Transportation and Handling Factors in Relation to Quality in Exporting Soybeans

Excerpts from the report: Soybeans are the most important agricultural export cash crop in the United States. Their use is widespread in animal feeds, human foods, and industrial applications. As the world population continues to grow and animal protein becomes increasingly scarce, soybeans will likely play a vital role in supplying a larger share of the protein needs of the world. Losses in quality of soybeans are largely the result of modern harvesting, transport, storage, and handling methods. It is estimated that soybeans are augured, dumped, and otherwise handled from 15 to 20 times between the farm and delivery to the final foreign customer. This often results in quality deterioration and breakage that seriously concerns both the overseas and the domestic buyers. The research reported here is part of a broader project to find ways of reducing transport, handling, and storage costs and quality losses for shipments of U.S. soybeans to both foreign and domestic markets. Its objectives are to identify and measure the types and extent of physical damage and quality losses, and to assess the feasibility in introducing alternative methods. These objectives are being implemented by documenting quality differences between origin and destination, studying ways for reducing physical and quality losses during handling and transport, and developing alternative handling and transport methods in order to minimize these losses.