Transcript
Speaker: Hello, my name is Stephen Kilgurn. I'm the managing editor of Feeding Grain and the host of the Feeding Grain podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today as we dive deep into the issues affecting the feed manufacturing, grain handling, and allied industries. Today's episode is brought to you by the Benwip from New Mat Systems. The powerful dual impact Benwip removes the toughest buildup and blockages in industrial storage silos without hazardous silo entry.
Speaker: Learn more today at binwhip .com. Today I'm talking with Ed Lamer, Soybean Farmer and United Soybean Board Vice Chair. We talk about the United Soybean Board's largest ever budget, projects that the board is working on, and the importance and value of getting involved in advocating for your industry.
Speaker: I hope you enjoy the interview. If you want to help out with the podcast and are listening to this in a podcasting app, please rate us and subscribe. If you're listening online, sign up for the feeding grain newsletter industry watch to see the new podcast drop and stay up to date with all the news from around the industry. Now onto the show. Hi, Ed. Thanks for joining me today. Good morning. Hello. I'm happy you're here. Can you give me a little bit of an overview, kind of who you are and your relationship to our industry?
Speaker: Yeah, so I'm Ed Lammers. I live in the Northeast part of Nebraska, fifth generation farmer. We raise soy, corn, alfalfa, and some rye. We currently have about 200 head of stock cows that we raise the babies and then we take them to harvest. And when I say we, my son's involved in the operation also and has kind of went out in that endeavor and selling the beef privately to individuals.
Speaker: and it's been a great asset to our operation. I've been on the Nebraska Soybean Board for six years and now this is my eighth year on the United Soybean Board, currently the vice chair of the 77 member board.
Speaker: It always amazes me. You have this big operation. You're obviously working on the farm. And then to also devote your time to a board and to advocating for your industry is always kind of amazing to me that you find the time to do it, if nothing else.
Speaker: Well, it's a great opportunity. I mean, it does have this challenge is don't get me wrong, but the opportunity to learn and grow and and to be more aware of, and then also to be a voice in the development of projects or demand or research or education. That's just a great opportunity and a growing opportunity for myself.
Speaker: Well, I mean, we're glad you do it. So I have you on here to talk a little bit about the United Soybean Board and your mission. You guys just had a big meeting where you passed your budget for 2025 and it sounded like a pretty exciting time because you guys are really going all in. You're investing a lot in the industry this year. Can you tell me a little bit more about the United Soybean Board's mission and what its impact is and kind of soybean commodities? What is out there in the US market?
Speaker: Yeah. So our mission statement actually is to provide soy solutions to every life, every day. So that's quite a statement. And to achieve that, you have to be in certain aspects of the marketing, development, production, transportation, education, best management practices. It's a wide variety.
Speaker: of opportunities and to achieve all those opportunities, we have actually eight working groups. The three main ones are are innovation technology, health and nutrition, and infrastructure and connectivity. And on all three of them, there's a supply, which you can think of the supply being anywhere from the development of a seed or a seed germ.
Speaker: to the delivery of the mass product, soybeans, to the elevator. And then the demand side is anywhere from that delivery point to the elevator to the very end product, whether it's soybean oil, soybean meal, soybean hauls, or even as far as biofuels, soy foam, fire resistant soy foam, tennis shoes, asphalt, ah grass turf,
Speaker: There's over a thousand products that soy is involved in and it's just a really wide variety. And that's part of the beauty of being involved and and trying to understand and being educated on what I am doing here on my farm that influences customers worldwide. And that's exciting.
Speaker: Yeah, it is. It is a very global impact that farmers here in the US were in. I'm in Wisconsin. So we're surrounded by soybean feelings. And every time you drive by, you're like, yeah, that corn, that soybean, that might end up but across the world feeding people in other countries. And that's pretty amazing when you really think about it. Can you talk a little bit about some of the projects and innovations that the u United Soybean Board will focus on this coming year, especially with this big budget being passed?
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely. $170 million dollars budget is ah is substantial, right? So with all those opportunities, the directors are focused on some new projects this year, like the artificial intelligence and the tools that become available with that. And then also how that can affect our sustainability score, our lower carbon footprint scores. So we're kind of busy on collecting that data.
Speaker: and how that can be positive for US soy producers. Other things are like infrared and spectrum imaging of the soybean grading systems. To quote one of the workgroup leads, he's saying, we're going to try to be more precise on our grading. We'll try to eliminate the human uncertainty or and not consistent. We're looking into that value, which that would bring to the US producers. And then not only them, but for all the the value chain down the line, whether it's the elevator or the processors or the food companies that use our products. So that's basically in the the infrastructure connectivity. Also, we've done some dredging.
Speaker: in ah multiple ports. We've done an expansion at Port Grace Harbor that's out in the west coast and St. Lawrence Seaway, Lock and Dam 25 and then also the lower Mississippi. Now we didn't do the dredging but we ah collected the data that was needed by those partners that we are involved with to to get the information that is needed to make a good decision and that's all in that one work group.
Speaker: Now in the health and nutrition work group, you know, we both have the supply and demand on both of these work groups. In the health and nutrition, we look at soybean meal. There's been an added crush capacity in the United States and and most of that's being driven by soybean oil.
Speaker: So with the demand of soybean oil we're having more meal and when you take the soybean about 80 % of it is soybean meal and the other is oil. So that demand for oil has caused more meal to come on the market and we've been doing some studies and research that um We're finding health benefits in swine diets by increasing the inclusion rate of their diets. And that's really exciting. And we can see efficiencies in poultry and pork with those higher inclusion rates. Also, we're looking at
Speaker: biotech traits and genetics in high lake oil. It's not a commodity being, but it's a really exciting being that where it does a lot of health benefits, has environmental benefits that are better than our commodity being. So with those bio traits and genetics, we're trying to get more, more ranges in the maturities.
