The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1931-03-05
|SOYBEAN A PAYING
| CROP FOR FARMER
An Oriental Crop Has Been
Turned to Many Advan-
tages by Manufacturers
MINNEAPOLIS MARKET
Minnesota Farmers Would Do
Well to Thoroughly In
vestigate This Crop

In less than ten years the soy
beans, long a standby of the Orient
but rather a newcomer to Amer
lea, has advanced from the posi-
ton of minor crop in this coun-
try, grown only occasionally as a
substitute for clover or some other
crop that failed, to one of major
Importance. 1t is now listed in
production reports with such well
established items as corn, wheat,
tobacco, cotton and potatoes. Lat
est available reports show a years
production of 3,630,OOO bushels of
soybeans in Illinois, almost 100000
bushels for North Carolina, 1,754,-
600 for Indiana, 1,425,000 for Mis-
souri, and 1,254,0O0 for Tennessee.
Hitherto it has been the plant as
whole that has found favor and
that in the rather limited capacity
of forage for farm animals. But
in recent years attention has veer.
ed from the stalk to the seed, with
the resultant production of enor.
nous increases in acreage to meet
the newly created and growing de-
mand for soybeans and their wide
range of products.
For centuries people of the Far
East have looked to soybeans to
supply not only flavor and relish,
but also much of the protein af-
forded by meats in Western diets.
Now their value is beginning to be
recognized here, too, especially on
a basis of food for persons requir-
ing low starch diet. Either
green or dried, boiled or baked, the
beans may be eaten as a vegetable
or made into soup, and especial
varieties have been developed that
are easy to cook. Soybeans are
made into cereal beverages used as
substitute for coffee, into sauce,
into breakfast foods and into meal
and -four, out of which bread,
cakes, pastry, macaroni and crack
ers are made.
Unlike most other legumes, such
as clover and alfalfa, the soybean
is rich in oil. for the extraction of
which number of mills are now
operating in Minneapolis, Chicago,
Peoria, Decatur, ILL.,, Iowa, Kansas
and other mid-western and south
ern states. Some twenty years
ago soybean oil first came into ex-
tensive use in the United States.
Beans were then imported from
Manchuria and crushed here. But
by 1928 soybean production here
had increased enough to meet all
requirements for seed and planting,
leaving supply of native grown
beans for oil extraction. The oil
is used for salads, for cooking and
for making lard and butter substi-
tutes. It also has long list of
industrial applications, soap stock,
celluloid, and rubber substitutes.
The. meal left after the oil has
been extracted is called Soybean
Oil Meal and has particularly prov
ed itself as a heterogeneous feed for
all kinds of livestock, dairy cattle,
beef cattle, swine and poultry. The
average analysis of Soybean Oil
Meals is: Protein 40 to As per cent,
fat Az to 6 per cent, fibre 6 to z
per cent, N. F. E. 81 per cent. The
greatest single feature of Soybean
Oil Meal is the fact that it can be
fed equally well with all classes
of livestock and poultry. The Meal
with the oil extracted makes a
higher protein concentrate with in
creased palatability than the
ground beans themselves.
Soybeans when plowed under
have fertilizing value comparable
with other legumes grown for that
purpose, and it's straw, left from
threshing, is well thought of as a
roughage for wintering dairy cattle
and beef cattle for sheep.
Before any crop can take per-
manent place in the farming
scheme it must prove itself to be
profitable. While the soybean in
dustry is still an infant many
farmers have had sufficient exper-
fence in growing the bean to know
that it can be raised profitably.
Yields per acre run from Is to "a
{.
bushels.
The raising Of soybeans is profit
able from many angles; good
price is paid for beans, they are
hardy, drought-resistant, and not
much subject to disease, or insect
injury. The beneficial effect on
the crop-producing power Of the
soil is much the same as that of
clover. When properly inoculated
with it's nitrogen fixing bacteria.
soybeans collect nitrogen from the
air and enrich the soil in this ele-
ment In addition, it has a dis
tinctly mellowing effect upon heavy
soils. Soybeans can be fitted into
any crop rotation, they fit in well
The Agricultural Experiment Sta
ton. Purdue University, Lafayette,
Indiana report wheat following
soybeans in three different rota-
lions during period of seven years
has averaged 81 bushel per acre
more! than wheat following corn
with otherwise similar treatment.
Others report substantial increases
as well as higher grades.
Summing the situation up, the
coybean holds forth great posi-
bilities for the farmer. Those close
to the industry say the bean will
take an important place shortly on
Northwest farms. The soybean
not only is cash crop but is a
valuable hay crop, and improves