Minnesota soybeans

Soybeans have come a long way since Minnesota farmers first considered them as a crop in the early 1900s. The multi-purpose legume is now the second largest crop in the state behind corn.

• Minnesota ranks third among soybean-producing states nationwide. Only Iowa and Illinois grow more soybeans each year.

• In 2009, Minnesota farmers planted 7.2 million acres of soybeans -- quite a few more beans than the 311 acres planted back in 1920.

• That 2009 crop yielded 284 million bushels of beans valued at $2.6 billion.

Soy pops up in all sorts of products.

The foods are obvious -- tofu, edamame and soy milk among them. Soybean oil is commonly used for cooking. Soybean meal is often an ingredient in livestock feed.

But the bean has proven more versatile than that. It also can be turned into biodiesel and incorporated into plastics, adhesives, foam and fabric.

Henry Ford was an early soybean innovator. By the 1940s, he had built a car that incorporated soy plastics and had fostered the development of a synthetic wool made from soy protein.

Source: USDA, Soyinfo Center, Minnesota Soybean Council