By Shane Frederick, SSGA Communications Manager

Specialty crops are nothing new to Raquel Hansen.

Raquel Hansen, Pipeline Foods

“My roots go far back,” she said. “It’s been part of my entire life.”

The newest member of the Specialty Soya and Grain Alliance (SSGA) Board of Directors grew up on a cash-crop farm that was started by her grandparents. Her family’s crops included waxy corn that was exported to Japan and, later, identity-preserved (IP) soybeans.

“IP in the early days before GMO was introduced was more variety-specific,” Hansen said. “That’s what my parents and grandparents did.”

Hansen continues to farm near Owatonna, Minn., raising specialty grains, including non-GMO corn and soybeans, as well as hogs and cattle, along with her husband, Todd. Their son, Eric (one of their two adult children), also farms.

“Four generations have supplied specialty grains to the Hope location,” Hansen said, referring to the Hope, Minn., processing facility started by a group of farmers that included her grandparents and parents and now owned by SSGA-member Pipeline Foods.

Pipeline Foods is a 3-year-old supply chain solutions company focused exclusively on organic and non-GMO food and feed. Hansen is Pipeline Foods’ vice president for soybeans and food ingredients, part of the “value-added sales team.” She became part of Pipeline in 2019 when that company acquired SunOpta’s specialty and organic soy and corn business, including the Hope facility. Hansen had been at SunOpta for more than 15 years, including eight as an executive.

Pipeline Foods, which is based in Minneapolis and has regional headquarters in Canada and Argentina, has a network of growers around the world whose crops include small grains, pulses, peas and lentils, as well as soybeans and corn. Hansen said the company is starting to get into specialty oils and milled products such as teff, quinoa and chickpea, with a focus on trendy specialty products.

“There’s a lot of excitement – a lot of passion for the business and for success,” Hansen said. “There are challenges that come with a smaller company that’s fast-growing, too.”

Hansen’s own enthusiasm for agriculture has never waned, ever since she was a kid growing up on the family farm near New Richland, Minn. She attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, earning degrees in agriculture and business. She later earned an MBA at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.

With COVID-19 preventing Pipeline Food’s overseas and other customers from visiting farms and facilities, Hansen recorded videos throughout the season – from planting through harvest – giving progress reports on her farm’s soybean crop conditions. The videos included weather reports; photos of soybean plants at various stages; plant, pod and bean measurements; and general descriptions of what was happening in the growing process.

“Ag really is a passion of mine,” Hansen said. “It’s something I’m extremely interested in. … Soya and specialty grains are very strong in the world, and that’s where my world is at right now.”

SunOpta was a member of Midwest Shippers, one of the two associations that merged to form SSGA, and that membership has carried over to Pipeline.

“SSGA, to me, has always been a valuable organization and alliance,” she said, “from the roots that it came from to the Midwest exporters such as ourselves in the specialty grains business. There are a lot of pressures put on the little guys, and the support and collaboration that can happen among members can be key to being successful as an organization and successful in the export of U.S.-grown products.”

Hansen was elected to an open seat on SSGA’s Board of Directors during the SSGA’s virtual annual meeting on Dec. 3.

“I found it to be a good opportunity to not only promote Pipeline as a company but also network and understand the challenges we face a little deeper than I have in the past. … It’s inspiring to me that a smaller group of people can make this big of a difference.”

Lee Steinhauer is the new market development project manager for Ag Management Solutions, the management company behind SSGA.

Lee Steinhauer has been involved in ag production pretty much since the day he was born.

He grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, one he continues to visit regularly to work alongside his father and brother. But he’s also spent much of his adult life working on the marketing and export side, becoming expertly versed in grain trading and shipping at various stops in his career.

“I’ve been building relationships on both ends of the spectrum,” Steinhauer says, “from farmers to international buyers.”

Steinhauer’s wide array of experience ought to serve him well in his latest stop. He recently joined the team of Mankato, Minn.-based Ag Management Solutions (AMS) as a market development project manager. One his main roles will be with the Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) with whom he’ll work to increase awareness of U.S. identity-preserved (IP) practices and educate customers around the world about the advantages of IP choices in premium field crops.

“I love being part of feeding the world,” Steinhauer said. “In the grain trade I was doing that, and it’s the same thing here, helping the U.S. farmer. It’s come right back home to me in southern Minnesota.”

Steinhauer is one of those famers himself, raising soybeans and corn in Walters, Minn. Since graduating from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a Bachelor of Science degree in business, he’s worked for different companies, learning the grain trade and working with farmers, processors and exporters alike, as well as with buyers around the globe.

“I’ve learned what the market is looking for,” he said.

He’s worked extensively with producers on growing and marketing specialty crops and has traded millions of bushels to processors and millions of MT for export. His experience also includes working with all shipping methods conductive to business, including container, truck, rail, barge and cargo vessel, helping move crops grown for export in the inland region of the United States to ports such as the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf of Mexico.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Lee to our team,” SSGA Executive Director Eric Wenberg said. “He brings a wealth of experience and a fresh viewpoint that will be huge assets for us as we continue to work on behalf of our members in the IP soya and specialty grains industry and better understand their needs, as well of those of our international customers.”

Steinhauer lives in Minnetonka, Minn., with his wife, Hilary, and their two cats, Wesson (White Foot) and Webley (Not White Foot).

Hired in November, just after harvest, he has hit the ground running.

“I’m meeting everybody and getting up to speed on things, getting prepped on the direction we’re going to go,” he said.

Rob Prather

There are advantages to working in a small business that operates, quite literally, on a global scale.

“We know the IP (identity-preserved) customers; we see their needs and opportunities first-hand and can directly react to assist,” said Rob Prather, the chief strategic ambassador for Iowa-based Global Processing. “The personal relationship is the cornerstone of our industry.”

Global Processing, which began operation in 2009, exclusively processes food-grade, non-GMO IP soybeans that can be shipped directly to food producers, whether those customers are in the United States or around the world.

“When the processed raw IP soybeans leave our door, they won’t be touched again until they’re turned into soy food and eaten,” Prather said.

Prather has been in the industry since 2008 and involved with Global Processing since 2015. He says Global Processing is always listening to its customers, asking them what they want and what they’re looking for. Those IP needs are evolving quickly with soy food innovation.

“We’re always looking at new varieties of soybeans,” he said. “We’re always looking at ways to help customers buy a better product so they can make a better product.”

Food producers are starting to see the value in those products, Prather said, so the efforts are working.

“The traditional grain market sees IP as a higher-cost product compared to non-IP grains,” Prather said. “Food producers that utilize IP realize the value of IP in production efficiency gains, a higher-quality and more-consistent retail product.”

Prather is an SSGA board member and serves on SSGA’s food grade soya action team. With more than a decade of experience connecting growers with international buyers, he traveled to Japan and many other parts of Southeast Asia in November to meet with current and potential buyers.

Prather also traveled to Ottawa, Canada, in February along with other SSGA board members and staff to meet with SSGA’s overseas technical advisers hired to promote IP crops abroad.

“The opportunity to learn more and more about IP products and IP players is something that excites me about this industry,” he said. “There’s always something new that can be learned. … I’m very grateful to have been able to meet with that group.”

During its second year of operations, SSGA is helping the IP industry reach those customers, Prather says.

“SSGA has a unique ability to specifically represent the market needs, issues and interests of IP field crop farmers and the buyers needing to utilize IP products,” Prather said. “Direct connections create awareness and understanding and build mutually beneficial relationships.”

Prather will be presenting “Supply Outlook for U.S. Specialty Soybeans for Food Uses” at the upcoming virtual Pan Asia Soy Food Summit June 9-11.