The soybean breeding project at Iowa State University has been involved in the development of soybean cultivars for specific end uses for more than 40 years. The initial objective was to develop cultivars with unique characteristics for food products, including tofu, miso, and vegetable soybeans. In the late 1960's, research began at Iowa State on the development of cultivars with modified oil composition. Until the 1980's, the interest of other public institutions and of private companies in breeding specialty cultivars was limited. The situation changed dramatically in the 1980's as more breeders in the public and private sector began to develop specialty cultivars. As a result of research in the public and private sector, the number of different markets for specialty cultivars has increased substantially. As the markets expand, more acres of specialty cultivars will be required and farmers will have the option of producing commodity cultivars or specialty cultivars.