December Soybean Study-USA Trip a Success

A group of MS AgEcon and senior agbusiness students went on a “Soybean Study-USA Trip: Cooperatives and Soybeans” journey in mid-December. Together with Darin Wohlgemuth, Amani Elobied and Bobby Martens, they followed soybeans from the farm gate in Eagle Grove, IA, through crush facilities, a biodiesel plant, and to ports in Washington state. They were hosted by CHS Inc (regional cooperative), AGP (regional cooperative heavily invested in soy processing), Gold Eagle Cooperative (local cooperative), TEMCO (joint venture between CHS and Cargill which operates ocean terminals), and Washington United Terminals, Inc. (ocean container terminal). The trip included visiting facilities and learning about topics such as renewable fuels policy, freight trading, and global markets from industry experts.