Documentation

Overview

The Oil Crops Yearbook is a compilation of the supply and demand statistics for oil crops, animal fats, and their respective products. This data product is published each year in March and includes data published in the monthly Oil Crops Outlook.

The Oil Crops Yearbook contains historical datasets on U.S. and global statistics for oilseeds, oilseeds meals, fats, and oils, including supply, use, stocks, and farm and wholesale price series. It includes some State-level oilseed acreage, yield, and production estimates. Annual international imports and exports, as well as global supply and distribution of oil crops, vegetable oils, and protein meal, are also included in this dataset.

All underlying data in the Oil Crops Yearbook are derived from USDA’s primary data sources, except for a few tables that indicate that the USDA, ERS estimates are made when reported data are unavailable. The ERS Oil Crops team combines and aggregates data from multiple Federal agencies’ public reports, including World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB), USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

The key purpose of the Oil Crops Yearbook is to provide the only publicly available compilation of historical supply and demand statistics for oilseeds and oilseeds products.

USDA, ERS also publishes oil crops data in the monthly Oil Crops Outlook reports. Users can view and download the historical Oil Crop Yearbook from the Cornell University’s Mann Library under the Oil Crops Yearbook Dataset. For more information on how these data are compiled, see the Documentation page.

Scope

The oil crops dataset includes both historical and projected data for 6 oilseeds (soybean, sunflowerseed, canola, flaxseed, peanuts, and cottonseed), 6 oilseed meals (soybean meal, sunflower seed meal, canola meal, linseed meal, peanut meal, and cottonseed meal), and 11 vegetable oils (soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, canola oil, safflower seed oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, and corn oil). This includes data published in the monthly Oil Crops Outlook reports and previous editions of the annual Oil Crops Yearbook. However, the database generally covers a longer period of time.

Annual and quarterly supply-use statistics are on a marketing-year basis. Marketing years span calendar years and are often written to include both calendar years. For example, 2020/21 refers to the marketing year beginning on September 1, 2020, and ending August 31, 2021. Marketing years differ by commodity and are as follows:

  • Soybeans begin September 1 and are comprised of four quarters (September-November, December-February, March-May, and June-August). Prior to 1986, the marketing year began October 1
  • Sunflower seed begins September 1:
  • Canola begins June 1:
  • Flaxseed begins June 1:
  • Peanuts begin August 1:
  • All oilseed meals and vegetable oils begin October 1:
  • Domestic production and consumption of animal fats (lard and edible tallow) are on a calendar-year basis
  • Foreign oilseeds, oilseed meals, and vegetable oils statistics are an aggregation on the basis of local (producing-country) marketing years, except adjusted trade data (exports and imports), which USDA adjust on an October/September year in the Production, Supply, and Distribution (PS&D) database. Putting all countries on the same 12-month year facilitates analysis of competition and market share, as countries in the Southern Hemisphere have a local marketing year that is quite different from the international trade year.

Methods

USDA, ERS combines and aggregates oil crops data from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service, World Agricultural Outlook Board, Agricultural Marketing Service, Farm Service Agency, and Foreign Agricultural Service; the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; and the U.S. Department of Labor. Some production data for oilseed meals, vegetable oils, and animal fats are calculated by USDA, ERS. The National Sunflower Association is the current source for U.S. sunflower seed crush data. Milling and Baking News published by Sosland Publishing is the source for several vegetable oil prices. Oil Crop Yearbook data are updated annually in March.

Several units of measure are used in Oil Crop Yearbook database. The conversion factors are as follow:

  • Soybean, 1 bushel = 60 pounds
  • Flaxseed, 1 bushel = 56 pounds
  • 1 metric ton = 2,204.622 pounds
  • 1 U.S. (short) ton = 2,000 pounds
  • 1 hectare = 2.4710 acres

The Oil Crop Yearbook contains oilseed and oilseed products supply and disappearance data. Estimating the supply and disappearance of U.S. oilseeds, oilseed meals, and vegetable oils is a joint effort of several agencies of USDA's Oilseeds Interagency Commodity Estimates Committee (ICEC). These estimates are published monthly in World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and changes in the estimates from month-to-month are explained in USDA, ERS' monthly Oil Crops Outlook. For more information, see USDA Outlook Process.

All yearbook tables provide detailed footnotes with data sources, market year definitions, and market location for prices.

