Three-state collaboration promotes soybeans well suited for swine, poultry

South Dakota Soybean Checkoff board member Mike McCranie has his hands full farming with his family in the northeastern corner of the state as well as serving on a couple of boards with a wider scope. McCranie, from Claremont, South Dakota, is part of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and the more narrowly focused Northern Soy Marketing.

“Northern Soy Marketing is a group of three states right now, it’s South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin,” said McCranie. “We joined together with funds to help increase the more bang for our buck when there’s three states working together to work on exports, whether it be to Southeast Asia. And we’re working on some things trying to go out of the Great Lakes.”

The reason for Northern Soy Marketing’s existence is because of the history of soybean export purchases based on crude protein content. Soybeans grown at the latitude of South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin don’t have the oil and protein concentration of soybeans produced in more southerly climates. But McCranie cites multiple pieces of research showing that northern-grown soybeans have their own unique attributes.

“We have proven that the northern-grown soybeans are as good, and in some cases, they’re superior, with their energy level and some of the essential amino acids that they contain for feeding to poultry and swine,” he said.

That’s not all. U.S. soybeans in general are popular globally because of consistently good quality, according to McCranie. South Dakota soybeans exported through the Pacific Northwest go to China and Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, which gets most of its soybean meal from U.S. suppliers. McCranie just hosted a group of buyers from there on his farm.

“The Philippines is a real success story for us. They buy majority of all-U.S. meal and beans,” said McCranie. “Even when we’re out of season, they still try to source U.S. soybeans and meal out of the Pacific Northwest.”

As the name implies, Northern Soy Marketing puts boots on the ground to promote soybeans from a specific region.

“We provide the personnel and the different regions that we can concentrate on, like South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, that actually puts the farmers into those roles of meeting with those customers,” he said.

There’s more conversation about Northern Soy Marketing on the Soybean Pod wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to by South Dakota Soybean farmers and their checkoff.