Chinese Soybean Buyers Pleased with Indiana Beans

A delegation of Chinese soybean buyers cutting a swath through parts of the United States included Indiana in their tour Saturday and Sunday. The group visited Kokomo Grain and the farms of Indiana Soybean Alliance directors Scott Fritz in Winamac, Kevin Wilson in Galveston and Gary Lamie in Westpoint, southwest of Lafayette.

One buyer at Lamie’s farm said he was quite impressed with Indiana farmers, their hospitality and their operations. He and the other buyers are also impressed with the beans they have seen in the fields, easing some of their concerns about the drought’s impact on bean supplies and quality this year.

“When they would break open the pods they were measuring the size of the seeds quite a bit and seemed to be impressed with the size. They look at the drought map online a lot, so they had a lot of curiosity about just how severe is the drought and what kind of yields we’re going to have. I think they were impressed with the ability of our soybeans to put on pods since the August rains started and recover, more or less, and add yield.”

Hosting foreign customers on his farm is something Lamie has done previously. He says it’s good business, and this Chinese group represents a lot of business.

“I think this group is responsible for buying most of the soybeans that China does, so it’s always good to learn about your good customers. And it’s important for them to feel comfortable with us and the way we do things.”

China is an important market for Indiana soybeans and they imported 895 million bushels of soybeans last year. That represents more than half of all U.S. soybean exports.

After Sunday’s final Indiana stop it was on to Illinois for the delegation. Indiana Soybean Alliance hosted the visit in conjunction with the U.S. Soybean Export Council.

Lamie said he has not yet started bean harvest but expects to later this week. He spent three days shelling corn last week, “and I’ve been very pleasantly surprised thus far both with yield and test weights. And I have not any issues with aflatoxin, so I’ve been very happy.”

So far yields are averaging 143 bushels per acre with moisture at 16 to 18 percent. He has taken it all to the elevator where quality tests are good.[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/09/Chinese-buyers-vist-IN-soybean-fiedls.mp3|titles=Chinese buyers vist IN soybean fields]Hear the full HAT interview with Lamie:[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/09/Gary-Lamie-on-Chinese-soybean-buyer-visit.mp3|titles=Gary Lamie on Chinese soybean buyer visit]