The recent cutbacks in acreage allotments in the San Joaquin Valley have caused cotton ranchers with interests in oil-processing facilities to recognize the need for a supplemental oil crop, such as soybeans, to allow continued use of the facilities at or near capacity. Projected population increases in many parts of the world also indicate that a protein crop such as soybean could have increasing importance in meeting future food needs.

Ranchers Cotton Oil Co., Fresno, arranged for chemical analyses of the seed during the study.

Annual reports on irrigation studies with soybeans—submitted over the past 10 to 12 years by R. T. Edwards, O. P. Gautam, and P. F. Knowles, U. C., Davis—were utilized in the preparation and conduct of these investigations.