united states department of agriculture www ers usda gov electronic outlook report from the economic research service ocs 2006 01 april soybean backgrounder abstract us plantings peaked at 75 2 million acres in 2004 pushing output and use to record levels future increases acreage production however could be limited by competition for area other crops possible constraints on yield growth changing rotations new diseases increasing foreign share global product exports has steadily diminished due phenomenal particularly brazil argentina development nontraditional uses such as biodiesel demand food provide some support sector least three quarters all producing farms had farm operations that were considered profitable since 2002 government payments have been relatively small consisting primarily fixed direct domestic market conditions federal budget deficits multilateral trade negotiations will important considerations legislation keywords soybeans supply policy agreements income expenses acknowledgments authors thank
