Soy Canada hosts virtual event targeting customers from Asia and Indo-Pacific

Jan 09, 2025

The second annual Canadian Soybean Harvest Update attracted more than 100 virtual attendees from Asia and the Indo-Pacific on December 10, 2024.

Hosted by Soy Canada, the live-streamed event brought together participants from Canada, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam.

“Demand for Canadian soybeans is strong in Asian and Indo-Pacific markets, making events like the 2024 harvest update the ideal opportunity to promote Canadian soy and add value to our industry by showcasing what makes Canadian soybeans the best choice for international buyers,” said Nicole Mackellar, manager of market development for Soy Canada.

The event featured keynote speaker, Ross Prusakowski, deputy chief economist at Export Development Canada, who shared insights on the global economic outlook.

Presenters Colin Richardson, a Canadian soybean exporter with Snobelen Farms, Ramzy Yelda, a market analyst with Quebec Grain Growers and Brian Innes, executive director with Soy Canada provided the latest updates on the record-breaking 2024 Canadian soybean crop, along with industry and market overviews.

A grower panel discussion featuring Melvin Rattai from Manitoba, Jeff Barlow of Ontario and William Overbeek from Quebec rounded out the speaker lineup.

Presenters also answered engaging questions from the international audience who shared their appreciation for consistent high-quality Canadian food-grade soybeans.

"We're seeing very strong demand for Canadian soybeans in those regions," added Mackellar. "We're really seeing strong growth in soy food markets, particularly in areas like Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand. As their populations continue to grow, we're continuing to see more and more demand for soy foods."

While the 2024 event was the second virtual harvest update, Soy Canada has been hosting multiple online market development events that complement the organization’s in-person outgoing missions to Asian and Indo-Pacific countries.

"We actually had a record-breaking production this year for soybeans," remarked Mackellar. "Our production levels hit 7.6 million metric tonnes this year which is the second highest level of soybean production we've seen in the county since soybeans started to be produced."

These events provide valuable opportunities to promote Canada’s soy industry by attracting soy buyers and food processors.

Source : Pembinavalley online

Video: Western Canadian Agriculture: Hard Times Made the World's Best Farmers

Western Canadian agriculture produced the most advanced farmers in the world not through abundance but through adversity. The crow rate fell. The wheat price went nowhere. The brown envelopes stopped.

When the subsidies disappeared, the bad farmers left and the good ones stayed. And the ones who stayed could not just grow wheat anymore. They started growing lentils and canola and peas and flax and faba beans. They built crop rotation. They got serious about agronomy because there was no government backstop. That process produced the Western Canadian agriculture Dennis Bulani describes in this clip: the most advanced, most educated farming culture in the world.

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The lesson Dennis draws from the tale of two farms: continuous improvement is the only durable strategy. When canola was $22 a bushel some growers went to Arizona instead of the Crop Production Show. When the price came down those same growers came back to the research and the discipline. Products do not go on Rack Petroleum's shelves unless they pass a replicated trial first. That is what Western Canadian agriculture built through hard times: farmers who do the work whether the times demand it or not.

Dennis Bulani is CEO of Rack Petroleum and Ultimate Yield in Biggar, Saskatchewan. Dan Aberhart hosts GTF Productions, Western Canadian Agriculture's foremost live briefing platform and its foremost AI training platform for ag operators