Sustainable soya sourcing for UK agriculture (2024)

FAQs

Sustainable soya sourcing for UK agriculture? ›

The UK Soy Manifesto is a collective industry commitment to work together to ensure 'all physical shipments of soy to the UK are deforestation- and conversion-free (from a cut-off date of January 2020 at the latest), fully implemented immediately where possible and no later than 2025'.

The vast majority of the UK's soy imports come from South America. This soy consists almost entirely of GM soy and is therefore unlikely to be used much, if at all, for food in the UK. Any associations of UK soy with land use change in South America are, for this reason, most likely to be linked to animal production.

Originating from South-East Asia, soya beans (Glycine max) are tender plants that need full sun, heat and plenty of moisture to produce a good crop in the UK. But as our climate warms and new, more resilient varieties are introduced, they are becoming a more viable option.

The UK Roundtable on Sustainable Soya brings together a wide range of companies and associations that want to source soy sustainably. The Roundtable relied on the Accountability Framework to establish an overarching sourcing goal that all of its members can work towards.

The UK imports over 3 million tonnes of soy every year, more than 75% of which has historically come from just three countries: Brazil, Argentina and the United States1.

The UK imports huge quantities of soya and globally some 90% of soya is used to feed animals, including cows, pigs and chickens.

2. Ask Tesco if the pork and chicken it sells is fed on soya from deforested land. We know it is, because an investigation by Greenpeace Unearthed, The Guardian and ITV News, traced soya from deforested land in the Brazilian Cerrado – the world's most wildlife-rich savannah – directly to chicken on Tesco's shelves.

As of 2022, the leading country in soybean oil consumption was China, with about 17.1 million metric tons consumed. The United States was the second largest consumer of soybean oil, at about 12.25 million metric tons consumed.

Can I grow edamame beans outdoors in the UK? Edamame seeds bred to cope with the UK's cool climate are best sown outdoors. Older varieties traditionally needed a long summer with temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees to grow successfully.

This Manifesto is a collective industry commitment to work together to ensure all physical shipments of soy to the UK are deforestation and conversion free (cut-off date of January 2020 at the latest), fully implemented immediately where possible and no later than 2025.

Can soy be grown sustainably? ›

Canada's soybean industry is committed to sustainable production. Almost all Canadian soybeans are grown by family-owned farms, many of them multi-generational. Canadian growers of all ages work together to enhance the sustainability of their land for future generations.

Soy production generates greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. Tropical countries like Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay face emissions from deforestation and area conversion. Soy is an intensively grown crop, with high demands for resources: particularly energy, water, agrochemicals and soil.

Soybean is among the major oilseed and protein meal products. In the 2022/2023 period, around 171.95 million metric tons of soybeans were imported globally. China was by far the leading importer of soybeans, with an annual import volume of approximately 100 million metric tons in that year.

The UK's biggest food imports are fruit and vegetables. The UK's climate is characterised by mild summers and cool winters, often with high rainfall. This climate is suitable for growing certain fruits and vegetables such as apples, brassicas, potatoes and other root crops.

The United States and Brazil are major competitors and together supply over 80% of soybean global exports, while China accounts for about 60% of total soybean imports. Soybeans are the largest agricultural commodity exported to China by both the United States and Brazil.

The United States, Brazil, and Argentina together produce about 80% of the world's soy. Around the world, there is a surging demand for soy—the “king of beans.” Soy is a globally traded commodity produced in both temperate and tropical regions and serves as a key source of protein and vegetable oils.

Soybean industry

Production practices show that U.S. farmers commonly grow soybeans in crop rotation with corn. More than 80 percent of soybeans are cultivated in the upper Midwest. The Unites States counted Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota as their leading soybean producing states as of 2022.

The origins of the soybean plant are obscure, but many botanists believe it was first domesticated in central China as early as 7000 bce. An ancient crop, the soybean has been used in China, Japan, and Korea for thousands of years as a food and a component of medicines.