Eight South Dakota soybean producers recently returned from a five-day trade trip to Mexico. Their stops included poultry, dairy and swine production facilities, feed mills and rail delivery points where American soybeans were front and center.

Derrick Scott, a farmer near Gettes, SD, and treasurer for the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, was one of the tour attendees.

“We export $2.3 billion in whole soybeans and $896 million in soybean meal just to Mexico so they’re a huge buyer from us and very important part to local basis….” Scott said. “That’s why we have this trip… once you dump your beans at the elevator nobody knows where they go, but this you could actually see.”