South Dakota Soybean Processors, a farmer-owned company started in 1994, has done something of a turnaround. It lost money two years ago. But in 2012 it made money and expects to generate more profit in 2013. Launched in 1994 by about 2,400 soybean growers, SDSP crushes soybeans and makes soybean oil and meal. Last year, it began further refining some of its soybean oil into food grade salad oil. It also began producing some high-value byproducts from the salad oil, such as lecithin and…

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The great thing about being out and about at farm events is the stuff you hear. At the Pioneer Hi-Bred International ribbon cutting for its corn and soybean research center expansion in Volga, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard said that his trip to China was an eye-opener. On a 400-mile drive through China’s major agricultural province he and his group only saw four tractors. Everything else was being done by hand. And corn that looked as if had been spilled asphalt by a passing…

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At the second day of the NDSU Extension Lake Region Round Up, I heard several tips on how to control dandelion and Canada thistle in cropland, push soybean yields to new yield heights and how to write a flexible cash rent that’s a winner for the landlord and the tenant. Best spring dandelion control –Express plus glyphosatefor fields to be planted to corn or soybeans. Greg Andres, NDSU Extension agronomist, Carrington Research and Extension Center., says field should be…

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I was intrigued some of things South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council leaders and staff said they learned on a recent trade trip to China. Some of the points were serious and helped me understand the China market better. Some were just plain fun. All were interesting. According to South Dakota Soybean’s “Scoop on Soybean” blog, some of the top things they learned were: "Soybean demand in China fluctuates with the Chinese New Year holiday. The Chinese…

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We spent our last day in Brazil at farm show. It was a grand outdoor ag expo modeled after the Farm Progress Show. The Illinois Soybean Association board members that I am with were met at the show by television crews, newspaper reporters and radio broadcasters. Even in the U.S. farmers usually don’t get this much attention. "Why are you here?” all the reporters asked. Ron Moore, the ISA chairman, explained that the group had traveled to the country to learn about…

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The farmers on this Illinois Soybean Association tour of Brazil are definitely high tech. They use some of biggest, most sophisticated farming equipment in the word. They are at ease with Global Positioning Systems, variable rating seed equipment and auto steer technology. They are forever using their Smart Phones, I-Phones and IPods to connect to their word back home as they travel from soybean farm to soybean farm in Brazil. So when we pulled up to the Immigrant Memorial in Castro…

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"Wow, look at those beans!,” someone exclaimed as we got off the bus at a farm near Castro, Parana in the southern Brazil. The soybeans in this field were waist high and a deep green color. Perfectly spaced straight tire tracks from self propelled sprayer crossed the field like they were stitching on a emerald quilt,   We had come to see this farm operated by Frank Dijkstra and his family. Dijkstra is no-till pioneer in Brazil and a world recognized leader in the movement…

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We toured Brazil’s biggest soybean port – Paranagua. It located on the southeast coast of Brazil – more than 600 miles from state of Mato Grosso where the soybeans grown. Though modern and efficient, the port is one of the major bottlenecks in getting Brazil soybeans to markets. It’s said that trucks wait in lines stretching 60 miles to unload during the peak of the export season. The round trip from Mato Grosso to the port can take up to three weeks. Apparently, the…

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At 7:30 a.m., the Nativ Farm outside of Primavera, Mato Grosso, it was buzzing with activity. As we arrived for our tour, the farms’ spray plane roared off the grass runway. Three self-propelled sprayers zipped through yard. Fertilizer trucks groaned under the weight of ammonium sulfate as they rolled out of the compound. Apparently, it is always busy on Brazil’s big soybean farms. They grow soybeans, corn, cotton and dry beans year round and they put on a lot of crop…

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Finally made it to a farm on my trip to Brazil with the Illinois Soybean Association And boy, did the farm live up to its billing. We boarded the bus in Cuiaba at 7 a.m. and headed northeast. The land outside of town was a surprise. I was expecting soybeans fields to start right on the edge of the city – Cuiaba, after all, is the center of Brazil’s agriculture engine. But the land was covered in trees and shrubs – the savannah, our Brazilian guide called it. After…

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