See For Yourself Tour Offers a Firsthand Look at the Soy Supply Chain

More than a dozen soybean farmers are part of South Dakota Soybean’s See For Yourself (SFY) tour gaining a better understanding of Pacific Northwest (PNW) port facilities. The bulk of South Dakota-grown soybeans that are exported begin their journey by rail to the coasts of Washington and Oregon to be loaded on huge vessels bound for Asian customers.

“I hope that [farmers on the tour] come away with a better understanding of when they sell something, it's going to move out here, but really learn what the markets are looking for and what these elevators are doing to elevate U.S. farmers in the export market,” said Scott Ritzman, CEO of Ritz Ag Consulting, who is implementing and managing South Dakota Soybean’s See For Yourself tour.

Whether it's the consistency, quality or timeliness of trains coming from the Midwest out to the PNW, Ritzman wants tour participants to understand how a steady supply of soybeans can be exported. He says it’s also essential that farmers can understand the export market itself.

“It's a very important piece of the soybean industry,” he said. “A lot of what is raised has to be exported. We can't consume domestically all the soybean meal or whole beans. We don't have enough crush [capacity]. So, we have to have an export market.

Having an understanding of what the export market is and how the PNW plays into the overall U.S. soybean market chain is what Ritzman hopes these producers take back to their farmer neighbors.

“Get them really involved in knowing what is going on in the global market,” Ritzman told the South Dakota Soybean Network as those on the tour arrived in Aberdeen, Washington.

“At the end of the day, the global market dictates things and they need to have an understanding of how that might impact their farm operation.”