Soybean Overview. In 2007, GIPSA launched a farm gate assessment to capture soybean quality data at the first point of sale. The total number of samples desired to be collected each year is calculated using a 95% confidence interval and quality data from the U.S. as a whole. After the total number is calculated, the sampling plan is determined by divvying up the total to the various soybean producing states based on each state's production over recent years. GIPSA personnel then contact grain elevators (based on Farm Service Agency records) in soybean producing states to solicit samples to be forwarded to an official agency (selected through a competitive bid process) for analysis. Since 2007, GIPSA has sent enough materials to participating elevators to capture anywhere from 1,480 to 1,640 samples. GIPSA gratefully acknowledges the elevators that provide soybean samples.
Data. Grading quality data for previous years are presented by state and factor, and can be viewed by clicking on the appropriate link. The States section presents the quality data for each state and includes the average, minimum, maximum, and standard deviation. The factors section includes certain overall (uses the entire data set for the given year) grade determining factors (foreign material, splits, damage), other important factors (foreign material composition, grade, moisture, oil, protein, test weight), and each state's response rate. State and factor data for the current year will not be posted until all samples have been submitted and graded. However, entire data sets for the current and previous years are presented in the Summary section and include the average, minimum, maximum, standard deviation, grade limits, and distribution by grade. Summary data for the current crop will be updated bi-weekly as additional data become available.
