Indo-Pacific mission connects Canadian value chain with customers

Feb 23, 2024

Ottawa, Ontario – In the competitive Indo-Pacific market, demand for quality Canadian soybeans is strong. That was the message shared by current and potential customers when the value chain delegation led by Soy Canada visited the region in early February as part of an outgoing mission.

“We heard loud and clear that the quality of Canadian soybeans is appreciated by our customers,” says Nicole Mackellar, market development manager at Soy Canada. “Our mission succeeded in helping our customers understand Canadian soybeans and helping us hear clearly what’s important to them.”

With record participation from the Canadian soybean industry, including 20 representatives from Canadian soybean export companies along with farmer representatives from four Canadian provinces, the delegation connected with more than 150 current and potential customers in Japan and Thailand. This year marked the first mission to Thailand, a country that is quickly emerging as a large market for Canadian soybeans. The mission provided the group with opportunities to meet with representatives through seminars, industry association meetings and facility visits.

“Sustainability and the importance of a reliable, consistent supply of soybeans were two things raised consistently by our customers, and the good news is these are both areas our Canadian industry is investing in,” says Mackellar, explaining that customers were enthusiastic to learn about the Sustainable Canadian Soy verification program and the commitment Canadian soybean growers have to sustainable practices. Mackellar also notes that sustainability is a focus for end users in Japan, especially with the younger generation that seeks information on the sustainability of products they purchase.

Soy Canada hosted seminars in each country, featuring information about the Sustainable Canadian Soy program, a review of the 2023 growing season and a global soybean market overview. The Canadian delegation featured speakers from across the Canadian soybean value chain, as well as representatives from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Grain Commission. The new executive director of the recently formed Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food office was a keynote speaker at the seminar in Thailand, sharing Canada’s commitment to being a partner to promote stable and predictable trade in the region.

Soy Canada is a national value-chain organization for the soybean sector, including seed companies, Canada’s 30,000 growers, exporters and processors. Created in 2014, Soy Canada leads the sector’s efforts on market access and market development, provides industry leadership on issues affecting the growth and profitability of the soybean sector and coordinates research efforts across the value chain and across the country.

Source : Soycanada

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.