Bean There, Done That

From China to Minnesota and Back to China Again

The soybean was first grown in China and brought to the United States through Europe in the early 1800s. Now, however, soybeans are traveling back to their ancestral homeland, as the crop has become an important U.S. and Minnesota export to China.

The 5,000-Year-Old Bean

An ancient Chinese legend tells that a band of traveling merchants first discovered the wild soybean's nutritious properties. The first written record of soybean cultivation appears in Materia Medica, written by the Chinese Emperor Sheng-Nung in 2838 B.C. In that record, soybeans were noted for their medicinal properties.

Soybeans were first cultivated in northern China. From there they spread into Japan, Korea and the rest of Southeast Asia. The plant was introduced into Europe in 1712 by German botanist Englebert Kaempfer. The first soybeans came to America in the early 19th Century as ballast in the hulls of trading ships returning from the East.

Today, the United States is the world's leading soybean producer and exporter, producing around 3 billion bushels of soybeans each year. Next to corn, it's the most profitable crop for U.S. farmers to grow.

China produces over 500 million bushels of its own soybeans, yet is still the single-largest importer of soybeans in the world and the single-largest country market. U.S. soybean exports to China have risen steadily, topping the 200 million bushel mark. With more than 7 million acres planted and over 200 million bushels in 2004, Minnesota is one of the top national producers. This puts Minnesota at near the top of states that will benefit most from Chinese soybean imports.

Five thousand years later, the soybean is getting another mention as a medicinal food. Modern medicine studies show that the protein and omega-3-rich soybean may in fact, have health benefits that include lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart disease.

Factoid:

U.S. soybeans are grown mostly in the Midwest's Corn Belt, often in rotation with corn. If the Corn Belt were being named today, it may be called the Corn/Soybean Belt.

Though it began as an obscure crop in the United States, soybean cropland in the United States had eclipsed wheat acreage by the year 1978. The amount of harvested area for soybeans has surpassed corn to become this country’s most widely planted crop.

Still Curious?

www.unitedsoybean.org/
Everything on soybeans, from trivia to trade

Minnesota Department of Agriculture
www.mda.state.mn.us/
Facts and figures about Minnesota soybean and other agricultural production

Michigan Department of Agriculture
www.mda.state.mi.us/kids/countyfair/crops/soy/soy5.html
Interesting facts about soybeans for kids

Kids Health
www.kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/soy.html
All about the benefits of adding soybeans to your diet

Minnesota Soybean
www.mnsoybean.org/Soy/Recipes.cfm
Soybean recipes, including "Chinese No-Meat Balls"

Credit: Minnesota Trade Office, Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council