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From Zurich to Germany: Minnesota soybean growers promote ag products and innovations

The president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association recently took part in a European trade mission.

Darin Johnson, who farms in southeast Minnesota, says the trip started in Zurich, Switzerland.

“A little different scale than what we see in the U.S., so they actually had a lot of questions for us. Especially from looking at the future and technology because really they are just starting to get into some of the technology portion of it.”

He tells Brownfield the visit ended in Germany, a European Union member state.

“Looking at the EU, they’re our second biggest importer of soybeans behind China. So 11 percent of our exports are going to the EU, and a lot of people actually don’t realize that the EU is a fairly large importer of ours in the soybean industry.”

Johnson says Minnesota’s ag commissioner and deputy ag commissioner also participated in the trade mission.