The growth of the American ‘soybean complex’

Since the Second World War, soybeans have become the most important world source of edible oil and protein. This article deals with the reasons for and the policies which have favoured the expansion of soybean production in the United States of America and its growth in world trade. In the U.S.A., the expansion of soybean production began in the ‘overproduction’ crisis of the early twenties arising from the shrinking of foreign markets, rapid strides in mechanization which made millions of acres devoted to the production of feed crops for draft animals redundant, and the spread of high-yielding hybrid corn. Confronted with idle acres and falling incomes, farmers sought a new crop to develop and promptly united with large industrial firms in successfully persuading the U.S. government to erect a high tariff wall against imported tropical oil seeds. With the rapid development of the soybean processing industry, abundant supplies of high protein meal were available, which, thanks to the considerable research effort directed to increasing the uses of soybean, resulted in a rapid transition to an ‘animal agriculture’ using large quantities of cereals and meal. This provided a solution to the overproduction crisis and allowed agribusiness to achieve a high rate of development and capital accumulation in the postwar period. With the dominant economic and political position of the U.S.A. after the War, the American model of livestock production was adopted throughout the Western World, displacing other tropical oil seeds which had been developed by the colonial powers. The U.S. soybean complex benefited from the massive government help which financed the huge surplus oil disposal programmes through foreign aid and sought to maintain a delicate balance between the oil and meal markets. The main feature of the Common Agricultural Policy can be best described as a compromise, very favourable to U.S. agricultural interests, despite claims to the contrary, whereby Europe would retain its cereal production but freely import soybean and meal. American firms were allowed to develop the technology and organizational structure in Europe which they had already implemented in the U.S.A., thus favouring the expansion of outlets for European cereal production. It seems now that the soybean complex is turning its attention to a strategy for the direct use of soy protein in food for human consumption. The new sophisticated markets of the food industry and institutional feeding are at risk and governments are reacting by the application of obscure sanitary or health legislation.