Where will U.S. farmers export their soybeans?

December 11, 2025 | Kriss Nelson

During an Agri-Pulse webinar, United Soybean Board (USB) farmer-leaders discussed emerging export markets and global soy demand. They outlined USB’s work to strengthen collaboration with export partners including the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the U.S. Meat Export Federation, the World Initiative for Soy and Human Health (WISHH) and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC). These Soy Checkoff leaders highlighted the growing global appetite for meat, poultry, eggs and aquaculture that drives soybean meal use.

Farmer-leaders feel the broader outlook for U.S. soy remains strong.

Tony Mellenthin, USB Director and Export Work Group Lead from Wisconsin, pointed to one recent investment that stands out.

“We were able to, through the checkoff, fund the research, analysis and design of a project in the Port of Houston. That project will help optimize and make soybean meal exports more efficient. That is something that I really like to see. It gives us an opportunity to utilize more of the soybeans in our country, capture more of that value in our country through that crushing process and then exporting the meal.”

Read More About That Investment

 

Mellenthin explained that USB identified key investments that could improve U.S. export competitiveness.

“From the checkoff side, we were able to identify and fund the research and analysis on investments that would improve our competitiveness in exporting,” he says. “One area we wanted to look at was not just exporting whole soybeans, but we are also looking at exporting soybean meal. As we increase our crush capacity domestically, we will have more soybean meal than we can feed here at home. We must export it.”

Having that capacity on the Gulf brings advantages.

“One great thing about this port, with it still being on the Gulf and having that competitiveness as far as being part of export, is it is also heavily reliant on rail. So if we are having issues with the Mississippi River with water levels, that is a port that could take rail shipments of soybean meal and export it via the Gulf.”

Rail also allows the United States to swing exports toward the Pacific Northwest when needed.

“We also have the Port of Grays Harbor in the northwest. You can send rail shipments up that way and that can feed a lot of Asian countries. That market is more competitive, where we are seeing a lot of growth in soybean meal consumption or demand from the United States.”

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Laurie Isley, a Michigan farmer who serves on the USB board and the WISHH Committee, says  her work with WISHH opens a window into places where soy is just beginning to find its footing.

“We think of those that perhaps do not normally come up when you are talking trade talks or any kind of trade markets,” she says. “But the goal is to increase the utilization of U.S. soy in those emerging and developing markets in both feed and in food.”

WISHH is active in 30 markets, including sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. Many of these regions face growing concerns about food security and nutritional needs. Isley said that is what makes this work meaningful.

How livestock exports bring value back to the soybean farmer

Soy exports are not limited to grain and meal. They also move through the world as pork, beef, poultry and aquaculture. Jim Douglas, an Indiana soybean, corn and pork producer serves on USB and is a former USMEF executive committee member.

He has watched pork exports grow steadily – an industry that relies heavily on soy.

“Over 14 years, pork exports have increased quite dramatically and steady. That is a good story right there,” he says.

Douglas noted that export value per head has risen sharply over time, adding meaningful value for farmers.
“It has added tremendously to the value back to the farmer,” he says, adding none of it happens without soybean meal.

“It takes soybean meal to raise all these meat proteins, poultry being the biggest consumer with pork being second,” he says.

Market news has looked bleak, but there is more to the story

Most headlines this fall focused on light U.S. soybean export numbers, especially to China. During the conversation, farmer-leaders explained there are still reasons for optimism.

“One important thing to note is USB and its export partners have a presence in approximately 90 countries. We have had the opportunity to get into markets that maybe focus more on price than on the value of soybeans,” he says. “We are able to enter into those more price-sensitive markets and really showcase the value of U.S. soy over soy of other origins.”

“Our top importing countries have a lot of successes,” Douglas added. “Yes, China is number one. They account for a large percentage of the global soybean trade. But we have really close ties with other countries, the European Union, Mexico.”

In fact, U.S. Soy exports are up more than 30%, excluding China, on a marketing year-to-year comparison in volume.

One country worth pointing out is Pakistan.

USSEC and Pakistan Poultry Association signed a memorandum of understanding as the first step in laying the foundation for collective growth between the two entities. U.S. Soy and Pakistan have been in partnership for more than 25 years, and USSEC has provided various capacity-building and knowledge sharing programs.

“That is one where we were exporting a fair amount of soybeans,” says Mellenthin. “Then a few years ago, a GM ban occurred in that country and essentially screeched that to a halt. We were able to work with Pakistan and the powers that be and able to essentially lift that. So we have been able to start exporting soybeans back into Pakistan.”

Quality is part of the reason.

“In August, I was at an event talking to a delegation from Pakistan. They were saying that because of the quality premium that U.S. beans have over Brazilian soybeans, they were equating that to a fifteen to twenty dollar per metric ton value. That is something we want to keep going,” says Mellenthin.

