South Dakota growers host Southeast Asian soybean buying team

South Dakota soybean growers hosted ten Southeast Asian soybean buyers during a tour sponsored by Northern Soy Marketing. The delegation, from Vietnam and Indonesia, visited Chad Schooley’s Castlewood, South Dakota, farm and the South Dakota Soybean Processors Plant at Volga. The tour is an opportunity to show soybean buyers where northern-grown soybeans are born, according to Katelyn Engquist, market development project manager for Northern Soy Marketing.

“Our goal there is to create relationships with the people that are actually using our product and then let them see firsthand why they should consider northern-grown soy for their livestock,” Engquist said.

Prior to their South Dakota tour stops, the visiting buyers saw farms in Wisconsin and Minnesota. They’re planning to follow their Midwest tour with a close look at the Port of Greys Harbor, Washington.

“A lot of our soy and soybean meal is exported from the Pacific Northwest, some as well from the Great Lakes ports,” Engquist said, “but a lot of it comes out of the Pacific Northwest, which is a great location for buyers in Southeast Asia.”

The Northern Soy Marketing coalition exists to represent soybeans grown at higher latitudes, Engquist pointed out, which are easier to store and have specific nutritive attributes for livestock.

“Soybeans that are grown in a cooler region tend to have a higher amount of essential amino acids; those are very important just for the general wellbeing and growth for livestock,” she added. “Our beans tend to have a lower amount of crude protein, but we just want nutrition staff to consider why the essential amino acids are important, and not just crude protein.”

Efforts to market northern-grown soybean meal to Southeast Asia are successful and Engquist is confident that demand can be filled.

“Our farmers are always willing and excited to be able to feed the world, so if there’s more demand for a product, they are going to grow it if it works out in their plans. And in Southeast Asia there is a large rise in consumption of meat and protein, so I believe there’s always going to be an opportunity for soy and soybean meal in Southeast Asia,” she said. “Our farmers are willing and up to the task to provide that.”