Checkoff Targets Customers

GO program helps achieve new USB strategic objective

It’s the Global Opportunities (GO) program’s job to make sure all markets – domestic and international – not only welcome, but also seek out U.S. soy as their top choice for protein and oil.

 

And 2011 has been a busy one for the GO committee, whose farmer-leaders have worked to ensure your soybeans continue to be in demand around the world—and move down our rivers, rails and roads and onto ships in the first place.

Here is a glance at just some of what the GO program did in 2011:

Shipping U.S. Soy from the East Coast
A GO examination of ports on the East Coast of the United States, such as Newark, Norfolk, Savannah and Charleston, found shipping U.S. soy in containers out of ports on the Eastern Seaboard provides an opportunity for U.S. soybean farmers, and the rest of the U.S. soy industry. Many containers from Europe often return empty, but exporters on the East Coast could start using these containers on the return trip to ship U.S. soy to U.S. soy customers in the European Union, Middle East and North Africa.

Options to Protect U.S. Soybean Farmers from Undue Risk
The USB GO program conducted a survey among U.S. soybean farmers on why some purchase federal crop insurance as an affordable risk-management tool and why others don’t see it as a viable option. This survey has discovered that the use of risk management-tools varies greatly by region. In addition, the GO Committee selected the Food & Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri and Texas A&M University to conduct an examination of federal farm program options for U.S. soybean farmers. The research will try to provide data and analysis of how U.S. soybean farmers could be affected.

Flood of Farmland Investment
Farmland has gained attention from some investors seeking shelter from what they perceive to be more risky investments. USB’s GO program continuously monitors issues such as this to find how U.S. soybean farmers might be affected. A sudden influx of capital into the domestic and international agricultural sector could influence factors such as input costs and transportation infrastructure investments, as well as many others.

Potential in Africa
With a stable government and a population of 23 million, Ghana represents a gateway to other West African nations for U.S. soy. GO Chair and USB Vice Chair Vanessa Kummer and USB past Chairman Phil Bradshaw met in Ghana with representatives of the local soy industry and government officials. The USB GO committee has also funded a soon-to-be released study about the market potential in central and southern Africa.

Transportation
The GO program plays an important part in working to help ensure your soybeans can get from your farm to their final destination in the most efficient manner. Increasing investment in the U.S. transportation system is one of USB’s top priority issues. USB’s GO program partners with 11 Qualified State Soybean Boards as part of the Soy Transportation Coalition to work on transportation opportunities and challenges, such as those posed by expansion of the Panama Canal. Upcoming analyses include the economic impact of a lock failure on U.S. inland waterways and how soybeans move through the United States to their final destination, showing costs and opportunities for improvement along the way.

Maintain Access to Global Markets
When Turkey’s government enacted laws restricting crops improved through biotechnology, exports of U.S. soy to Turkey stopped. USB’s Biotechnology Initiative and GO program worked together to discuss the benefits and safety of biotech crops with Turkish decision makers. For example, the GO program had literature about biotech translated into Turkish and distributed to help ensure government and industry officials in Turkey had the facts about biotech. The restrictions have since been lifted, and U.S. soy is once again available in Turkey.

Export Opportunities to Vietnam
Vietnam has been developing new plant-health laws, and USB’s GO program has been providing information to maintain trade relationships to this growing importer in Southeast Asia. In 2011, the United State exported 1.25 million bushels of soybean meal and 455,000 bushels of soybeans to Vietnam.

Evaluated Black Sea Region
Increased investment in the agricultural sector in Russia represents an opportunity for U.S. soy, while investment in Ukraine could build competition. The GO program released a study that shows the potential for U.S. soybean meal in Russia. This report also examines what checkoff activities need to take place in the Black Sea region to maintain preference for U.S. soy in the area and overall agriculture growth opportunities for the region.

Click here to view the entire 2011 GO Annual Summary.