ISA and several soybean farmers helped welcome the Chinese fall crop tour to Illinois this week. The 23 individuals on the team represented at least 90 percent of all soybeans purchased for China, and were interested in current soybean markets, futures prices, yield, quality and crop estimates, and farmer marketing plans.
According to Claudia Chong with the American Soybean Association International Marketing (ASA-IM), one of the companies represented imports five million metric tons of soybeans, or about 185 million bushels, and nearly half come from the U.S. She says China will import about two billion bushels from all countries this year, noting the U.S. produces three billion per year.
Mike Cunningham, ASA director and former ISA director from Bismarck, hosted the team at his farm. Team members estimated Mike's yields might be 55-57 bushels per acre. Mike fielded questions about various topics involving the soybean industry.
The team visited the ISA office in Bloomington. ISA CEO Craig Ratajczyk and Mark Albertson, director of strategic market development, welcomed the trade team. They heard a presentation about current markets from Advance Trading. A lot of good discussion took place around the table over the information presented in the slides. Mark gave a brief overview of what ISA is doing domestically and globally with soy. Each member of the team introduced themselves and what company they worked for in China. From ISA, the team when to ADM in Havana.
At ADM, the team was welcomed by employees who divided the team into two groups. The first group got a first-hand tour of the river terminal outside. They learned about the operations from the time a grain truck arrives until the grain either leaves on a barge headed down river to New Orleans or is trucked to another location. The location manager spoke to the other group about ADM and their operations worldwide.
On September 27, ISA hosted a luncheon at the Union League Club in Chicago. During the luncheon, ISA directors Bill Wykes and Pat Dumoulin spoke about their individual operations. A lot of good discussion took place about all aspects of the soybean industry.
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