Reliable Soybean Source

While domestic demand for soybeans has remained flat for the last decade, demand in overseas markets, primarily Asia and the Middle East, has increased exponentially. To respond to that trend, the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) has made trade missions a priority in recent years.

“A well-run trade mission affords the producer and seller the opportunity to witness the buyer’s trade environment and experience the general economic environment in which the buyer operates,” says Peter Mishek of Mishek Inc.& Associates.

Mishek cites the example of China. “Through the various trade missions to China ISA has conducted, the association has been able to assure farmers that China’s demand for soybeans is based on real economic growth and real human need,” he says. “Farmers, and their associations, also get to hear directly from the buyer about the needs, challenges and possible opportunities for their products.”

ISA CEO Kirk Leeds has traveled to China several times. He says soybeans continue to be an export crop, noting that last year the United States exported 60 percent of its soybean crop. He expects that trend to continue for the foreseeable future.

“The purpose of traveling to China has been to learn more about the needs of our customers, to reassure them that Iowa and U.S. soybean farmers are committed to being the most reliable supplier of high quality soybeans, and to build personal relationships with key current and future customers,” he explains. “As in most of Asia, personal relationships are critically important when doing business in China.”

ISA President Randy Van Kooten of Lynnville, Iowa, recently accompanied ISA staff members and Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Karey Claghorn on a trade mission to China and Taiwan. This was Van Kooten’s second trade mission to Asia.

“It’s hard for a farmer to imagine the volume Chinese soybean crushers are using,” he says. “It’s important for Iowa farmers to understand that China is a very valuable customer.”

Dean Coleman, a farmer from near Humboldt, Iowa, was also part of the most recent trade mission. As ISA president-elect, this was Coleman’s first trip to China. He says Iowa needs to grow more soybeans in order to meet increasing demand.

“China has an insatiable appetite for soybeans,” Coleman says. “Everyone we talked to spoke about increasing their imports, and crushers are doubling the size of their plants. We’ve got a lot of
exporting to do for a number of years.”

In order to meet the demand, Coleman says yield increases are going to be important. “We need to increase our bushels per acre. We’ve got a large market over there that needs to be sold to, and we need the bushels to do it with, so research is going to be key.”

To learn more about ISA’s most recent trade mission to China, visit www.iasoybeans.com/chinablog2011.