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Marketing mission to India has soy exports as goal

Matt McCrate from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is trying to do what hasn’t been done.  Even though India has never imported U.S. soybeans, McCrate was recently on a marketing mission there meeting with Indian soybean traders and representatives of USDA’s Foreign Ag Service.

“They’re just like us, but there’s just a whole lot more of them, and they have a whole lot greater need,” said McCrate about the potential of India’s soybean demand.

McCrate gained firsthand experience seeing Indian soybean production, as well as the marketing and use of soybeans there.

“India is really where China was several years ago in that currently they’re not allowing imports.  They do produce soybeans,” said McCrate.  “Their farming practices, they’re where we were 50 to 100 years ago, literally.  Most of their crops are hand planted, most of their crops are hand harvested.”

McCrate, an American Soybean Association farmer-leader, heard from Indian soy industry leaders about changes in India’s economy and population.

“It’s inevitable, as that population grows, that they’re going to far surpass their ability to produce enough soybean protein to feed their population,” said McCrate.  “They’re going to have to start importing from somebody.”

McCrate is not the first.  U.S. soybean growers have been working with India for more than 15 years with the eventual goal of getting them to import U.S. soybeans.

AUDIO: Matt McCrate (14 min. MP3)

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