IP: It starts on the farm

By Shane Frederick, SSGA Communications Manager

When people in the identity-preserved (IP) industry talk about traceability, the term they often use is “fork to farm.” It’s the idea of following food and food ingredients all the way back through the value chain, tracing the path of the manufacturing process, containerized shipping, processing and, of course, the growing of the crops themselves.

During a recent webinar aimed at European buyers of U.S. IP field crops, the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) put a couple of IP soybean farmers front and center in its marketing and educational efforts.

Michigan farmer Tim Boring and North Dakota’s Joe Morken took part in a panel discussion led by Eugene Philhower, SSGA’s technical adviser for Europe, during the Sept. 15 U.S. Identity-Preserved Soya and Specialty Grains Virtual Seminar. The event was co-organized by SSGA and the European company Bridge2Food.

“For the first time, we committed ourselves to providing messaging from our farmers and growers,” SSGA Executive Director Eric Wenberg said. “It’s in their rich, fertile soil throughout the United States where the IP process truly begins.”

The producer panel, entitled “Fork to Farm: U.S. Farmers Discuss How They Grow and Deliver What You Order,” gave Boring and Morken an opportunity to explain their roles in the IP process to potential European buyers.

“I think it’s important for producers to be able to tell our side of the story – hearing it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak – as to what we’re doing on the farm, how we’re keeping the soybeans or other products being grown pure in identity and traceable and how we’re taking that very seriously ourselves so that we’re giving customers the products that they desire in the way that they want,” said Morken, a third-generation farmer who grows soybeans – including food-grade beans – as well as sugar beets and corn near Casselton, North Dakota.

Farmers are indeed the ones who take the first steps in the segregation of specialized crops, starting with the seed, and putting in the extra work all the way through harvest that’s required to make IP traceability possible.

“This is high-level management, making sure things are well-segregated, things are cleaned out and we’re avoiding contamination at planting and at harvest,” said Boring, who operates his family’s sixth-generation farm in Stockbridge, Michigan.

Boring raises a variety of soybeans, corn, wheat, barley, dry beans and other crops utilizing soil health and regenerative principles. His innovative farm practices have been the subject of national and international publications and invited presentations. He is the president and founder of Michigan Agriculture Advancement, an organization dedicated to improving the economic and environmental opportunities for Michigan farms.

“I’m willing to put in more effort on the acres I have,” said Boring, who holds a Ph.D. in crop and soil sciences from Michigan State University. “There’s a message that there are farmers who are willing to put in the time and effort, knowing there can be a significant financial return on the back side.”

Morken, a board member and past chair of the North Dakota Soybean Council, agreed.

“Everything has to be pure,” he said, “so the planters need to be cleaned, all the hoses need to be cleaned out, the combines need to be cleaned. There is extra work to it. That’s part of the reason for the premium, to make sure it’s an identity-pure product.

That premium is beneficial to all parties along the value chain, and the quality, condition and specific traits of those crops make them worth paying extra for.

“The companies we work with are selling the beans overseas, so it’s vital that we’re doing our part to keep these things pure,” Morken said. “That’s in their contract; that’s in our contract. And they check in with us to see that things are right and are passing that information on to the end users.”

Including farmers in presentations in the Bridge2Food event and upcoming SSGA seminars, including traceability events for the Philippines and South Korea, is vital to delivering the IP message, Wenberg said.

Boring agreed, saying that the case is built by allowing potential buyers to hear voices representing each sector of the value chain.

“As growers, we can add value to the products we sell through higher levels of management, such as specialty soybeans, but we can also add value by connecting buyers with a face and story behind that production,” said Boring, one-time research director of the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee. “Trust is one of the most valuable but difficult-to-build aspects of a business relationship. When growers participate in these virtual events, it’s building trust with buyers – trust in who is growing their soybeans, the way in which they are grown, in how the business relationship is valued. I see these virtual events as cultivating a business opportunity that helps give me access to the high-premium specialty soybean market.”

SSGA will continue to include growers in its presentations and is seeking speakers and presenters from throughout the IP industry for its events. SSGA members interested in contributing may fill out a survey here.