USB Transitions Focus to Promoting U.S. Quality

by | Nov 12, 2015 | HAT News Feed

Hoosier Ag Today by: Andy Eubank

USB strategic planning

Mike Beard-15The nation’s farm broadcasting community is meeting this week in Kansas City, and many of the top ag companies and large commodity groups attend the annual convention for a chance to meet with those broadcasters. Frankfort, Indiana farmer and United Soybean Board director Mike Beard is here for the USB’s Strategic Management Committee meetings as they develop a new strategic plan. He told HAT there will be a shift from production to soybean quality.

“Soybeans have gone from being just an incidental forage to the nation’s 2nd largest commodity. Farmers have built a steady supply of soybean production that has shifted the global demand in the soybean marketplace from one that needed consistent quantity to one that now needs some innovative quality.”

Beard says the emphasis on quality better positions U.S. soy as a world competitor.

“When 60 percent of the product you produce is exported, we want those end users, those countries that buy our product to prefer U.S. soybeans over our competition or other available supplies. U.S. soybeans are a commodity in the marketplace today and we intend to try our best to change that. So with this new plan we’re looking to develop end user consumer preference for U.S. soy.”

Beard says USB will work to emphasize the value that comes with U.S. soy, including the sustainability protocol, the U.S. supply advantage, and the nutrient profile of U.S. soy. When you put them altogether, Beard says it’s a “great package for any import buyer.” The 5-year strategic plan should be presented to the full USB board in December and put into action a year from now.

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