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U.S. trade delegation in Thailand promoting northern soybeans

A U.S. trade delegation is educating buyers in Thailand about the benefits of soybeans grown in the Upper Midwest.

Bob Swick, an American professor of animal nutrition working for Poultry Hub Australia, is on the trip and says they are working on a strategy to sell more products developed from northern soybeans like soymeal.

“Typically these beans have a slightly lower crude protein content than the competition, but the meal produced from northern-grown soybeans is higher in critical amino acids.”

Thailand is the second largest importer of U.S. soybeans in Southeast Asia.

He tells Brownfield those are essential to poultry and swine diets but says there’s a disconnect because many buyers choose soybean meal based on its protein content.

“But the chickens are producing meat based on the digestible amino acid content, so we’re trying to educate people.”

Swick suggests it will take time to shift the mindset partly because feed producers are required to sell based on crude protein content.

“They’ve come back and they said ‘well it’s not as easy to do with a lower protein soybean meal than with high protein Brazilian meal.”

He says another barrier is a higher exchange rate with the U.S. Dollar.

Northern Soy Marketing is leading the U.S. delegation in Thailand this week that includes farmers from Minnesota and North Dakota.

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