Scott and Vicky Singlestad hosted a buyers mission this week at their 800-acre farm in Waseca. Eight countries were represented; the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) sponsored buyers from Romania and Vietnam.

“We’ve been doing this for a number of years,” Vicky says. “We have so much fun meeting people from across the ag world, and showing these folks how we farm in Minnesota.”

The buyers were accompanied by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Food Export Association of the Midwest USA. For every $1 invested in buyers mission, more than $20 returns to the United States economy, according to Theresia Miller, program manager at the Food Export Association of the Midwest USA.

“This is a really diverse group of buyers,” says Emily Jerve, a research analyst with MDA. “Coming to a farm like the Singlestad’s is what these buyers missions are all about.”

Jerve joked the buyers peppered her with questions on the drive to Waseca.

“I said, ‘Hold on, Scott will answer all your questions,'” she says, laughing. “For them to see this operation, it’s really important.”

Sure enough, the buyers arrived with plenty of questions for Scott Singlestad during their hour-long farm visit.

“I really enjoy talking with them and sharing our mutual experiences in the ag industry,” says Singlestad, a MSR&PC and United Soybean Board director who grows corn and soybeans. “I think we can learn a lot from each other.”

Kostis Galanakis, a pig veterinarian from Romania, was making his first trip to Minnesota. After visiting the Singlestad’s farm, Galanakis and the rest of the group were heading south to Des Moines, Iowa, for the World Pork Expo.

“This is a really nice place, and the people are nice people, too” Galanakis says. “I’m learning a lot about so many different parts of farming.”