AUSTRALIA'S soybean industry is expecting a boom in production this year.
Higher prices, growing demand and the high cost of fertilisers are attracting growers back to the crop, according to Australian Oilseeds Federation soybean committee chairman Peter Brodie.
"We're expecting more than double the production this year," he told a recent AOF meeting.
Mr Brodie, director of Philp Brodie Grains in Toowoomba, Queensland, said soybean producers were becoming more confident in growing the crop.
"The demand for soybeans is increasing," he said. "People just couldn't get enough last year. It is looking very positive for this year."
Mr Brodie said although last season's production was reduced because of floods in northern NSW, the enthusiasm of growers for soybeans is increasing.
"It's the best confidence we've had in soybeans for a long time," he said.
Because soybeans are a legume, they should not need any nitrogenous fertilisers.
