U.S. Soybean Production Expands Since 2002 as Farmers Adopt New Practices, Technologies

U.S. soybean production accounted for more than 30 percent of the world supply in recent years. In most years, U.S. soybeans—a key source of livestock feed and an export crop—come in second in planted acreage behind corn. Since 2002, U.S. acreage planted to soybeans has increased 18 percent, growing at an average rate of about 1 percent a year. As production practices have changed, soybean yields have increased 30 percent. A USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) report published in June 2023 set out to identify and examine the drivers of those changes. Using nationally representative data from the 2002, 2006, 2012, and 2018 Agricultural Resource Management Surveys (ARMS) produced by ERS and USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), researchers tracked changes in soybean production practices over time.