Chinese businessmen visit area farm

A delegation of Chinese businessmen visited John Heisdorffer?s farm Thursday afternoon to learn more about Iowa?s soybean crop. Twenty-three persons from China are on a tour of the top soybean producing states from Sept. 18-28, and their stop at Heisdorffer?s farm south of Keota was one of many.

The purpose of the tour is to visit major soybean-producing regions in the United States and to strengthen the ties between American soybean producers and Chinese soybean importers. Heisdorffer said the business representatives present at his farm work for companies that collectively import 90 percent of all soybeans into China.  

Heisdorffer is a director on the Iowa Soybean Association and was the association?s president for one year. Heisdorffer led the tour of his farm and talked about the upcoming soybean harvest and how much he expected his crops to yield. Claudia Chong of the American Soybean Association?s international marketing office was at Heisdorffer?s side, translating his comments into Chinese.  

The Chinese delegation had just arrived from Bloomington, Ill., the previous day. Before that, they were in Indiana, and they were on their way to visit another farm in Minnesota. When they stopped at Heisdorffer?s farm, they wanted to know all about his costs, revenue and yield.  

?They?re trying to figure out how much profit we?re making,? he said. ?Normally, the last question I hear is, ?Why do you think your beans are so expensive?? They believe we should be able to produce our beans more cheaply and that they should be able to buy them more cheaply.?

Heisdorffer said that Chinese demand for soybeans has grown so much in the past few years that their domestic production has not been able to keep pace. As a result, China must import much of its soybean meal. Heisdorffer said about one out of every four rows of his soybeans is destined for China.

?Part of why they have such high demand is that they have so many people to feed,? Heisdorffer said.

According to the World Bank, China?s population was roughly 1.3 billion in 2009.  

?Those folks are starting to eat red meat,? he continued. ?They use a lot of soybean meal. Most of the meal goes to feed livestock. Their livestock industry is developing and their aquaculture is taking off.?

Heisdorffer said that what concerned the Chinese delegation even more than the price of soybeans was the reliability of the supply.

?They want to know what the crop is like over here,? he said. ?If it?s a poor crop in the U.S., they know they need to buy beans now because they?re going to get expensive and they may even run out.?

Mark Jackson is a director in the Iowa Soybean Association from Rose Hill. He said the Chinese delegation visits several states in the Midwest but its premiere stop is Iowa.

?They realize that Iowa is the leader in soybean production,? he said. ?Our relationship [with China] over these 25 to 30 years has proven to be a consistent one.?

Jackson was a member of an American delegation that visited China in July. He toured the fish farms in the country that consume much of the imported soybeans.

?We go all over the world,? he said. ?We go wherever there is an opportunity to create a market or establish an idea. They put the infrastructure in place and then they realize they need a good, stable source of soybeans.?

Jackson said that the amount of soybeans China uses as meal in its fish farms is equivalent to half of Iowa?s annual production.

?There is a great desire for fish in the United States,? he said. ?Overseas, they have the right labor cost-factor for it. We can?t compete growing the fish but we can produce soybeans, because they don?t have enough arable land to produce all the soybeans they need.?

Jackson said the solution to the problem is to grow soybeans in Iowa and trade it for fish raised in China.

Karey Claghorn is the chief operating officer in the Iowa Soybean Association and was the deputy secretary of agriculture. She has also visited China on trade missions.  

?Those missions are about building relationships,? she said. ?In Asia, relationships mean everything. You would walk into a room with buyers and they would say, ?We?ve been on your farm. We want to buy your product.? It?s a fantastic way to build those relationships and it also helps our farmers understand what their customers are looking for.?