Page 45 - Export or Bust eBook

Since that time, demand for U.S. soybean oil in Egypt
has grown from about 22,000 tons to 720,000 tons last
year.

“All it took was letting him taste good soybean oil and
getting someone to show him how to make it in his
own country,” Baize added. “That’s just one of the
things you can do to help consumers in an entire
country use a product they haven’t used before.”

Of course, obtaining market access, building
relationships with buyers and developing new export
sales to other countries is not quick or easy.

“You don’t just make a deal with the first phone
call,” emphasizes Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC). “In China, it
took 36 years of trying to build up markets and relationships with marketers. Many years went by
before a single soybean was sold.”

The American Soybean Association (ASA) first opened an office in Beijing in 1982 – a time when
China had the largest swine herd in the world but most of it was fed in backyards with a ration that did
not include soybean meal. China also produces more fresh water fish than the rest of the world
combined, and none of its fish feed included soybean meal 20 years ago.

Through a long-term and comprehensive program to demonstrate the value of soy-based feeds, the ASA
and the USSEC helped build demand for soybeans to the level China imports today. Since 1995, while
feed use in China grew by 140 percent, soybean meal used in animal feed rose an unprecedented 839
percent. And we've seen the amount of soybean meal used in aquaculture feeds grow from zero just 20
years ago to 7 million metric tons this year. Soybeans are just one of hundreds of commodities and
specialty products that are in search of new international markets.

Since the 1950s, U.S. farmers and agribusinesses have tirelessly worked with officials from USDA (and
since the 1960s, a special trade representative) to tear down barriers, open export markets, and build
sales that ultimately support farm income and American jobs. They’ve used a variety of tools and
programs, including two USDA cost-share programs that, in partnership with farmer-funded checkoff
dollars, have played a vital role in expanding U.S. farm sales abroad: the Market Access
Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program. (For the entire list of USDA
market development and food aid programs, click here.)

The far-reaching outcomes - from apples to nuts, pork to soybeans and wine - are noteworthy for
farmers and the broader U.S. economy. Every $1 billion in agricultural export revenue supports 8,100
jobs, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service. That equaled about 1.1 million American jobs
in 2017.

And with net farm income forecast to decrease $4.3 billion from 2017 to $59.5 billion in 2018, farm
exports play an especially important role in supporting markets for farmers and ranchers. As a share of
total gross farm receipts, U.S. agricultural exports were projected to account for 33.4 percent of gross
cash earnings in 2017, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

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