ST. LOUIS (August 12, 2016) – The U.S. soybean industry is a multi-faceted, global business, and 10 U.S. soybean farmers just got a closer look at how their soy checkoff works in that marketplace to all U.S. soybean farmers’ benefit. Sponsored by the United Soybean Board’s Audit and Evaluation (A&E) Committee, the See for Yourselfprogram connected these farmers with their checkoff investment, providing transparency into the soy checkoff and allowing farmers to find out more about the many end uses for U.S. soy.

“The See for Yourself program was an eye-opening experience,” said Sam Showalter, an Iowa soybean farmer and See for Yourself participant. “To see how the checkoff works around the world and how the world  looks up to us for some of our practices was incredible.”

The program concludes today in Costa Rica, a country that imported 100 percent of its soy from the United States in the 2014/2015 marketing year, a true checkoff success story. Participants heard from INOLASA, the sole soybean-crushing plant in Central America. The checkoff, through the United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC), partnered with INOLASA to increase U.S. soybean consumption in Costa Rica, taking it from 33 percent of its imports in 2014 to 100 percent in 2015.

While in Costa Rica, the participants also learned about the soy-fed fish industry from Martec Industries, a company dedicated to the production, processing and marketing of seafood, especially red snapper. The checkoff invests in marketing and promotion of soy in fish feed and helped Martec incorporate soybean meal into its rations. The fish are raised in cages in the Pacific Ocean and their feed includes roughly 18 percent soy, all of which comes from the U.S.

The program also made stops in St. Louis and Panama. In St. Louis at the USB headquarters, participants learned more about the checkoff’s work to maximize farmer profit opportunities through investments in infrastructure research, new industrial uses and high oleic soybeans. The checkoff is focused on key strategies around soybean oil, meal and sustainability – ensuring U.S. soybean farmers remain competitive in the future.

Infrastructure discussions continued as the participants went through the newly expanded Panama Canal. The canal’s recent expansion doubled the waterway’s capacity, helping to ship U.S. soy to foreign markets faster. Foreign soy buyers often pay as much attention to the timeliness of deliveries as they do the price, so the canal’s expansion increased U.S. soy’s competitiveness on the global scale.  “It’s incredible the amount of soybeans that move through the canal and the time saved because of this new expansion,” said Adam Hendricks, Kentucky soybean farmer and See for Yourselfparticipant. “In discussing the Panama Canal, we learned that about 44 percent of our exported soybeans from the U.S. pass through the Panama Canal, so it plays an important role in meeting global demands.”

While they knew little of the checkoff’s role prior to the program, the farmer-participants dove right in to better understand the checkoff and the uses of soybeans around the world.

“The farmers on this program really got their eyes opened to what the soy checkoff does for them as a farmer and marketer of soybeans,” says Keith Tapp, Kentucky soybean farmer and A&E Committee chair. “In all of our locations, I think the participants saw a wide range of activities demonstrating how the checkoff works for them and all U.S. soybean farmers.”

USB’s 70 farmer-directors work on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers to achieve maximum value for their soy checkoff investments. These volunteers invest and leverage checkoff funds in programs and partnerships to drive soybean innovation beyond the bushel and increase preference for U.S. soy. That preference is based on U.S. soybean meal and oil quality and the sustainability of U.S. soybean farmers. As stipulated in the federal Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soy checkoff.

For more information on the United Soybean Board, visit www.unitedsoybean.org

Press Release by the United Soybean Board