A director on the United Soybean Board, Hanten sat down with Tri-State Neighbor at the Commodity Classic trade show to discuss the checkoff’s efforts to research and promote high oleic soybeans as a beneficial part of a dairy ration, helping to increase milk fat and maybe even decrease methane emissions.

This year, a new variety of high oleic beans compatible with Enlist herbicide is available for farmers to plant in South Dakota, and a grain elevator in the southeastern part of the state is preparing to buy the beans at $1 premium this spring.

Hanten expects it will add 31 cents to the price of soybeans in his area.

“There’s an opportunity with dairy to bring more value back to the soybean farm,” said Don Wyss, another United Soybean Board director, speaking during a session at Commodity Classic in Denver March 2.

Wyss grows Pioneer’s Plenish beans on his farm in northeastern Indiana. It’s part of their plan to bring a premium on every acre, he said, which in some years is $2 per bushel.

Close to 1 million acres of high oleic beans are grown each year. That’s projected to increase to 3 million acres by 2030, according to Keenan McRoberts, the United Soybean Board’s executive vice president of strategy.

The beans are currently grown in 16 states, limited in part by the number of elevators and processing plants that accept them. Facilities must have a dedicated dump spot to keep the bean separate from other varieties.

“They should be handled just they would any other identity preserved crop,” said Roger Theisen, marketing manager for Pioneer specialty crops, speaking to Tri-State Neighbor in an interview at Commodity Classic. “Starting from the beginning, you want to make sure your planter is clean when you plant this. When you harvest them, you want to make sure your combine is clean when you go from one crop to another, and you’ve got to have them stored separately.”

Most high oleic beans are grown in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. There are six processors for high oleic food-grade oil in the U.S., but competition from sunflower, high oleic canola oil and corn oil have caused some to close to high oleic soybean business. That includes CHS in southern Minnesota CHS and AGP in Nebraska.

The option for using high oleic soybeans in dairy feed is renewing interest for farmers and grain handlers. In some cases, grain handlers started dealing in high oleic beans after dairies came to them saying their nutritionist called for high oleic meal in their rations, Theisen said.

Kaylor Grain Co. in Hutchinson County, South Dakota is preparing to buy the beans at a $1 per bushel premium this fall and roast them for dairy customers, according to the company’s website.

After chickens and pigs, ruminants are the No. 3 livestock sector for consuming soybeans. The Plenish variety has an oleic content of 75% where in commodity beans, oleic content is 22%. Standard beans have higher levels linoleic acid, which can reduce milk fat.

Dairies can use a whole roasted soybean as part of a total daily ration, or expeller meal, which is processed with more heat treatment that removes some of the oil. Expeller meal is digested more in the rumen as opposed to the stomach.

In the past, dairies tried using roasted soybeans in their rations, but if they were roasted too much or too little, it rendered the protein indigestible. This time, the board is working with four dairy nutritionists to help create a more consistent product. They’re currently researching the optimal size for grinding the soybean meal.

“That is extremely important, the proper processing of it,” Hanten said.

He used to handle cow nutrition and rations on his family dairy, and he foresees a business prospect in buying his own roaster so he can sell high oleic meal directly to dairies. It would save transportation costs for both his grain operation and for the dairies in his area, he said.

Currently, the variety of high oleic soybeans don’t come with an early enough maturing to grow in northeastern South Dakota, but seed companies are working on that, too.

“As soon as I can grow them, I’m hoping to partner with dairies,” Hanten said.

Wyss, the Indiana farmer, said the main issue he’s had with growing high oleic beans is weed control, which is expects will be solved soon. This year, Pioneer is releasing a new variety of Plenish beans with a trait that makes them compatible with Enlist E3 herbicide. Hybrids tailored for South Dakota, central Indiana and the east coast are available to plant this spring. Varieties for Wisconsin, Michigan and New York are expected in 2026, and more in the following season.

“Growers won’t have that weed control problem like they have in the past,” Theisen said.

The Enlist trait is approved for use in the U.S. and Canada, but countries like the European Union have yet to sign off. That’s expected to happen in 2027 or 2028, McRoberts said.

Without an export market, companies could shy away from processing the beans in a way that creates a byproduct. That makes dairy producers a good target audience for high oleic soy because the cows can eat the entire bean.

“We’re ready to go for the dairy market,” Theisen said. “That’s the best place for them.”