Key variables compiled by the USDA, ERS Oil Crops Team include:

Supply and Use:

  • U.S. supply and use data are from USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE).
  • Disappearance is a calculation based on official production and stocks statistics reported by USDA, National Agricultural Statistical Services and trade (export/import) data reported by U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. The formula for total disappearance, domestic disappearance, and total supply are below:

Total disappearance = total supply – ending stocks.

Domestic disappearance = total supply – exports – ending stocks.

Total supply = beginning stocks + production + imports.

Imports and Exports:

  • Data are reported for both U.S. and world trade.
  • U.S. trade data are calculated from U.S. Census Bureau data on a monthly basis and then accumulated to total annual data. The USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Trade System (GATS) Online database has more information on the Harmonized Trade Systems codes (HTS) in each product group is found on the website: Reference Info>Definitions>Product Groups>FAS. Each year the U.S. Census Bureau releases 13-month revisions for the trade data. For more information see revision/notices page on the GATS website.
  • World trade data come from USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service Production, Supply, and Distribution (PS&D) database.
  • On the Custom Queries page, under Data Attributes, there are three different types of trade data. Each has a different source and is labeled as follows:

Price Data

Here are important details about the items in the database, such as which data are preliminary or any changes to the data series over time.

Farm Prices:

  • Average prices received by farmers for soybeans, sunflower seed, canola, peanuts, flaxseed, and cotton seed do not include an allowance for loans outstanding and government purchases.
  • The most recent month is preliminary.
  • Annual season-average price for soybeans, sunflower seed, canola, peanuts, flaxseed, and cottonseed is based on monthly prices weighted by monthly marketings. These prices are from USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.
  • Annual season-average soybean price for the current marketing year is published in USDA's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) as a projected price and reported in the database as such.

Market Prices for Oilseed Meal and Vegetable Oil:

  • The monthly, cash-bid prices for various oilseed meals and vegetable at principal U.S. markets are from USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. Sosland Publishing Company's Milling and Baking News is also a source for several vegetable oils prices. The annual prices are calculated using the monthly prices.
  • The most recent month is preliminary.

This is a data compilation. For information on measures of accuracy, please refer to any documentation available from the sources cited. As noted, the most recent month is preliminary and subject to updates.  

Strengths and Limitations

The USDA, ERS Oil Crops Yearbook represents the most comprehensive dataset of oil crops data that are useful to understand supply and demand for oil crops in the United States and abroad. This dataset contains the annual, quarterly, and monthly domestic supply and use statistics for oil crops and their products along with statistics for animal fats and their products. It includes oilseed acreage, yield, and production estimates, as well as farm and wholesale price series. Annual international imports and exports, as well as global supply and distribution of oil crops, vegetable oils, and protein meal are also included in this dataset. The Oil Crops Outlook Tables and Yearbook contain related information.

The value of the dataset is reflected on the scope of complete oil crops statistics, which includes supply and demand variables and prices from 1980 through the current marketing year. Added value of the Oil Yearbook dataset is reflected in its complete coverage and easy access. The complete coverage includes historical supply, use and price variables that characterize 6 oilseeds (soybean, sunflowerseed, canola, flaxseed, peanuts, and cottonseed), 6 oilseed meals (soybean meal, sunflower seed meal, canola meal, linseed meal, peanut meal, and cottonseed meal), 11 vegetable oils (soybean oil, sunflower seed oil, canola oil, safflower seed oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, and corn oil), and fats (lard and tallow).

The data are from 1980 to present. The access for users is easy, which can be done by downloading the dataset in Excel file from the USDA, ERS website.

The major limitation of this data product is that it is updated once a year, but the monthly data for the current marketing year can be obtained from Oil Crops Outlook Tables, which are published monthly.

For information on measures of accuracy, please refer to any documentation available from the sources cited. USDA, NASS provides descriptions of its methodology and quality measures. For USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) methodology and historical changes and revisions see its website. The Census Bureau website provides perspective on Sources of Non-Sampling Error in its trade data. USDA, AMS covers procedures for Quality of Information on its website. As noted, the most recent month is preliminary and subject to updates. 

Resources

The sources used to generate the Oil Crops Yearbook dataset are publicly available from the USDA agencies including the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB), Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), and  Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS).

Other related sources include: the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census; U.S. Department of Labor; and Sosland Publishing’s Milling and Baking News.

All yearbook tables provide detailed footnotes with data sources, market year definitions, and market location for prices.

Recommended Citation

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2023). Oil crops yearbook [Data set]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.