Research from the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Explores the Economic and Environmental Sustainability of U.S. Soybean Production

Farmers live off the land, and so they take their environmental stewardship very seriously. U.S. soybean farmers seek to practice sustainable farming methods that will allow them to meet the needs of the present while also enabling future generations to do the same.  Sustainability practices include:

1. Adopting technology and best practices that increase productivity to meet future needs while being stewards of the environment,
2. Improving human health through access to safe, nutritious food, and
3. Enhancing the social and economic well being of agriculture and its communities.

To assess the sustainability of U.S. soybean production, particularly on environmental and economic scores, the United Soybean Board (USB) commissioned the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) to conduct an extensive literature review.  CAST published their report in their Special Publication 30 by a task force led by Dr. Larry G. Heatherly in April 2009.

Key Findings
The overriding conclusion of the CAST report is that all three of the major soybean production systems (conventional, biotech and organic) are environmentally sustainable and can be managed for profit, assuming that appropriate market rewards exist for each system. 

The primary environmental benefit of sustainable farming is the rise of conservation tillage. Today, biotechnology-derived crops have enabled farmers to almost completely eliminate the need for plowing on their fields.  Benefits of conservation tillage include soil preservation, reduced CO₂ emissions, water contamination reduction and reduced herbicide run-off.

The Rise of Conservation Tillage
The CAST report determined that over 92 percent of U.S. soybean acres are planted with soybean varieties developed through agricultural biotechnology. Biotech soybean acreage is estimated to have increased by approximately 11 million acres from 2003 (58.58 million acres) to 2009 (69.658 million acres).  These currently commercialized biotechnology-derived crops yield environmental benefits, primarily by supporting conservation tillage, or “no-till farming,” on more fields than previously implemented.

“No-till" farming was feasible on a limited number of farmland soil types and in a limited number of U.S. latitudes prior to the arrival of biotech crops. Today, widespread adoption of no-till farming has been made possible by the advances in agricultural biotechnology. 

Dr. Rich Joost, USB’s Director of Production Research and Member of the CAST Board of Directors, added, “From 1996 to 2002, conservation tillage increased by 35 percent, for use on over 65 percent of U.S. soybean acres. Given the increase in biotech soybean plantings since 2003, it is reasonable to infer that conservation tillage has increased dramatically over the past seven years as well."

The benefits of conservation tillage include:
• 93 percent decrease in soil erosion
• Preservation of one billion tons of top soil
• Annual soil moisture evaporation loss reduction of 5.9 inches
• 31 percent decreased wind erosion
• 80 percent reduction in phosphorus contamination of surface waters
• 70 percent reduction in herbicide run-off
• 326 million pounds reduction in CO₂ emissions
• Greater than 50 percent reductions in fuel use

Conservation tillage is both economically and environmentally sustainable for U.S. soybean production.

Feeding the World
An estimated 800 million people around the world suffer from chronic food shortages, and millions more could go hungry due to the current and future food crises.  To address these needs, the United Nations has called for a 50 percent increase in food production by 2030. 
 
High-yield soybean crops can help feed a growing world population with high-quality protein. Using biotechnology-derived soybean varieties also results in improved weed control and better weed management efficiency. Plants that resist pests and diseases, tolerate harsh growing conditions and reduce spoilage prevent farmers from losing billions of pounds of important food crops annually.

Conclusions
As stated above, the CAST report concluded that conventional, biotech and organic soybean systems are all environmentally sustainable and can be managed for profit with appropriate market incentives when proper practices and technologies are used.

Production practices are evolving to ensure the continued sustainability of soybean production in the U.S. These innovations include: improved production and management practices; advances in breeding and variety development; and new or improved materials and methodology for disease, nematode, insect and weed management.

However, conventional, biotech and organic systems are not equally viable to meet current and future needs. CAST report findings indicate that U.S. soybean production now has a “new” conventional system that is based on using biotechnology.  In addition to no-till agriculture, biotech soybeans reduced farmers’ needs to use pesticide applications, thanks to targeted pest control methods. New traits will improve water quality through decreased phosphorus waste deposition from livestock feed.

Agricultural biotechnology is a key tool for meeting the needs of a growing global population over the next two decades. Biotechnology-derived soybeans, planted on over 66.5 million hectares (164 million acres) worldwide, increased world production by 32 million metric tons in 2007.  Continued development and adoption of biotech traits will be essential to meeting the goal of feeding the world’s hungry while providing environmental sustainability through enhanced conservation of soil and water and improved water and air quality.

To read more about the CAST report findings, please click here to download the complete CAST report brochure.