The sector delivers dependability and quality
Ottawa-Thanks to record yields, good quality and strong demand, Canadian soybean growers are coming off a remarkable year, says Brian Innes, Executive Director of Soy Canada.
The Sustainable Canadian Soy program, launched two years ago, now is used by a significant portion of exporters, Innes told Soy Canada’s annual meeting. “By working together we’ve created a tool that’s easier for farmers and easier for exporters to provide our customers what they want.
“In just over two years, we’ve gone from the launch of the program, to now having a large portion of our exporters implementing the program with growers in Quebec and Ontario. From continued excellence in connecting our value chain with our customers, to building out the food grade variety finder, we continued our tradition of excellence that Canadian soybeans are known for.”
Soy Canada’s variety finder is helping customers know what to expect from the leading varieties and over the last year more people than ever before visited the variety finder website. “We connect with our customers, we enable business, and we come together to share a clear value proposition for Canadian soy. We had strong engagement from farmers and exporters, reaching more end users than ever before.”
Soy Canada works to resolve emerging and ongoing issues by bringing the sector together to be more effective at working with governments and import partners, Innes said. “It helps our members have better knowledge so that they can mitigate trade risk, as well as created expanded access to international markets, for the more than 70 per cent of our soybeans we sell to international markets,” Innes said.
The past year for international trade has been unprecedented, unpredictable and volatile. “But if we look beyond the megaphone we’re blasted with from our southern neighbour, our customers and their governments are much more focused on how we can have predictable rules. And Canda as a trusted and reliable supplier stands out in a world of chaos.
“Our role in this seeming chaos, bringing our value chain together to be effective at engaging with governments in our export markets and meeting market requirements can pay dividends. What we’ve seen over the past year is promising. Promising by making progress on what we can control in a volatile and uncertain world.”
One of the greatest highlights of the past year was the transition and renewal of the Soy Quality Program. “The industry came together to identify new funding, a modernized mandate and a new delivery partner in the Canadian Grain Commission. Today, our dedication to excellence in soy quality testing remains strong.”
The sector has made incredible progress together on sustainability and had another record-breaking customer mission. “It’s remarkable that we’ve done all of this in a time of conflict, uncertainty, and volatility.”
Canada and Soy Canada are well positioned “to step carefully and purposefully forward. What I see is that we can be a supplier and partner of choice for our customers and their governments.”
Canadian soy can be “a beacon of stability in an uncertain world. We can seize the opportunity created when customers are looking for stability and predictability. We can be the supplier that is trusted and reliable. Not everyone can say this.”
This news item prepared for National Newswatch