The American Soybean Association is "your advocate" in Washington, and is powered by the grassroots support of 22,000 members and 25 state affiliates. 

ASA Issues Call To Meeting Notice For Summer Board Meeting
Owensboro Grain, Zeeland Farm Soya To Sponsor Growers At Legislative Forum
Pioneer To Sponsor Select Young Leaders In Part III Of ASA Leadership Training
2009 REAP Tour States Chosen
ASA Membership Department Congratulates Top Recruiters
ASA President Visits Brownfield And Farm Journal
Agriculture Census Data Now Available By Congressional District
Farmers Hope To Grow Media Support With "The Hand That Feeds U.S."

ASA Meets With Top USDA Biotech Official
ASA Supports President Obama’s Budget Request For Aquaculture Research
ASA, CFAR Support Increase For Competitive Ag Research

ASA-IM China Promotes Advanced Feed Technologies
Soy Helps Indian Dairy Industry Meet Growing Demand
Feed International Magazine Spotlights Soy In Aquaculture Activities In India
ASA-IM And JOPA Meet With Leaders Of Japanese Crushing Industry
Turkish Egg Industry Gains Importance For U.S. Soybean Meal Demand
H1N1 Influenza Outbreak Impact On Mexican Swine Industry
AOCS Meeting Results In New Contacts For U.S. Value-Added Soybean Exporters

See For Yourself Program Allows Farmers To Evaluate Checkoff
Checkoff Funds Transportation Efforts To Keep Soy Industry On Track

This week on the Soy Radio Newsline listen to comments from ASA President Johnny Dodson as he reacts to and talks about the flaws in the EPA's proposed rule for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard. This report may be heard on SoyGrowers.com.

AT-A-
GLANCE

CBOT Futures 05/13/09

FAS Worldwide Weekly Sales Report as of 05/07/09
(1000 Metric Tons | Million Bushels or Pounds)

Settle

Net Change

This Week

Year Ago

% Change

SoyBeans

(09May) 1150.0

+124

28,034.9

1,030.0

25,484.3

9363

+100

SoyMeal

(09May) 378.5

+123

4,487.7

9,873

4,825.7

10,617

-7.0

SoyOil

(09May) 38.90

-0.49

4895

1,077

8170

1,797

-401

Owensboro Grain, Zeeland Farm Soya To Sponsor Growers At Legislative Forum   Owensboro Grain and Zeeland Farm Soya will sponsor growers to participate in the American Soybean Association’s (ASA) Legislative Forum held in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with the ASA Summer Board meeting. The Kentucky Soybean Association has identified Sam Hancock as the grower they will send to Washington. The Michigan Soybean Association is in the process of selecting their grower. Monsanto sponsors the Legislative Forum and since 2005, select National Oilseed Processors Association companies have agreed to sponsor growers to attend the program. These sponsored growers will get a unique opportunity to see the policy making process up front. Sponsored growers participate in a full day of learning from policy makers on issues affecting the soybean industry, then go to Capitol Hill the next day to lobby with their respective states on key policy issues. This year’s agenda for the Legislative Forum will focus on animal welfare, food safety and farm bill implementation. For more information on the Legislative Forum, contact ASA Corporate Development Manager Michelle Siegel at 800-688-7692, ext. 1328 or msiegel@soy.org.

Pioneer To Sponsor Select Young Leaders In Part III Of ASA Leadership Training   Pioneer has agreed to sponsor six couples or 12 individuals to attend the American Soybean Association’s (ASA) Legislative Forum in Washington D.C. An application process is currently being held so that Pioneer can select from the 2009 ASA/DuPont Young Leader class candidates that they want to pursue additional leadership training. Selected Young Leaders will participate in all of the ASA Legislative Forum activities beginning July 21, including Capitol Hill visit appointments with their respective state delegations. On Thursday, July 23, they will travel to DuPont Headquarters in Wilmington, Del. to pursue two days of leadership training activities and research facility tours. This is the first year for Pioneer to offer this unique opportunity for Young Leaders. They hope to be able to find a way for Young Leaders to get more involved with their state soybean associations and have a better understanding of what ASA does on behalf of soybean growers, as well as expose them to the DuPont side of the business. For more information on the ASA/DuPont Young Leader Program, please contact ASA Corporate Development Manager Michelle Siegel at 800-688-7692, ext. 1328 or msiegel@soy.org.

