Federal government figures show U.S. soy continues to be in strong demand among international customers. Buyers outside of the U.S. purchased 1.5 billion bushels of whole U.S. soybeans in the latest marketing year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That makes U.S. soy one of the largest agricultural exports. And U.S. agriculture continues to lead all economic sectors with a positive balance of trade.

“Increasing demand for U.S. soy abroad has been the cornerstone of the soybean-checkoff-funded marketing efforts for the past 20 years,” says Jim Call, a soybean farmer from Madison, MN. Call also chairs the United Soybean Board (USB) International Marketing program. “We focus not just on China, but on increasing sales in other international markets, as well.”

“The soybean checkoff helps fund market-building activities like hosting international buying teams and conducting poultry and livestock feeding demonstrations abroad that prove the advantages of using U.S. soy,” Call says.

Additional key soybean export figures for the 2010/2011 marketing year: 

Soy users in China weighed in as the top international customers of whole U.S. soybeans buying 895 million bushels, up from 825 million bushels during the 2010-2011 marketing year. Other top importing markets for whole U.S. soybeans in the last marketing year include the following:

The soybean checkoff funds international marketing efforts in more than 80 countries worldwide. These include market development, communications and education.