Josh Gackle, President of the American Soybean Association and a soy farmer from North Dakota, emphasizes the crucial role played domestically in nurturing international demand for soybeans. He highlights the collaborative eorts among national soybean associations, including the American Soybean Association, the United Soybean Board, and the U.S. Soybean Export Council, each contributing to the creation, development, and protection of international markets for U.S. beans, meal, and oil.
Gackle explains that the American Soybean Association focuses on safeguarding trade and market development interests from a policy perspective. Simultaneously, the United Soybean Board and U.S. Soybean Export Council spearhead the actual development of these markets, ensuring the quality and reputation of U.S. soy products is recognized globally. Their eorts also involve facilitating ecient pathways for U.S. farmers to meet the rising international demand.
Examining the broader U.S. soy complex, the top five markets during the 2022/2023 marketing year were China, Mexico, EU, Japan, and the Philippines. Notably, Vietnam experienced significant growth with a 40% increase in total U.S. soy complex imports, reaching 1 MMT. Other markets, such as the EU, Indonesia, South Korea, and China, demonstrated moderate year-over-year growth, while Morocco, the Philippines, and Ecuador saw slight increases.
Despite export volumes keeping pace with the previous five-year average, higher prices led to a 35.9% increase in the value of U.S. soy complex exports compared to the previous five-year average (2018/19 to 2022/23). The resilience of the U.S. soy export infrastructure, with its expansive and robust logistics, was highlighted as a key factor in meeting global needs.
The United Soybean Board collaborates with the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) to secure market access and enhance the preference for U.S. soy in various sectors globally. Ongoing initiatives include multilingual U.S. soy marketing, investments in animal nutrition and aquaculture research, the development of the Soybean Value Calculator, and partnerships to maximize the value of U.S. soy products while advancing sustainability through the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP) certificates and Sustainable U.S. Soy on-pack labels.
These combined eorts, led by organizations like the United Soybean Board, the American Soybean Association, State Soybean Boards, and USSEC members, have contributed to maintaining U.S. soy as the leading agricultural export for the United States in both value and volume.
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