It is like being between a rock and a hard place when it comes to agriculture and its protein sources. On one side you have livestock producers who do an excellent job raising our poultry, lambs, hogs, and cattle, and on the other, you have the soybean and produce growers who are filling the void of plant-based protein. It usually is a feud more on the marketing side than it is on the production side. Many farmers produce both grains and livestock. Also, they tend to want to see each other succeed.
Audio: Full Interview with USB President Jim Carrol III
United Soybean Board president Jim Carrol III tells us about their Protein First program. This program is geared towards showing how soybeans can help fill the need for proteins in a growing population. Carrol says they aren?t trying to take away from livestock producers, but to work in conjunction with them to feed a hungry world.
If there is going to be a growth in plant-based proteins, why not see it come from American farmers, just like our producers of pork, lamb, beef, and poultry. Carrol says the soybean industry needs to put itself in a position to deliver on protein needs around the globe.
Carrol says it is about starting new conversations, and that is what the goal of the United Soybean Board and the soy checkoff is all about.
