The mood is light and upbeat as soybean farmers from around the St. Joseph, Missouri area chat and get to know each other as lunch arrives. That mood doesn’t last long as the speaker, Terry McClatchey, marketing manager at the local AGP processing plant, kicks off his presentation with some sobering news: soybean meal protein levels in the St. Joseph area have consistently declined over the past few decades.
“Twenty years ago, we were at around 47½-48½ percent protein; 10 years ago we were seeing 47-48 percent; and today we see about 46½-47½ percent protein,” says McClatchey.
The group looks up from their plates to hear McClatchey talk more about these drops and how they were caused by the industry focusing more on yield than quality.
Increasing the quality of soybean meal is a strategic objective of the soy checkoff because higher quality brings higher demand from the animal agriculture sector, which can lead to more value for farmers. The event where McClatchey spoke about falling protein levels is just one the checkoff hosted this year to help inform soybean farmers about their customers and the financial benefits of improving soybean quality.
According to the checkoff’s most recent nationwide soybean-farmer survey, over half of all U.S. soybean farmers believe that higher protein and oil content results in a higher price per bushel of soybeans. A different checkoff-funded survey from February 2015 shows that nearly seven in ten soybean farmers, 69 percent, believe pursuing value-added soybean meal should be a top priority for the checkoff.
However, the survey also showed that 77 percent of farmers did not consider the protein and oil content of the soybeans they planted last crop year when selecting seed. The first step in reaping the benefits of higher quality is selecting varieties that will produce it.
Beyond the Elevator is the checkoff’s multimedia campaign designed to spread awareness of and information about these topics. Included in that campaign are events, such as the one where McClatchey presented, that provide local learning opportunities and help build trusted connections among soybean farmers, processors, animal nutritionists and other industry experts.
Todd Gibson, United Soybean Board (USB) director and soybean farmer from Norborne, Missouri, also spoke at the event in St. Joseph, Missouri.
“Most soybean farmers do not have the opportunity to connect with processors and animal nutritionists on a one- on-one basis, so these events are a great way to take multiple segments of the value chain and bring them together for an educational experience,” says Gibson. “In these smaller, local events, farmers ask more questions and industry stakeholders start conversations on important topics, like declining protein levels.”
The soy checkoff has hosted four events so far in 2015: Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; Scott City, Missouri; Volga, South Dakota; and St. Joseph, Missouri, with plans for one more event this summer in Michigan.
Each event is customized to the location and features speakers that can help provide different points of view on the issue of soybean quality. This year, farmers learned about amino acids, protein and customers beyond the elevator, both at home and abroad.
Amino Acids for Animals
In Wisconsin Dells, the checkoff partnered with the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board to host an event at the Wisconsin Corn/Soy Expo. Farmers heard from speaker Tom Crenshaw, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in a breakout session on soybean meal quality.
Crenshaw explained that while the protein that soybean meal provides animals is important, it merely scratches the surface on why soybean meal is such a beneficial animal-feed ingredient. U.S. soybean meal’s nutritional bundle goes well beyond crude protein to include amino acids, energy, vitamins and minerals. The value of this nutritional bundle is especially important when it comes to pigs, he says.
“Soybean meal is a great source of amino acids, and amino acids are essential for pigs,” says Crenshaw. “They are the building blocks for proteins. When we think about muscle or lean tissue, the amino acids in soybean meal would be the building blocks for those.”
Bob Thaler, Ph.D., an extension specialist and professor at South Dakota State University, spoke at the Volga event about the importance of the nutritional bundle in balancing feed rations.
“Today’s hog farmers are looking for the highest-quality feed options,” Thaler says. “There are ten essential amino acids (EAAs) that pigs need for growth and they all must be supplied by the feed they eat.”
He went on to say that of the options, soybean meal is one of the best.
“Amino acid availability differs greatly among feedstuffs,” says Thaler. “But no single feed ingredient has a better and more economical available EAA balance for pigs, poultry and aquaculture than soybean meal.”
Protein and Profit
In Scott City, farmers saw part of the transportation system at the SEMO Port, where rails and waterways connect to move soybeans to their destinations. Joel Tatum, livestock specialist with the University of Missouri Extension, discussed the value of increasing protein.
“The bottom line is, the higher the protein in soybeans, the greater the value for everyone,” says Tatum. He elaborated by saying that when feeding farm animals, from hogs to cattle, all the way down to shrimp and catfish, “soybean meal is the most important protein source, bar none.”
Tatum says poultry and livestock producers see more value in higher-quality soybean meal, which leads to greater demand. And keeping true to the basic laws of supply and demand, Tatum says soybean meal “is being priced and bought by how much protein is in it.”
“Protein levels in soybean meal are going to make a bigger and bigger impact at the feed mills and elevators,” he adds.
Customer Needs
At the most recent event in St. Joseph, farmers received a well-rounded view of why soybean quality matters. They heard from a processor, a livestock specialist and an agronomist. The group learned that although processors like AGP are still paying on yield now, both farmers and processors need to look at soybean quality in addition to yield in the future.
The seed companies’ main focus has been on increasing yields due to farmer demand, and as a result, protein has taken a back seat, McClatchey says. This can be concerning when it comes to the competitive global soybean market and buyers who are aware and conscious of soybean quality when faced with the choice of purchasing from either South America or the United States.
“Currently, we at AGP buy soybeans based on bushels, but this might be a problem in the future, when we think of buyers who are focusing more on quality,” says McClatchey. “We need all farmers to help increase the quality of their soybeans to ensure the U.S. has better protein. We could potentially sell more U.S. soybeans if we focus more on quality, which could ultimately lead to higher prices.”
And that’s the end goal: to satisfy customer needs and capture more value from doing so.
“As a farmer and a USB director, I enjoyed the experience,” says Gibson of the event. “It’s great to see people in the community coming together to improve our soybeans for our customers. Hopefully, if we are able to satisfy their demands for higher quality, we can pass that value down the supply chain and put more value into the soybean producers’ pockets.”