Other developments include a letter of intent with Bangladesh’s soy processing industry and soybean meal importers to purchase over $1.25 billion of U.S. Soy and steady work reducing regulatory or phytosanitary hurdles in multiple countries. USSEC’s efforts in Bangladesh have centered on knowledge and technology transfer initiatives such as the Soy Excellence Center, the In-pond Raceway System (IPRS), and the International Aquaculture Feed Formulation Database (IAFFD).

Aquaculture and the next frontier for soy

 

There is a growing focus on the role of soy in aquaculture and WISHH’s work in early-stage markets sets the foundation.

“These are developing countries or emerging markets. In many cases, WISHH goes into these countries where there is very little understanding about what soybeans are,” she says. “They are starting at a very basic level trying to build their understanding.”

The organization has shifted its focus from human food to work that also includes aquaculture and poultry.

“Developing aquaculture is an incredibly fast-growing field worldwide. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations projects that we will have 119 million tons of aquaculture in the next 10 years,” says Isley. “That is a 20-million-ton increase in a decade. By the end of the century, they expect 65 percent of our global food will be coming from aquaculture, particularly in the protein realm.”

Isley says WISHH helps countries build technical skills and adopt technologies that allow them to use soy effectively and efficiently in aquaculture. In Latin America, WISHH has supported food manufacturers developing innovative soy-based products that meet shifting consumer preferences for nutritious and affordable protein. In sub-Saharan Africa, WISHH is strengthening aquaculture and poultry industries through training and technical assistance. Trials there compare U.S.-grown soy with other sources to showcase nutritional advantages.

Central Asia is one of WISHH’s newest areas of engagement, building on a Trans-Caspian strategy designed to expand U.S. soy value chains along the historic Silk Road. Uzbekistan recently signed a memorandum of understanding with WISHH to collaborate on soy-based feed and food development.

Is China tapped out or still growing?

There has been a lot of talk about China’s slowing purchases. The question is whether demand has peaked.

Mellenthin says no.

“A lot of the narrative around China is that it is a mature market, and in many ways it is. But it is also a growth market,” he says. “In the next decade, that is where the greatest growth in soybean demand globally will still occur. It is important that we remain present and export our soybeans to the world’s largest soybean market.”

Douglas added that the rise of China’s middle class continues to shape demand.

“The emergence of the middle class in China has tremendous purchasing power. When you visit those countries, it is a tale of two different worlds if you are a rural person compared to the people that live in the city,” says Douglas. “There is a huge difference in the socioeconomic level. It is just going to increase. There is really good potential there.”

Mellenthin says the rise of the middle class is the real demand driver in China.

“That is who demands protein,” says Mellenthin. “And that is essentially what soybeans are. It is a protein source, whether that is for direct human consumption or in livestock rations.”

The industry can’t forget about the relations it’s established with people in China, Douglas says.

“These organizations facilitate that. They put us there and we are in contact. You have first name basis with people. I got a couple calls about the moisture of beans from international people that I know,” says Douglas. “That kind of thing will help propel this in the years forward.”

Beyond China and into emerging regions

WISHH and USSEC work to tackle trade barriers, with USSEC leading market access issues on behalf of U.S. Soy in all markets.

Isley said the challenges often begin at the ground level in the developing and emerging-market countries WISHH serves.
“Infrastructure is often a big issue for these countries. Access to finance is another area where their businesses struggle. WISHH has done quite a bit to mitigate those by working with partners to train them on how to pitch to investors,” she says. “They brought companies from several countries across Africa to the Africa Food System Forum. They held pitch sessions and secured investment opportunities to expand their business, hoping they will use that financing and improvements in infrastructure to increase their use of U.S. soy.”

Mellenthin said the list of ongoing issues is long and always evolving. Recent examples include Turkey, where GMO issues were the barrier, Vietnam with phytosanitary challenges, and South Africa and Bangladesh.

 He also pointed to new opportunities tied to sustainability indicators.

The U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP), a certified, aggregate approach audited by third parties that verifies sustainable soybean production at a national scale, helps meet international customers’ demand for sustainably sourced soy ingredients. When international customers purchase U.S. Soy shipments that have SSAP certificates, they become eligible to use the “Sustainable U.S. Soy” and “Fed with Sustainable U.S. Soy” labels. According to USSEC, these labels are used by 148 companies in 22 countries and appear on 1,203 products. For background, the “Fed with Sustainable U.S. Soy” label can be used on products like pork, poultry and shrimp, where at least 60% of the soy in the feed ration was sustainable U.S. Soy, as verified with SSAP certificates.

“Something I find particularly interesting is our differentiation in the European market based on how we grow our soybeans, our carbon footprint and our sustainability,” says Mellenthin. “That is a story we can really drive home. Maybe there is not a whole lot of demand growth in the quantity of soybeans imported, but we can increase our market share by differentiating ourselves based on that metric.”

Written by Kriss Nelson

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