Everyone who participated in the 2010 United Soybean See for Yourself Program had only good things to say about the experience.  If you are interested in learning more about the many ways your soybean checkoff dollars are being invested domestically and in the international marketplace, go to the USB website.

The following is editorial/opinion/Cyndi Young’s 2 cents:

As a person who has spent the past 25 years telling the story of agriculture, this experience is one I will not soon forget.  Why?  Many reasons, not the least of which is the opportunity I had to witness U.S. farmers in that defining moment when they see how the soybeans they grow are being utilized by others.  Loren Hylton, a farmer from central Indiana put it best when he said that as he combines his soybean crop this fall, he’ll be thinking about where that crop goes once it leaves his field and the local elevator.  

Barry Alexander, a farmer from Kentucy pointed out that this trip changed his perspective on the sophistication of agriculture in Mexico.  He told me that the world is much more advanced than he realized before he took part in the SFY Program.

Every participant was impressed with the vast array of soy-based food products available to consumers in Mexico.  From the school lunch programs to WalMart, the variety of food products is a true eye-opener.

The enthusiasm and passion these farmers - USB Directors and participants – have for the industry along with the committment of staff in the U.S. and in Mexico – tells me the soybean checkoff is in good hands. 

Finally, I believe it is important to remind everyone that this trip is not only an opportunity for some farmers with little knowledge of the soybean checkoff to see checkoff dollars at work.  It is an opportunity – and I believe a responsibility – for participants to seriously evaluate the checkoff investments to which they were exposed.  Who knows? One of the ten farmers chosen to be a part of the 2010 USB See For Yourself Program just might have that “best new idea” we are always looking for.

Loren Hylton

Hylton believes United States Soybean Checkoff dollars are being wisely invested in Mexico.

“If it weren’t for our checkoff dollars, we probably wouldn’t be here in this area. So, it’s important that I know and that other farmers know also that they are being used well for the future of our business of raising soybeans. It’s just good to know and I’m looking for a lot more advancements in the field.”

Hylton walked away from the USB SFY program with a new perspective.

“My perception from what I thought I was going to see and what I did see were two different things,” he said. “I believe that we think of ourselves as being innovative and on the cutting edge but there are folks throughout this world I’m sure that are competing to be number one.”

Conversation with Loren Hylton

“The world is a lot more advanced than my perspective before I came outside of the country.” He added, “We may not being doing everything that we need to do to stay the leader in agriculture.”

The size and sophistication of PROAN, one of the largest farms in Latin America, was a true eye-opener for the Kentuckian.

“We have had vertical integration in the United States for several years but nothing to the extent of what they have for vertical integration. They integrate it from the very ground level all the way through the top.”

Alexander believes farmers should get more involved in what the USB is doing.

“Most people don’t realize what their voice is with USB and if they get more involved it’s going to get our story out and is going to have this opportunity to stay in the soybean business for years to come.”

Conversation with Barry Alexander

Oglesby was impressed by the automation level at the PROAN egg facility. In the facility we visited, 1.2 million hens are in production.

Oglesby was also impressed with the many different ways soy products are used in food products for human consumption and in food programs.

“I was really amazed to see the wide variety of uses for our product in the different food programs down here.”

Conversation with Todd Oglesby

Reggie Strickland

“It’s amazing to me the amount of product that’s used here. We saw all that that came out of the grocery store that is not available in the United States. That was very impressive that first morning when they brought the display and showed us all the products.”

Strickland’s operation in North Carolina is diversified.

“We grow 3,200 acres of row crops which consist of soybean, corn, wheat, flu cured tobacco, sweet potatoes, cotton. We grow a little bit of everything. My grandfather always said if you didn’t have it to sell you couldn’t sell it no matter what the price was. You have got to have the product to sell.”

Strickland looks forward to telling farmers back in the U.S. about the wide variety of soy food products available to consumers in Mexico. Coming from an area where livestock production is prominent, this opportunity to see soy used in foods instead of just feeds was enlightening for Strickland.

“I’m not saying it’s (soybeans used in livestock feed) not important by any stretch of the imagination because they (livestock producers) are our number one customer at home but abroad the ability that we have to feed the world and the products going into the kitchen is what is enlightening me on this trip.”

Strickland said he appreciates everything the USB does for farmers on a daily basis.

Conversation with Reggie Strickland

Dawn Scheier

“It kind of went past my expectations to learn about all the committees, the 68 volunteer directors, and the amount of time they put into it.”

Scheier was surprised at the amount of soybean products exported to Mexico and the many different food products available to the consumer in this market.

“I did not realize there were so many products. I was very surprised with it. The relationships these guys have developed down here is another surprising factor. So, I was kind of blown away is what I would say.”

Scheier enjoyed the opportunity to taste some of the products that have been developed for use in the school lunch programs.

“We got to taste them all and I liked them. Now I want to get the recipes and go make them at home.”

Scheier looks forward to telling farmers back in her home area about her experiences in the SFY program.

Conversation with Dawn Scheier

Jim Checkel

“I think probably the thing I’m the most impressed about is how many thousands of uses there are for soybean, soy meal, soy oil. I didn’t realize that we exported as much as we do and that there are so many different options and choices available here in Mexico.”

CheckeI looks forward to talking with farmers back home about the importance of GMO’s and the export markets.

