SOYBEAN GROUPS MEET WITH LYNG TO DISCUSS LOAN A high-level meeting last week which included the Secretary of Agriculture and other senior USDA officials, along with leaders of the major soybean lobbying groups, failed to reach any decision on what should be done about the soybean loan level, participants at the meeting told Reuters. "We didn't feel a lot was accomplished last week, but we were delighted to meet with the Secretary, and he didn't close the door on anything," a member of the soybean delegation said. At issue is the current soybean loan and the fact that at the present level of 4.77 dlrs (without Gramm-Rudman reductions) it encourages foreign soybean production by making soybeans more profitable to grow than corn. But while recognizing that soybeans are priced too high in relation with corn, soybean groups have pledged their support to maintaining current price supports for soybean growers. Leaders of the American Soybean Association and the National Soybean Processors Association offered specific loan options to USDA Secretary Lyng in last week's meeting, but participants would not reveal what those options were. "There were no surprises in our package," one participant said. Bandied about for several weeks has been the idea of offering producers soybean loans partially in cash and in certificates. The most prevailing scheme would be to pay a 4.77 loan with 77 cts worth of soybean-specific certificates which would not have to be paid back and the remaining four dlrs in cash. This would have the effect of lowering the world price, maintaining domestic support levels and reducing the government's soybean inventory. A marketing loan for soybeans was not discussed at last week's meeting, participants said. One member of the soybean delegation said that the meeting was a "listening session" for USDA, and that the proposals will now be studied further by the Department. USDA officials, however, would not commit to any time frame. Participants in the meeting do not look for changes in the soybean loan to be announced in the near future. "USDA is very sensitive about saying anything that could influence the market, so the Secretary was very non-committal," a participant said.