2009 REAP Tour States Chosen   Pack your bags and get ready for an incredible tour! The American Soybean Association (ASA) and the United Soybean Board (USB) are partnering once again for the 2009 Regional Exchange and Awareness Program (REAP) tours. Host states have now been identified: Virginia is the southern host state and South Dakota is the northern host state. Both of these states have unique and educational programs planned for REAP tour participants. Virginia’s tour is scheduled for Monday, July 27, to Friday, July 31, and South Dakota’s tour is planned for Tuesday, August 11, to Saturday, August 15. Agendas of the tours and updated information will be made available at www.soygrowers.com/reap/. There were many strong applications again this year and the states’ hard work putting these together is very much appreciated. It is now time to choose a participant from each state. Northern growers will go to Virginia and southern growers will go to South Dakota. If you are interested in participating, please contact your state association. Questions? Contact ASA Leadership & Corporate Development Manager Kathy Grunz at 314-754-1301 or email kgrunz@soy.org.

ASA Membership Department Congratulates Top Recruiters   The American Soybean Association (ASA) salutes the top recruiters for the month of April and thanks them for their outstanding efforts: Tommy Hines (Va.) 4 recruits, Brenton Bozard (S.C.) 3 recruits and Jason Eaddy (S.C.) 3 recruits are the top recruiters for Level 3 states (150 to 299 members). Peggy Bellar (Kan.) 9 recruits, Chad Elkins (Ky.) 6 recruits and Ron Davis (Ky.) 5 recruits are the top recruiters for Level 2 states (300 – 999 members). Dean Buhr (Iowa) 10 recruits, Dan Dreher (Iowa) 9 recruits and Wayne Fredericks (Iowa) 8 recruits are the top recruiters for Level 1 states (1000+ members). In the overall standings for the year, Bozard leads Level 3 states with 16 recruits, followed by Hines with 15 and MD Floyd (S.C.) with 11 recruits. Scott Hendrickson (N.D.) leads Level 2 states with 73 recruits, followed by Bellar with 51 recruits and Maynard Flatt (N.D.) with 42. In the battle for most recruits in Level 1, Robert Nelsen (Minn.) took over first place with an impressive 65 recruits and Earl Brandt (Iowa) dropped to second place with 63 recruits. An increase of one, for a total of 35 recruits, was enough for Kent Hodel (Ill.) to maintain third place. All ASA members are encouraged to recruit new members to ASA and their state soybean associations. In addition to helping build strong organizations, recruiters can earn valuable rewards from Cabela’s through the Recruiter Rewards Program. Members interested in becoming a recruiter should contact ASA Manager of Membership and State Relations Rita Hiscocks at 800-688-7692, ext. 1300 to obtain a Recruiter Kit.

Agriculture Census Data Now Available By Congressional District   Information from the 2007 Census of Agriculture is now available at the congressional district level in online profiles published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). "The new congressional district profiles provide a snapshot of agriculture at a local level," said NASS Deputy Administrator Carol House. "The information will help elected officials make decisions based on current and accurate information and they are a useful tool for farmers and others interested in American agriculture at the local level." The congressional district profiles show changes in key areas since the last census was taken in 2002. They include data on such things as the number of farms and acres in farmland, the demographics of local farmers, livestock inventory and crop production, and total sales of agricultural products. For more information about the Census and to access the congressional district profiles, visit www.agcensus.usda.gov or call (800) 727-9540.

Farmers Hope To Grow Media Support With "The Hand That Feeds U.S."   America’s farmers are extending an olive branch to the same urban media that have often been critical of agriculture, and some powerful U.S. lawmakers asked the nation’s reporters in a letter this week to give them a chance. "The Hand That Feeds U.S." is a new farmer-led project to improve relations with big-city reporters. "It’s not the newspapers’ fault," said Linda Raun, a rice grower from Texas who is participating in the project "We haven’t done a good enough job telling them our story. We’ve been negligent in explaining that farmers and farm policy feeds and clothes every person in this country, employs 20 percent of the nation’s workforce and will be at the center of America’s economic recovery." The Hand That Feeds U.S. is a multi-year effort that will consist of a webpage, www.TheHandThatFeedsUS.org, as well as a series of face-to-face meetings with reporters across the country. Even though the farmers admit they’ll never be able to match agriculture’s opponents dollar for dollar, they do have some high-profile cheerleaders on their side. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) published an open letter to the news industry on May 11, "respectfully urging [reporters to] take the time to learn more about this effort, U.S. farm policy and the farm and ranch families that keep American fed."

