Project #WatcthemGrow Week 21

These plants were planted 21 weeks
ago and will be harvested soon.

 Soybean harvest is under way here in Ohio. These soybeans were planted 21 weeks ago. Where has the time gone? It seems as if we were just getting these seeds in the ground and now we are just weeks away from a harvest. The beans are now brown but they are not quite ready be to harvested.  

These little soybeans provided me with an opportunity to travel all the way to Beijing, China last week. I traveled on behalf of the United States Soybean Export Council with three other farm moms to chat GMO's  with Chinese women. This is a very important market for our U.S. soybeans. Every third row you see in the field is exported. Stay tuned for more writing on GMO's. This is not just a hot topic here in the U.S. but mom in China have lots of questions too. We will get to the bottom of the GMO debate.

The pods are not quite dry. When ready
to harvest the soybean will be completely
round. The beans on the left is what is
inside the pod on the right.

Here are some fun facts about the soybean!

The soybean was first cultivated in northern China and from there it spread into Japan, Korea and the rest of southeast Asia

The soybean is a legume

Elevators in the Statue of Liberty use a soybean-based hydraulic fluid

Soybeans are an important ingredient for the production of crayons. In fact, one acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons

Soy crayons have been created to replace toxic petroleum-wax crayons. Soy crayons are safer to use, brighter in color, and less expensive to produce

The FDA approved soy as an official cholesterol-lowering food

Soybean oil is the most widely used edible oil in the United States; you can find it in mayonnaise, salad dressing, processed cheese products, dessert frostings and much more

Some of the better known soybean products include soymeal, soymilk, tofu, meat alternatives, tempeh, miso, soy sauce, soy cheese, soy cream cheese, soy flour, infant formula, biodiesel fuel and animal feed