By Jan Suszkiw March 28, 2007 Saponins natural compounds found in soybeans and a wide variety of plants are typically used as foaming agents in shampoos and cleaning products. Now, a new method for extracting saponins could shed new light on their health-promoting potential in both whole soybeans and processed soy foods. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) chemist Mark Berhow spearheaded the method's development as part of his collaboration with other research labs to ascertain the...

Barring bad weather, that's good news for everyone from grocery shoppers to ethanol producers and hog farmers, because the big crop would help moderate prices for corn and food. Nelson and his two brothers will plant about 70 percent of their acreage to corn this year, up from 63 percent last year, he said. Schaaf has been planting equal amounts of corn and soybeans for years, but intends to increase his corn acreage by 10 percent this spring. Critics, from meatpackers to...

But we have noticed some recent price trends that have piqued our curiosity and led us to wonder what will happen to soybean and wheat acreage in the coming years. Usually we are content to leave crop price comparisons to extension economists and the marketing services because they are on top of the technical issues on a day-to-day basis. Based on the historic multiples, we would not be surprised to see even more corn acres and fewer soybean and wheat acres than currently expected. At the...

They've been shifting their planting scheme to plant 75 to 85 percent corn while cutting back sharply on their soybean acreage. since 1944," the Farm Bureau reported, noting, "The increase in corn acres came largely at the expense of soybean acres. While switch grass and wood chips and other sources of organic materials theoretically could feed the ethanol plants, right now the plants have an appetite for corn - voracious supplies of corn. In line with Friday's USDA report, Farmer allowed...

But much of the increase is coming out of soybeans, also a critical crop for us. The council has estimated that a total of 21 million new acres of corn will be needed in 2007 and 2008, given the rapidly growing demand for corn from the ethanol industry. The rapid increase in input costs has already shown up in wholesale prices for poultry and will undoubtedly be passed on to consumers, sooner rather than later. That industry has 114 plants in operation, seven being expanded, and 80 under...