Three Minnesota soybean farmer leaders attended the annual United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC) Southeast Asia Agricultural Leadership Summit in Auckland, New Zealand, last week.

Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) Director Keith Schrader and Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) Director Trevore Brekken attended the conference, along with MSGA Director and American Soybean Association Treasurer Bill Gordon. 

The conference, co-sponsored by the U.S. Grains Council, brought together buyers and sellers, including CHS, AGP Coops and major livestock and feed companies from Southeast Asia.

“There was a lot of really good content throughout the entire conference, and a lot of good takeaways,” says Schrader, a former MSR&PC chair. “I felt the network opportunities were also set up very well.”

Brekken, Minnesota’s 2017 DuPont Young Leader, and Schrader participated in a panel, discussing crop condition and farmer profitability. Gordon gave an update on the 2017 soybean crop while Seth Naeve, extension agronomist from the University of Minnesota, also spoke at the conference. Naeve compared the quality aspects in soybeans shipped through the Pacific Northwest versus other portions of the U.S. and Brazil.

Other presentations included market updates, bulk shipping trends, millennial buying trends, sustainability, soybean oil and global trends changing the face of agribusiness.

“All the topics covered were very good for the target audience,” Schrader says, “and the buyers and sellers were given ample time to build relationships.”