Even though it’s about 2,100 miles from Indianapolis to Cartagena, Colombia, several farmers representing the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) made the trip last week to learn more about the value of teaming up with other checkoff programs to grow ag exports.
“The bottom line is to get more soybeans, more corn, and more meat products beyond the borders of the U.S.,” says LaGrange County farmer Carey McKibben, who also serves as Chair of the ISA Market Development Committee.
He and other Indiana corn and soybean producers recently returned from Colombia from the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s (USMEF) Latin American Product Showcase.
“Representing the soybean industry in Indiana, why should I promote pork and beef in other countries? Well, it’s so much more efficient for us to have our cattle and hogs consume these raw products here and send the value-added someplace else,” according to McKibben.
He says the market in Colombia for U.S. beef, pork and poultry is rapidly growing and saw a pork loin from Indiana Kitchen being sold on a refrigerated store shelf while in Colombia.
“The biggest surprise was that Indiana pork was actually in a high-end liquor store that also sold meat and Indiana products,” says McKibben.
He recommends that the different checkoff programs continue working together to grow the value of all U.S. ag products.
“If we just decided for Indiana that we’re going to go to Colombia and then another checkoff decides they’re going to go there and do it separately, it’s just not an effective program. If we can combine our efforts, it does make a more effective program,” says McKibben.
According to the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council:
- In 2022, U.S. beef and pork exports used 35.7 million bushels of Indiana corn. Corn revenue back to Indiana generated by pork exports totaled $241 million. U.S. beef and pork exports contributed $192 per Indiana corn acre.
- In 2022, U.S. pork exports used 7 million bushels of Indiana soybeans. Soybean revenue back to Indiana generated by pork exports totaled $104 million. Pork exports contributed 13% of bushel value at $1.94 per soybean bushel value.
Click below for C.J. Miller’s radio news report for Hoosier Ag Today.