There is no doubt in Jim Checkel’s mind that the U.S. Soybean Checkoff is working.

“It was amazing to me when we got down here and seeing how the connection to the Mexican market and the U.S. checkoff interact and the different things they’re doing together. It’s just amazing.”

Conversation with Jim Checkel

He is pleased that he was selected as a participant and pleased with what he has seen of the soybean checkoff at work in Mexico.

“They are starting to get the soy in the kids’ diets down here in school and it’s really working for them,” said Brandt. “They import a lot of soybeans from the United States to get that going. It’s helping them out. We have to feed this world. There are more and more mouths out there every day and there is no more land to do it on so we have to feed the world and keep going.”

He believes the investment made by U.S. soybean farmers to grow the demand for U.S. soybeans in this market is well worth it.

Conversation with Aaron Brandt

Vicki Coughlin

Participating in this program has given Coughlin a sense of satisfaction that decisions made to invest in this market were good decisions.

“As a director on the Board you hear and you make decisions about investing in international marketing programs, market access programs, and certainly Mexico our number one customer for soybean meal. It was a great opportunity for us to actually see firsthand what the investment is doing and we stopped at a couple of different places there and with animal agriculture guess what? We are their supplier of soybeans and we heard again and again the reason U.S. soybeans are preferred is because of our high quality.”

By participating in the program, Coughlin had the opportunity to see the reaction of ten individuals, ten farmers, who were selected to participate in this program. It was a highlight of the trip for her.

“It really was, said Coughlin, “because this program starts at the beginning of the year where we actually go out to the qualified state programs and ask them to send in or submit names of farmers that they are aware of that really they are producers, they are funders of the checkoff dollars but they are not really involved and not really knowledgeable (about the Checkoff.) Not through any fault of their own, they aren’t really aware of what their checkoff dollars are doing for them.”

“We of course as the committee, the Audit Evaluation Committee, review the applications and we select ten possible participants and they get information from us about what’s going on with the Soybean Checkoff throughout the year.”

It all comes together when the participants come together and participate in the See for Yourself program.

“I’m positive they are as enthused about what they saw as well as what I saw on this trip,” said Coughlin.

2010 is the third year for the See for Yourself Program. Coughlin said application numbers have increased each year.

“We had so many applicants and we would have loved to have taken every one of them but of course our budget dollars are limited like every program is,” Coughlin said. “One of the things that is required to the folks that do attend is that they go back and tell their fellow farmers – their fellow investors in the Soybean Checkoff program – about what they see and obviously they are doing that.”

Coughlin is looking forward to telling the soybean farmers in her home area about this trip.

“One of the key things that really impressed me was the animal agriculture industry here in Mexico. I guess we have a vision in our mind that maybe it’s not as developed as it is. And, it is modern, productive and vertically integrated. I could not be more impressed with what they are doing and the support that they are giving to their animal industry here. That’s really important to us as soybean farmers because they are our customer – our number one customer.”

Coughlin was impressed to see the whole soybean value chain and how it is all interrelated. She was pleased to see the value of the investment of checkoff dollars.

“It’s a success story without a doubt,” said Coughlin. “We see positive results everyday on market access, new uses, domestic marketing. It just goes on and on. It just goes on and on. It’s an exciting program.”

Conversation with Vicki Coughlin

Phillip Bradshaw,

“I was just so impressed with the livestock farm that we went to, the poultry and dairy farm we went to and how automated and how new it was,” said the chairman. “I have been to Mexico many times and I knew that their plants and their processes were much more modern and much more sophisticated than most in America think. But, this was beyond me. It was the largest feed mill I think I was ever in and I think it was probably the cleanest mill I was every in. And, when you can unload a unit train, one hundred and ten cars in around twelve hours, now that’s efficiency.”

Bradshaw said it will be important to him to relay back to farmers in the United States that without these (Soybean Checkoff) programs, the activities the American Soybean Association and all of those have done here over the years, I don’t think we would have basically 100% of this market. I think it’s important that we keep good staff here, that we keep farmers coming down and other people coming to Mexico – to all countries but specifically Mexico because of its proximity to us – and building those personal relationships. Everybody does business with people they know. You build a trust and all of that. It is very important to build that relationship and I think that is what we need to keep building.”

Just coming off a positive review by the Office of the Investigator General (OIG) at USDA, Bradshaw said it is especially satisfying to hear that the participants in the SFY program believe checkoff dollars are being invested well.

“We continuously have clean bills of health on audits. You come down here and we have reviews of international programs because the world is a big place. It is a challenge to know which location you should put the greatest emphasis in. China is our largest purchaser by far. Two and three times more than Mexico and Mexico is the second. But, how much money should you continue to put there and how much do you put in Mexico? But, I do believe that the programs in Mexico are very important to us because of the proximity and the high percentage of the market that we have and probably will always have.”

Bradshaw has done quite a bit of traveling in his lifetime, and found it refreshing and interesting to talk to participants who had their eyes opened as to the sophistication and efficiencies in Mexico.

“It’s exciting and it’s just a great treat for me to be with these people. Great farmers. Farmers not only in the United States but around the world are all pretty much the same. We have the same problems and everything. So, once these people get out and visit with another farmer, they realize that we are all the same.”

Conversation with Phil Bradshaw