Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: soybean field to table

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Martin Heller <mcheller AT umich.edu>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: soybean field to table
  • Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 10:52:48 -0500


I don't have a good answer as to where exactly soybean crushing is done, but I can relate some numbers on the consolidation in this market (data reported are from Dr. William Heffernan, "Consolidation in the Food and Agriculture System", online at http://foodcircles.missouri.edu/pub.htm)

Soybean crushing 4 firm concentration ratio - 80% (this means that the top 4 firms control 80% of the market. The sometimes reported "rule of thumb" here is if the top 4 firms control more than 40%, non-competitive market behavior begins to emerge)

TOP 4 FIRMS, the number of plants they run, and the number of States they are located in:

FIRM # PLANTS # STATES
1. ADM 19 12
2. Cargill 16 12
3. Bunge 8 5
4. AGP 6 3

So there are less than 50 soybean crushing plants across the country processing some 80% of the 2.76 billion bushels (165 billion pounds) of soybeans grown in the US. I don't know how the distribution works out geographically, but I would venture to say it's pretty consolidated.

-Marty
Center for Sustainable Systems, Univ. of Michigan

--On Thursday, January 25, 2001 9:27 AM -0500 Janet Graham <janet.graham AT de.usda.gov> wrote:


Hi,
Simple questions can have a way of expanding one's thinking. In a
conversation with a soap maker, they asked about the process of a soybean
being harvested from the field and the process it takes to end up as oil,
and in products. This made me think about sustainability with regards to
the current process of agricultural crops and the overall picture of the
systems. I realized I had certain responses but felt it would be
interesting to open the discussion up to others. They would like to
purchase soybean oil straight from the processing plant if possible, and
wondered if the processing to extract the oil was done locally where the
soybeans are grown, or if they are shipped elsewhere. This question is on
the Eastern Shore, DelMarVa pennisula of the Chesapeake Bay area. What is
the current process for soybeans into oil- is it done locally in general
or is it shipped away and then oil shipped back via finished products?
Answers from around the country would be interesting. -Janet


---
You are currently subscribed to market-farming as: hellerm AT iname.com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu Get the list FAQ at:
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/market-farming.faq



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Martin Heller
Research Fellow
Center for Sustainable Systems
School of Natural Resources and Environment
University of Michigan
Dana Building
430 E. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1115
(734) 936-2637

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We're losing our sense of meaning in food. It's something to be consumed
and little more. Joy is lost when we simply equate value with cost. We
complain about tasteless fruit, but we want it to be inexpensive and
cosmetically clean. The produce department remains of the few parts
of the marketplace where choices are impacted by a few pennies.
We support the cheapest product and gamble on satisfaction.

We've detached ourselves from our food; it is no longer personal. We want
our meals faster and easier; our goal is to spend little time eating. We
promote convenience and speed, equating it with quality and value.
We are willing to spend billions on diets, nutritional supplements and
exercise gyms instead of simply eating right. We've managed to overlook
the notion `you are what you eat' and reclassify it as old-fashioned
thinking. Food is not a player in our information age."

--- Mas Masumoto, California family farmer, USA Today, December 9, 1992
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page