Speaker: You know, in the United States we produce soybeans in North Dakota and Texas. So the environment's a little different in those two areas. So we need all those varieties to try to fit in the regions where production is being made.
Speaker: You know, and then I talked a little bit about the biofuels, you know, that's been exciting. Been real positive for US soybean producers. We're real hopeful that we continue with that, whether it's in biodiesel or renewable fuels, or even sustainable aviation fuel. I think it was last year, biodiesel renewable fuels was used in 8 .9 billion gallons.
Speaker: Well, this year we're looking at 12 .8 billion gallons. That's a pretty good increase. and And that is some of the reason why we're having more crushed capacity being domestically crushed here in the United States. So also with some of those in this here health and nutrition area, we're on the supply side, we're trying to manage pests.
Speaker: whether it's slugs or soybean cyst nematol. That's in a region, you know, out and in the east and northeast where it's really a hard pest to kind of manage. You really never know when you're going to get them. You kind of anticipate it, but it's not a for sure thing.
Speaker: also other things like deer coming in from the yeah wooded areas, consuming the soybeans when farmers plant. There's a technology out there that you might be able to plant like the outside 12 rows that don't taste as good to those deer. So they won't come into the field and consume the rest of it. So, you know, just little things like that that we're looking at and trying to develop just to enhance those producers' production. We're building demand and and we're building our production.
Speaker: We want to have the production for the demand that we're building and and we're looking at many things to achieve them, whether it pest, engine pests across different soil types, tillage methods, times of application, soybean aphids, you know, we generally have that and we need to know when it's most optimum to be trading for them In infrastructure and connectivity, we talked about soy -based circular with soy -based chemistry is being developed for post -secondary students and trying to train the future of the workforce to be interested in animal ag or ag in general.
Speaker: Also, export. So that's the other one that one of the other work groups, we have an export promotional group. So they are investing soy producers check off into soybean meal, whole soybeans. We used to try to look into oil, but now we have that domestic oil.
Speaker: demand here. We don't really look as hard to export oil, but we look at meal and whole soybeans. But then we also look into that value -added perspective where we have animal ag production in the United States, whether it's poultry or pork. We support USMEF, which is United States Meat Export Federation, they export pork, beef and lamb. And then we support the Yousapique, United States Poultry Export Council. And we help support them exporting poultry around the world or finding new markets to export into. Also, Yousac is a major partner of ours where they're the United States Soybean Export Council, which they emphasize on the meal and
Speaker: the soybean in itself so then the other other work group that i haven't talked about yet is our communication education work group which they take our ideas or our projects or and share it through the target areas that they feel a certain topic would be most effective in or the most education, whether it's to farmers or customers that live in the urban cities. So that area is interesting in itself. that is ah It's hard to put a grasp on how United States soybean producers can touch and have have a difference, make a difference in customers' lives throughout the world and in the United States.
Speaker: So, you know, there's one thing we really, we really monitor really well at United Soybean Board, and that's the return of our investment. So every dollar that we invest, whether it's in any of these work groups, the average return of investment's been $12 .34. Now we're doing a new return of investment in over the last five years where that study is going to be out here, oh, I think within a couple months.
Speaker: But so far, what we've seen is going to be very similar to the the last return of investment study we did. Now, I don't want to confuse anybody, but some work groups are higher in the return of investment than others. And I just want to make sure everybody understands that the board looks at this. We monitor that. So for instance, some work groups, it's harder to put a value on an education for a producer that might or might not bring back a higher return of investment, but that producer may utilize that to become more productive, more sustainable and lower the carbon footprint. So there's great attributes there that not can't always be monetary guys. So, but overall $12 and 34 cents on every dollar investment. That's pretty remarkable. And we foresee that keep that going in that direction in the future. Yeah. I mean, it's a really exciting time to be in the soybean industry. It really is. I mean, there's a lot happening and how can people
Speaker: who are interested kind of get involved in what the United Soybean Board does. How do you get on committees? Where can you donate some money? Where can you do all these things? The best spot to start probably would be go to the website unitedsoybean .org, unitedsoybean, all one word, dot org, and look for opportunities there. There's other opportunities. You can even go to your extension office and receive information. You can go to your local county organizations, associations,
Speaker: You also have their state QSSBs. You can also get involved at the United States Soybean Board. So there's an election there. It happens like in the state of Nebraska, there's nine directors on the state QSSB. And then Nebraska has four directors on the United Soybean Board. And that's a nomination from the Nebraska State Board. You can put your nominations in there for a seat on the National Board.
Speaker: And then the state will bring forward two names. And that goes in front of the Secretary Ag. And then the Secretary Ag chooses a name of the two to be the director. drctor I really would encourage everybody just to get involved locally, statewide, nationally, wherever your desire or you see an opportunity.
Speaker: It's challenging, but yet it is so rewarding. you You learn so much. It's just a great opportunity and puts you in places to where you better understand the world and how it all works and the infrastructure, the production, the processors and all that. It's bigger, broader picture when you get more involved. Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Ed. I really appreciate it.
Speaker: And I hope you'll come back again as you guys start to get some of these projects out and we can talk a little more detail about them. Awesome. That sounds great, Stephen. And everyone out there, thank you so much for listening. Until next time, stay safe.
