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With the uncertainty tariffs have brought, now is a crucial time to start building new international markets and maintaining good relationships with current trade partners. In August and September, the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) helped achieve both of those goals by hosting trade team visits with representatives from South Korea, Japan and China. The groups came to study and estimate yields, protein and other quality aspects of the year’s U.S. soy crop. They will use this information to assist in the forecasting for their upcoming purchasing of food grade soybeans.

The visits were arranged by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), whose mission is to maximize the use of U.S. soy internationally by meeting the needs of key stakeholders and global customers. According to USSEC, the trade team buyers have an interest in buying U.S. soy, regardless of the current tariff situation.

Bill Bayliss, OSC’s secretary and a soybean farmer from Logan County, hosted trade teams from South Korea and Japan. “I think the trade team visits are great because buyers from other countries
are able to put a face and a farm to the soybeans they buy,” he said.

“Ohio soybeans are consistently very high in quality and protein,” explained OSC Executive Director Kirk Merritt. “These trade team visits offer a chance to show our global partners just how good
they are.”

If you are interested in hosting a trade team on your farm, please contact Katie Bauer, OSC’s Global Demand and Market Development Coordinator, at kbauer@soyohio.org.

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