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Specialty Soy and Grain Alliance shows U.S. value to foreign buyers

The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance says they recently invited 60 foreign buyers to meet U.S. sellers in Hawaii to discuss identity-preserved grains and oilseeds.  Executive Director Eric Wenberg tells Brownfield the Asian buyers are looking for higher quality and, “SSGA’s job is to bring that premium home for the farmer, to convince the foreign buyer that quality is worth paying for, that being up and above that Chicago price means they get the variety-specific crop they need to accomplish a food manufacturing objective.”

Wenberg tells Brownfield demand is there as Asian buyers want a combination of grains and partially-manufactured foods, including “clean soybeans” for tofu and soy milk. “Some of our shippers are reporting their forward contracts with farmers are already at 80 or 90 percent of what they were hoping to get. That means these farmers making their yield requirements will have a ready market abroad when the 2023 crop comes out of the ground.”

Wenberg says the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance has cracked the code for how to talk to buyers about why they should pay more than the Chicago commodity price to get what they really want.

Wenberg spoke to Brownfield at the recent Wisconsin Corn-Soy-Pork Expo in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.