ASA Meets With Top USDA Biotech Official   The American Soybean Association (ASA) and other member organizations of the AgBiotech Planning Committee (ABPC) met with Max Holtzman, Senior Advisor to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on agricultural biotechnology issues. The ABPC includes producer organizations and processor, trade, biotech and seed companies that support biotechnology. It serves as a forum for discussing and developing consensus policy positions on biotech-related issues, and as an interface with Congress and Administration agencies. The meeting with Holtzman provided an opportunity for ABPC to raise various concerns that have carried over from the Bush Administration and still need to be addressed. These include the establishment of a workable policy on adventitious presence, both in the U.S. and in other countries, and improved transparency and synchronicity in the adoption of new biotech events, in the U.S. and abroad, based on sound science. ASA brought up the unresolved status of the World Trade Organization approvals case, which the U.S. won several years ago against the European Union (EU), and the long-standing request by ABPC members that the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) initiate a second case against the EU’s restrictive traceability and labeling regulation. Holtzman indicated he would be consulting within the USDA and with USTR and other agencies on these and other issues, and that he looked forward to working closely with ASA and other ABPC organizations in coming years.

ASA Supports President Obama’s Budget Request For Aquaculture Research   The American Soybean Association (ASA) expressed support for the Obama Administration’s budget request for aquaculture research that could increase demand for soybean meal in aquafeed. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requested an increase of $2 million for aquaculture research, some of which would be spent on studies on life-cycle cost analysis of aquaculture, marine fish hatcheries for stock enhancement, the environmental impacts of escapes from aquaculture, as well as sustainable feeds. ASA expressed its support for aquaculture research in a letter to Gary Locke, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Department that has oversight of NOAA. More than 80 percent of the seafood Americans consume is imported, and at least half of those imports are farmed seafood. "This funding is critical to NOAA’s research efforts that will help study the potential for offshore aquaculture," said ASA President Johnny Dodson. "Soybean farmers are working with NOAA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the auspices of the NOAA-USDA Alternative Feeds Initiative to support a broad spectrum of approaches to better understand marine fish nutrition." Aquaculture is the fastest growing form of food production in the world, and most of this growth is offshore and overseas. Seafood imports are the second largest contributor to the U.S. trade deficit at over $9 billion per year. "With increasing seafood demand and declining capture fisheries, global aquaculture production will have to increase by 500 percent by the year 2025 to meet the projected needs of a world population of 8.5 billion people," Dodson said. "We’d like to see the U.S. capture its share of this growing market."

ASA, CFAR Support Increase For Competitive Ag Research   The American Soybean Association (ASA) has joined the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research (CFAR) and 26 other interested groups in supporting an increase for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s competitive research program. The groups sent a letter to House Agricultural Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Ranking Member Jack Kingston (R-GA) supporting increased funding to at least $300 million in Fiscal Year 2010 for the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). AFRI was established in the 2008 Farm Bill and authorized at $700 million annually. It combines two other competitive programs (including the National Research Initiative), which have seen slow but steady funding increases from Congress and is now funded at $200 million. "We support full funding of AFRI at the authorized level of $700 million annually, and urge the Subcommittee to fully fund AFRI as soon as practicable, by FY13 at the latest… With the nation and world seeking solutions for climate change, sustainable fuel production, ecosystem health, food security and nutrition challenges, now is the time to grow investment in our nation’s food and agricultural research," the letter states. Increased funding for AFRI is a top appropriations priority for ASA. ASA Board member Joe Layton serves as President of National C-FAR. Read the full text of the letter sent to Reps. DeLauro and Kingston.

Soy Helps Indian Dairy Industry Meet Growing Demand   The Indian dairy industry grew substantially to an annual output of over 100 million tons of milk by 2007, with India’s population increasing its consumption of milk. Milk and milk products account for more than 60 percent of animal protein in a typical person’s diet in India and demand for milk is increasing due to increases in human population, urbanization and per capita income. Experts predict that per capita milk consumption will grow from the current 176 pounds per year to 275 pounds per year in 2020. Meeting this demand will require 160 million tons of additional milk production, thus milk cooperatives and private dairies in India are exploring options for improving milk production. American Soybean Association International Marketing Consultant S.P Vinil carried out a successful demonstration at Mulukanoor Women’s Cooperative Dairy that led to the acceptance and utilization of soy products in dairy rations. Both the Indian government and the National Dairy Development Board consider this cooperative a model for others in the industry, and therefore other operations are likely to adopt soy. The feeding demonstrations conducted on lactating cows and buffaloes showed that the inclusion of soybean meal and full-fat soybeans increased both milk and fat yield and resulted in four-fold increases in return on investment.

Feed International Magazine Spotlights Soy In Aquaculture Activities In India   The May 2009, edition of Feed International magazine highlights the Soy in Aquaculture program’s efforts to promote soy-based fish feeds in India and includes quotes from Soy in Aquaculture staff members. The two-page spread features information on the tremendous expansion of soy feeds in the commercial aquaculture industry in India over the past five years. By 2011, fish feed sales in India are expected to reach a half million metric tons. Soy-based feeds not only provide an efficient, high-quality protein source, these feeds provide an environmentally friendly, sustainable alternative to traditional Indian fish farming practices. Read the article from Feed International.

