Weather or not: SSGA sponsors soy procurement course for importers

Sun, rain and then a blizzard: participants in the Northern Crops Institute (NCI) Soybean Procurement Management for Importers Course seemingly experienced each of North Dakota’s seasons in the span of a few days during their stay in Fargo on Oct. 7-11. Soybean buyers from Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Nigeria, India and the U.S. completed the course to learn about merchandising and purchasing soybeans from the U.S.

Experts in commodity trading lectured on cash and futures markets, while grain merchandisers spoke about international grain markets.

“The course provided an overview of many different topics related to buying soybeans,” says NCI Program Manager Brian Sorenson. “Participants learned about cash and futures markets, how to hedge properly and about different risk management tools.”

After three days of lectures and tours in the Fargo area, participants broke into three groups: bulk soybean merchandising, food grade soybean merchandising and container soybean merchandising, for more specialized training.

Participants in the food grade and container tracks toured the SB&B Foods farm and processing facility and Maple River Grain and Agronomy, both in Casselton, ND, and Brushvale Seed in Breckenridge, Minn.

Participants from Vietnam, sponsored by the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA), were impressed by the steps taken by farmers and suppliers to control their product. Although Vietnamese participants were limited on which tours they could attend due to African swine fever concerns in their home country, they enjoyed learning about the quality of U.S. soybeans and meeting suppliers of food grade soybeans.

Sorenson also noted that lectures about the nutrition and quality of soybeans were very popular among participants, as well as the farm and infrastructure tours.