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Great Lakes soybean exports can reach premium buyers

A soybean checkoff board member says exports on the Great Lakes can potentially reach more premium buyers.  Steve Wilkens with the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board tells Brownfield the food-grade soybean market can help the farmer’s bottom line if commodity prices fall. “Markets are cyclical and if we get another downturn, the ability to plant high-yielding beans that give us a two to three-plus dollar premium per bushel is going to be very, very key.”

Wilkens says basis levels are wider than what he likes to see, so it’s another opportunity when growing premium specialty soybeans. “The pricing is typically from the Chicago Board of Trade. That really neutralizes your basis and it’s just more premium and opportunity a grower can capture, and he can drive that profit right back into their bottom line.”

Wilkens says farmers love to produce a lot of crops, but challenges remain with getting the soybeans where they need to go in an efficient manner, but he’s encouraged by the ability to reach niche markets around the Great Lakes and the world by loading at Lake Michigan ports.