A lesson on elevating soy from an elevator manager
When it comes down to it, the manager at your local elevator is your first customer. But everyone in the market helps determine how your soybeans are judged. For end-use customers from food companies to hog farmers, nutritional content matters. The protein and oil content of your soybeans could one day make a difference in what the markets look like at your elevator. But to get there, elevators – as well as farmers – have some work to do.
We caught up with David Wansley, who manages an elevator in Valley Park, Mississippi. Below, he shares thoughts on meal quality from farmers' perspective.
Q. Do you hear farmers talk about improving soybean oil and protein content?
Many of our farmers are starting to track their protein and oil content by sending samples to university labs. I think in the future, we’ll see those measurements adding value to the soybean. And when you’re looking at more value, what’s good for farmers is good for the co-op.
Q. What would it take for your elevator to offer an incentive for higher protein or oil content?
Since so much of our crop goes to export, the buyers on the river would need to offer pricing based on those components before we could start offering that to the co-op members who deliver here. I think it would be worth it if our elevator could offer a premium, even if that meant investing in more storage and separation capabilities on top of measurement machines.
I could see my group of farmers investing in the technology it would take to report on-site in the near future. If we get started now, we can start building soybean component quality for our customers.
Q. When farmers deliver to your elevator, do they get a protein and oil readout?
Not yet. It sounds like we’ll need reliable instruments for measuring oil and protein. The process to start reporting shouldn’t be difficult, so it will come down to deciding as a group that it’s worth the investment.
In the long term, monitoring and continuing to improve the components of soybeans is how we’ll build a market where we’re paid based on quality.
Q. Why would farmers want to know their component value at delivery?
As farmers do their regular soil testing and choose seed varieties, they can look back on that information to make sure they’re making the best decision for themselves and their customers.
I think farmers are already seeing that while they have higher yields every year, it’s not just about the bushel. Since we get paid on weight, we definitely want that weight to be full of valuable meal and oil for our customers.
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