Soybean Farmers: Apply to See Your Soybean Checkoff in Action

MANKATO, MN (08/02/2010)(readMedia)-- Minnesota soybean farmers are encouraged to apply for one of three special missions to "See For Yourself" how soybean checkoff dollars are working to improve profitability for farmers. Applications to participate in these trips are open to all Minnesota soybean farmers until September 15, 2010 at www.mnsoybean.org, or by calling Minnesota Soybean at 888-896-9678.

"The See For Yourself program provides farmers the opportunity to see where the soybean checkoff dollars are being invested and how demand is being created for their crop," said Gene Stoel, a Lake Wilson, Minn., farmer and chairman of the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council. " What better way to evaluate our effectiveness than to have farmers see for themselves and rate how we are doing?"

Following are the planned See For Yourself missions for 2011:

International Marketing, January 24-27, 2011

With approximately half of the soybean crop exported each year to customers around the world, international marketing is a crucial part of the checkoff's effort to enhance farmer profitability. This mission starts in the Twin Cities, with a visit to CHS, a global leader in grain exports. The group then flies to the other end of the Mississippi for a tour of the Port of New Orleans and visits to a CHS barge-loading facility and USDA's Federal Grain Inspection Service. From New Orleans, the group will fly to Atlanta, where the 2011 Internal Poultry Expo is being held. In addition to participating in key aspects of the Expo, the mission will include meetings with international customers.

Domestic Marketing, February 6-9, 2011

The Minnesota soybean checkoff literally launched the biodiesel industry in Minnesota. Checkoff dollars also support development of many other "new uses" of soybeans throughout the country. This mission will encompass both of these important aspects of soybean use. The first stop will be a tour of the Minnesota Soybean Processors Biodiesel Plant in Brewster, MN. From there, the group will fly to Phoenix, AZ, where the 2011 Biodiesel Conference & Expo is taking place. In addition to participating in key parts of the conference, the mission will include observation of manufacturing of various soybean-based products as well as biodiesel production in the Phoenix area.

Research, February 14-17, 2011

Each year, through their soybean checkoff, Minnesota farmers invest more than $1.5 million from their own pockets, to make our state's soybean crop better and to learn more about agriculture's role in protecting and improving water quality. The Research and Technology Transfer mission will start at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul for an update on the Minnesota soybean research projects now underway. From there, the group will fly to Raleigh /Durham, NC, for a visit to Syngenta Biotechnology research facilities at Research Triangle Park. Other aspects of this mission include updates on soybean, aquaculture and swine research at the University of North Carolina, a visit to the Virginia Water Resources Research Center at Virginia Tech University, a presentation on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Research Station, and a meeting on water quality initiatives with EPA.

The Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council is made up of an elected board of 15 soybean producers from across the state. The mission of the council is to invest soybean checkoff dollars in well-defined research, marketing, education and commercialization programs designed to increase demand and thereby improve the profitability of Minnesota's soybean farmers. For more information, visit www.mnsoybean.org.