USA
July 14, 2023

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is removing “Soybeans of Other Colors” as an official grade-determining factor under the U.S. Standards for Soybeans. USDA established the soybean standards under the U.S. Grain Standard Standards Act to help market soybeans and historically included “Soybeans of Other Colors” (SBOC) as a grading factor for determining soybean quality.

USDA received numerous requests from representatives of U.S. soybean producers and grain traders to remove SBOC as a grade-determining factor for describing the quality of yellow soybeans (e.g., U.S. No 1, U.S. No. 2 etc.). In response, on March 31, 2023, USDA published a proposed rule in the Federal Register, inviting public comment on the proposal to remove SBOC as a grade-determining factor. USDA received 14 comments in total, and all were in favor of the change to the standards.

This change is effective September 1, 2023. SBOC will remain available for informational purposes only upon request.

The final rule was published in the Federal Register on July 14, 2023. Any questions should be sent to Barry Gomoll, Grain Marketing Specialist, at Barry.L.Gomoll@usda.gov.

Website: http://www.ams.usda.gov

Published: July 18, 2023