MSR&PC is going places by supporting USIP Alliance efforts

This article was submitted by the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council as part of its Transportation Go! sponsorship. 

They may be dubbed the “miracle bean,” but one thing soybeans can’t do is miraculously grow wings and fly themselves to export markets around the world.  

Instead, Minnesota soybean farmers rely on the rail, road and shipping industries to ensure their crop makes it to its final destination. 

Because the agriculture supply chain is an intricate system laden with minefields that can cause mass destruction and hit producers where it hurts, the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) continues to proudly support the United States Identity Preserved Alliance (USIP Alliance) and its Transportation Go! conference.   

“The USIP Alliance is really leading a lot of the important conversations in our industry, and Transportation Go! was a great example of that leadership and vision,” MSR&PC Chair Gail Donkers said, who represents Minnesota on the USIP Alliance board. “Without the transportation industry, our products wouldn’t make it to the export markets that add critical value to our bushels. It’s important that we remain engaged in transportation conversations.” 

Minnesota farmers depend on a complex transportation system to export over half of the nearly 330 million bushels grown in the state each year. Soybeans are Minnesota’s top ag export, a market valued at $2 billion each year. Along with Transportation Go!, MSR&PC supports USIP Alliance activities and invests checkoff funds toward efforts that help develop markets via the Port of Duluth and the river and rail systems.  

“As someone who’s prioritized building international markets, it was fascinating for me to learn more about how my grain makes it to the markets it needs to,” said MSR&PC Director George Goblish, who attended his first Transportation Go! conference in 2026 alongside Donkers and Council CEO Tom Slunecka. “The USIP Alliance is really doing a fantastic job of promoting exports through collaboration, and I was proud to represent the Council at Transportation Go!” 

Besides its tenacious work in the transportation sector, USIP Alliance is the leading voice for the industry that delivers traceable, high-quality, variety-specific field crops to food markets worldwide. For MSR&PC, that’s a mission to direct checkoff funds toward.   

“Minnesota is one of the leading food-grade soybean producing states in the country, and the Council is proud to support the Alliance’s efforts in growing the market for U.S. IP soybeans,” Donkers said.