How to Read the USDA Fats and Oils Report — Soybean Crush, Vegetable Oil Production, Use and Stocks, and Rendered Fats

As of 31 October 2026, 00:13 KST; most recently published report: Fats and Oils: Oilseed Crushings, Production, Consumption and Stocks, released October 1, 2026, by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), covering U.S. facilities that crush oilseeds, refine oil or render animal fats in August 2026. The NASS October 2026 calendar lists the release at 3:00 pm ET; the publication page lists the next scheduled releases on November 2 and December 1, 2026, at 3:00 PM without a time zone. Primary source: https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/release-files/796091/cafo1026.txt^[1][3][4]

Comparison basis: levels are as published; July 2026 values are those printed in the October 1 report (the soybean and canola lines shown match the September 1 report, while edible tallow was revised). For soybean and canola crush the report compares levels without a percentage, so those changes are this page's calculation, rounded to one decimal like the other calculated changes. The two releases, publication page and calendar are all from USDA and count as one source.^[1][2]

In three lines

1. The monthly NASS report covers oilseed crushing, crude and once refined oil production, use in processing and end-of-month stocks, plus rendered animal fats, for the previous calendar month.
2. In August 2026, U.S. facilities crushed 6.29 million tons of soybeans and produced 2.45 billion pounds of soybean crude oil, up 4% from a year earlier.
3. Soybean once refined oil production was 2.00 billion pounds, up 6% from August 2025.^[1]

"Soybeans crushed for crude oil was 6.29 million tons (210 million bushels) in August 2026, compared with 6.66 million tons (222 million bushels) in July 2026 and 5.94 million tons (198 million bushels) in August 2025." "Crude oil produced was 2.45 billion pounds, down 5 percent from July 2026 but up 4 percent from August 2025." "Soybean once refined oil production at 2.00 billion pounds during August 2026 decreased 1 percent from July 2026 but increased 6 percent from August 2025." "Canola seeds crushed for crude oil was 229,809 tons in August 2026, compared with 225,468 tons in July 2026 and 197,469 tons in August 2025."^[1]

"Edible tallow production was 80.4 million pounds during August 2026, up 9 percent from July 2026 but down 14 percent from August 2025." "Inedible tallow production was 285 million pounds during August 2026, up 7 percent from July 2026 but down 4 percent from August 2025."^[1]

Who reports. "Fats and Oils: Oilseed Crushings, Production, Consumption and Stocks is part of the Current Agricultural Industrial Reports (CAIR) program." "Response to CAIR surveys are required by law (Title 7, U.S. Code)." "Animal and vegetable fats and oils data are collected from all known facilities that crush, refine or render." "Crushing facilities include processors that use either solvent extraction or continuous screw press." "Imputation is done for operations with non-response by using historical data and current data relationships." "Data for reporting firms are added to estimates for non-reporting firms to obtain National totals."^[1]

First print vs revised. "Data are revised the following month based on late reports or corrected data." "Final figures are published in the annual summary of the following year." July 2026 edible tallow production was first published as 59,493 thousand pounds (the September 1 report said: "Edible tallow production was 59.5 million pounds during July 2026, down 25 percent from June 2026 and down 28 percent from July 2025.") and is printed as 73,491 thousand in the October 1 report (+13,998, or +23.5%, this page's calculation); July inedible tallow moved from 262,833 to 266,292 (+3,459) and technical tallow from 80,218 to 86,064 (+5,846). The published August change of up 9 percent for edible tallow is measured from the revised July figure.^[1][2]

Removed for use vs total use. The consumption lines are oil removed for use in processing by reporting facilities, split into edible and inedible use where not withheld; for soybean once refined oil in August 2026 that was 1,295,867 thousand pounds for edible use and 753,203 thousand for inedible use. These are not measures of total U.S. consumption of each oil.^[1]

U.S. vs regions. Soybean crush is also shown for Illinois, Iowa and four multi-state regions; "West Central includes Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska." Among those six areas in August 2026, Iowa crushed the most soybeans (1,378,150 tons). The report does not explain regional changes.^[1]

Census vs month-to-month change. "Survey data are based on a census of all known facilities and therefore, have no sampling variability." "Monthly data can vary due to different firms reporting month to month." Many lines for smaller oils are withheld as (D) to avoid disclosing individual operations.^[1]