Nearly 5.8 million acres of soybeans were planted and harvested last year right here in Indiana. As soybean producers put the finishing touches on this year’s planting, the Indiana Soybean Alliance is focusing on “moving the pile” by expanding the number of international buyers for soybeans.
That’s why they recently hosted soybean buyers from 19 different countries around the world in central Indiana for the Soybean Oil Master’s Program.
“We brought clients of soybean oil from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica,” says Fradbelin Escarraman, market lead with the U.S. Soybean Export Council who covers the Dominican Republic and Jamaica.
He tells Hoosier Ag Today one of the goals of the program is to help educate international soybean buyers.
“They have never seen a soybean field, nor have they seen the seeds, so it is very important for them to understand how the plant is harvested, how it is processed, and all the value chain that is involved behind it. Also, they can better understand all the programs that we have that are created to help them be more efficient and buy more product from the U.S.”
Another part of that education is showing international buyers how committed America’s ag industry is to growing the best soybean product in the world.
“They need to understand all the technology and the science that is going behind this because nowadays, you get a lot of talk about GMOs and people that do not understand the technology, so they are afraid of it,” he says. “It is important for them to understand the technology, all this research, and the Improvement that has been done with the seeds so that we can get higher yields and more production. So, this is something that the U.S. has the lead from any other soy-producing region in the world.”
Not only did the international soybean buyers get the chance to tour Purdue University and visit farms across the area, but many were also treated to 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 last Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as special guests of the Indiana Soybean Alliance.
Their visit was also sponsored by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), as well as the United Soybean Board (USB) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC).
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