PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA, NE PERMIT NO. 36
Section
A
Volume VIII, Issue 8
AUGUST 2014
From west to east
ISA President Brian Kemp, of Sibley, gives a pair of gloves to a Chinese tea and soybean farmer in appreciation for her taking time to talk to the delegation in her tea field. Photo submitted
Soybean farming has a bright future
by Stasha Padgett According to Brian Kemp, president of the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA), the soy market economy has a bright future. Kemp recently traveled to China for ISA’s China Trade Mission project to learn more about soybean demand while exploring China’s dairy realm. This year’s trip lasted from July 23 to August 1 and marks Kemp’s third agricultural exploration to China. Kemp, of Sibley, said part of the trip’s focus was to observe and learn what was in store for the future of soybean farming and how soy meal might be a part of that future. He explained that one out of four rows of soybeans goes to China. “That’s just from Iowa,” he said. Kemp also explained that the Chinese government is try-
ing to become self-sufficient in their corn production, a crop they grow more of than one might think. The stereotypical view of every Chinese family working a lifetime in a rice paddy may slowly be going away. Kemp said that in order to become more stable, China is encouraging its citizens to move to the city in order to allow for higher yields of crop production. Think of how America is farming and that is sort of what China is aiming for. Kemp added that part of the rural-to-city transition is due to an improved economical status. “When you improve income, you improve diet,” he said and added that as China’s income has improved they have started to eat more meat. What’s the relation between meat and the soybeans? More meat means a higher need for feed products such as soy meal, which Kemp believes China will need more of. “The future of exported soybeans is very bright,” he said. When Kemp first started visiting China he expected to find a land that was vastly different from America, but as time has gone by he has developed a different philosophy. “The more I’m over there the more I think there are more similarities.”
Kemp explained Chinese farmers are just as concerned with issues like food safety, food security and environmental issues, and with the push toward larger-scale farming, the similarities should increase. During the ISA trip participants had the opportunity to visit a dairy farm in Inner Mongolia, which Kemp said added to the list of similarities. “It was very highly mechanized,” he said. Kemp said the Mongolian farm was complete with an 80cow circulation parlor that could be operated by only three employees. Most of the machinery was robotic, computerized and stainless steel. At the end of production the milk was picked up in bulk and delivered to a yogurt plant. He noted that unlike common stereotypes, everything was very clean, and if he hadn’t known he was in Mongolia he would have thought he was somewhere in the United States. While Asian farming may look more like American than one might think, Kemp did mention some differences. He explained China has many farming villages where they are trying to balance self-preservation and crop exportation. SOYBEANS, Page 5A