ASA-IM And JOPA Meet With Leaders Of Japanese Crushing Industry   Leaders of Japan’s Crushing Industry participated in a joint Japan Oilseed Producers Association (JOPA) and American Soybean Association International Marketing Japan reception hosted by Geoffrey Wiggen, Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs of the U.S. Embassy, at his residence in Tokyo. U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) Chairman Scott Fritz and Chief Executive Officer Miguel Escobar traveled to Tokyo to meet with the Japanese crushing industry’s top management, including Nisshin OilliO Group President Kazuo Ogome, who also serves as JOPA President, J-Oil Mills President Shinji Sasaki, who serves as JOPA Vice President, and representatives from other JOPA members. Wiggin made brief remarks noting that soybeans are one of the most important agricultural exports from the U.S., and the Japan and U.S. soybean trade is built on more than 50 years of friendly relations. Ogome called the U.S. the most reliable and important supplier for Japanese crushers. Escobar expressed his appreciation for the Japanese customers and pledged continued support from the soybean industry. Fritz expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to meet with customers in Japan and invited the U.S.-JAPAN Partnership or JOPA Team composed of crushers-traders to his farm in Indiana this August.

Turkish Egg Industry Gains Importance For U.S. Soybean Meal Demand   In 2008, the Turkish table egg industry expanded substantially despite the global economic downturn. Soybean meal consumption in Turkey’s egg sector increased by 11 percent (15,000 metric tons) in 2008. The value of egg exports was less than $20 million in 2006, but increased five-fold to $120 million last year. Increased egg exports drove this growth in soymeal use and the layer industry. Traditionally, Turkey exported to Iraq, Georgia, Syria, Israel and Azerbaijan. In 2008, egg sales to Europe opened and Europe is now poised to become the largest importer of Turkish eggs. The recent formation of the Turkish Egg Producers Association aided industry growth significantly. This association aggregates production and provides export marketing channels and incentives to Turkey’s local egg producer unions. American Soybean Association International Marketing (ASA-IM) Middle East began working with the new association immediately following its formation. ASA-IM conducted the initial seminar for members in June 2008, to provide technical support on improving egg quality. Plans are underway to increase technical assistance to the Turkish egg industry through seminars and one-on-one visits, as well as innovative market development approaches.

H1N1 Influenza Outbreak Impact On Mexican Swine Industry   The swine industry in Mexico was expecting an excellent year in 2009, after the crisis it experienced during 2007 and 2008 due to the increases in cost of feed. However, the announcement of the presence of H1N1, or "swine influenza," on April 24, caused fear among pork consumers in Mexico. For the two weeks after this announcement, pork sales fell by an estimated 80 percent. Mexico produces 100,000 metric tons of pork per month. Should consumption continue at 20 percent of its normal level, with an average price of US$5,150 per ton, this could represent a loss of 80,000 metric tons of pork sales volume, or $412,000,000 per month in losses to the industry. The swine industry has requested assistance from the federal government to compensate these losses. The swine industry utilizes 25 percent of the soybean meal used in Mexico. In marketing year 2007-2008, Mexico imported 1.1 million metric tons of soymeal from the United States. The swine industry uses an estimated 350,000 metric tons of U.S. soymeal annually. The Swine Producers Association in Mexico, with support from the Mexican federal government, will begin a pork promotion campaign in an attempt to bring consumption back to normal (estimates at 15 kilograms or 33 pounds per capita per year in Mexico). The campaign will focus on changing the negative perception for pork generated by this influenza, as well as to educate consumers that it is safe to eat pork and its products. American Soybean Association International Marketing Latin America is working with the industry to assist in this campaign. The swine industry estimates that pork demand will be back to normal levels in three months. Prior to the flu outbreak, Mexico’s imports of U.S. soymeal were at 820,000 metric tons; up 16 percent over the same period last year.

AOCS Meeting Results In New Contacts For U.S. Value-Added Soybean Exporters   U.S. Soybean Export Council Marketing Manager Greg Olwig participated in the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) Annual Meeting in Florida. During the meeting, American Soybean Association International Marketing Russia Consultant Maria Domoroshchenkova introduced Olwig to executives from two major Russian soybean meal and oil producers. As these producers export mainly to the European Union, the crushers import non-biotech soybeans The companies previously considered importing non-biotech soybeans from Brazilian companies. However, Olwig convinced the executives to meet with U.S. suppliers of high quality non-biotech enhanced soybeans.

The activities of the U.S. Soybean Export Council to expand international markets for U.S. soybeans and products are made possible through the American Soybean Association’s investment of cost-share funding provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, support from cooperating industry, and by producer checkoff dollars invested by the United Soybean Board and various State Soybean Councils.