Three CEOs, one goal: Building soybean demand
November 5, 2026 | Kriss Nelson
For soybean farmers facing tight margins and rising production costs, finding new markets for their crop is only part of the challenge. Strengthening existing demand, improving prices and keeping U.S. soybeans competitive are equally important.
Those priorities were central to a recent Agri-Pulse webinar featuring the leaders of three national soybean organizations. Courtney Knupp, CEO of the United Soybean Board; Steve Censky, CEO of the American Soybean Association; and Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council, discussed the issues and challenges facing the soybean industry.
While their organizations have different responsibilities, all three emphasized the importance of expanding demand and improving profitability for soybean farmers.
Farm profitability
Even as demand continues to grow, rising production costs remain one of the most pressing issues facing soybean farmers.
“That's probably the number one issue that we hear,” Censky says, referring to the cost-price squeeze.
ASA has been working with other agricultural organizations to seek tariff exemptions for fertilizer, seed, crop protection products, machinery and equipment parts.
Censky says the association has seen progress on fertilizer and some seed exemptions, but work continues on crop protection products and machinery.
ASA, working with the National Corn Growers Association, successfully pushed for the Trump administration to suspend countervailing and antidumping duties on phosphate fertilizers. He says a sunset review is underway to determine whether those duties should be permanently eliminated.
Censky identified two policy priorities that should have the greatest effect on farmer profitability: trade and biofuels.
Trade remains critical
Censky pointed to the importance of maintaining access to China, the world's largest soybean importer, while protecting trade relationships with other major customers.
Mexico is the second-largest market for U.S. soybeans, while Canada ranks fourth for U.S. soybean meal, Censky says. He emphasized the importance of maintaining the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to provide trade stability.
“We need to have that stability in trade,” Censky says.
For Sutter, expanding access to additional markets is essential to reducing reliance on any single customer.
“We don't want to have too many eggs in any one basket,” Sutter says.
USSEC works with USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service and other government partners to help implement trade agreements and ensure their benefits reach U.S. soybean farmers.
USSEC also focuses on markets where customers recognize and value the quality of U.S. soybeans, Sutter says.
Egypt is one example. Over the past decade, the country has become a strong customer for U.S. soybeans, processing them into meal for poultry and fish feed and oil for domestic use.
“They have a strong preference for U.S. soy because of the quality of the bean we produce,” Sutter says.
USSEC is now exploring ways to build similar demand in neighboring Algeria.
Southeast Asia also offers opportunities for expanding U.S. soybean meal exports. The Philippines is the leading export market for U.S. soybean meal, and demand for meal is continuing to grow in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The European Union, the world’s largest soybean meal importer, could become an increasingly important market as U.S. processing capacity expands.
Market development also involves building relationships with future buyers. Sutter says USSEC's Soy Excellence Centers trained 25,000 people last year alone in poultry, swine and dairy nutrition, aquaculture production, feed milling and soy foods.
Supported by soybean checkoff investments and USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, the program focuses on early-career professionals who could become future buyers of U.S. soybeans and soybean meal.
“It's really getting the future leaders of these companies and people that'll be the buyers of U.S. soy around the world 10 years from now,” Sutter says.
More crush, more demand
Growing demand for soybean oil in biofuels has helped support a significant expansion in U.S. soybean processing capacity.
Censky says domestic soybean crushing capacity has increased more than 25% over the past five years, an expansion he attributes to policies supporting biofuel production.
That growth has implications for soybean farmers, particularly when new processing facilities increase competition for locally produced soybeans.
“When you have a new crush plant that goes in or expanded crush, that improves the basis for soybean farmers,” Censky says.
Additional processing capacity increases competition for soybeans between export and domestic markets, helping to strengthen prices and improve basis levels.
But processing more soybeans also means producing more soybean meal, creating a need for additional customers who prefer U.S. soybean meal.
Sutter says U.S. soybean meal exports historically averaged about 12 million metric tons annually. He points to an earlier industry projection that exports could double to 24 million metric tons over a 10-year period, driven in part by expanding domestic processing capacity.
Knupp, an Iowa native, sees opportunities for soybean meal beyond poultry, swine and aquaculture, particularly in dairy cattle rations and, to a lesser extent, beef production.
She says continued research into the nutritional advantages of U.S. soybean meal will help demonstrate its value to livestock producers in domestic and international markets. Those advantages extend beyond crude protein content.
Expanded soybean processing
Censky points to research commissioned by USB showing how increased soybean oil demand for biofuels can benefit livestock producers and consumers. As more soybeans are processed for oil, additional soybean meal enters the feed market. Increased meal supplies can help lower prices for meat, milk and eggs, the research found.
He says ASA has used those findings to demonstrate to policymakers that expanding soybean-based biofuels does not necessarily drive up food costs.
Maintaining policies that support domestic soybean oil demand remains another priority, Censky says.
ASA continues pushing for increased renewable volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard while working to ensure small refinery exemptions do not undermine those requirements.
He says policies supporting domestic biofuel production have helped strengthen soybean prices.
The industry is also exploring new markets for soybean-based fuels in other transportation sectors. Although sustainable aviation fuel faces economic and policy challenges, Censky sees potential for marine fuels if regulations support crop-based biofuels.
Turning research into demand
For Knupp, building demand requires more than identifying promising uses for soybeans. Research investments must eventually translate into commercial opportunities.
USB is emphasizing partnerships with manufacturers, customers and other organizations to move new products into the marketplace.
“The measure of success is not the research report sitting on a shelf,” Knupp says. “It's really whether that research leads to a customer buying more U.S. soybeans.”
Those markets include biofuels, industrial products and new uses for soybean oil, alongside established food and feed markets.
Knupp says the soybean checkoff can help reduce early-stage risks by supporting foundational research and market development. Industry partners then provide the manufacturing capabilities, distribution networks, customers and capital needed to bring innovations to market.
The goal, she says, is to use checkoff investments to attract additional private funding rather than permanently subsidize projects.
That approach reflects a broader emphasis on developing multiple markets and uses for U.S. soybeans rather than relying heavily on a single source of demand.
“Dependence truly creates vulnerability,” Knupp says.
Diversifying markets and uses, she says, is about more than increasing sales. It also helps build a more resilient soybean industry by strengthening existing markets and opening doors to new ones.
Written by Kriss Nelson.
Back