Soy Australia eyes doubled soybean production by 2033

Australia’s soybean industry is out to double its production in the next decade through increased plantings and improved agronomy. As a net importer of soybean meal and soy isolates, peak industry body Soy Australia sees a bigger national crop as being a plus for businesses making stockfeed and products for human-consumption. It also sees soybeans as having an expanded role to play in rotation with crops including sugarcane, cotton and maize, and it has engaged its first ever soybean industry development officer, Judy Plath, to facilitate the growth. According to ABARES, Australia is growing 21,000ha of soybeans over this summer which is expected to yield 40,000 tonnes. The figure is well down from 1998-99 and the following year, when more than 100,000t was grown over around 50,000ha, but the crop remains an important one for some growers from the Riverina in southern NSW to Far North Qld. Qld’s soybean area has fallen from what is believed to be a record 32,900ha in 1989-90 to ...