest from Ohio to Nebraska plus Minnesota and Missouri. That soybean belt produces between 70 and 75 percent of the U.S. production each year.