David Durham
United Soybean Board

Improving compositional quality traits for oil and protein content in soybeans has been a key factor in the industry for almost a decade. In order to build United States soybean competitive- ness, the United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff have ini- tiated an effort entitled the Better Bean Initiative (BBI) and its Technology Utilization Center (TUC) to explore and improve soybean composition. This article addresses current trends in US soybean production that have affected our global competi- tiveness and how the BBI can improve our overall competitive- ness position and increase share of domestic and internal markets. The importance of identifying and addressing key end- user needs are also highlighted.

Key words: Better Bean Initiative (BBI), checkoff, composition, competitiveness, oil, protein, soybean(s), United Soybean Board (USB).