Source:  PRESS RELEASE, 5/31/11

Ten U.S. soybean farmers from the Dakotas to Ohio will take part in an educational excursion with stops in St. Louis and Mexico, including at the massive PROAN farm, this summer as part of the United Soybean Board’s (USB) “See for Yourself” program.

The 10, whom soybean checkoff farmer-leaders selected recently from dozens of applicants, will learn about the use of soy biodiesel at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport travel on a river barge that transports U.S. soy and visit a company that makes soy ink, says Rick Stern, USB Audit & Evaluation (A&E) program chair and a soybean farmer from Cream Ridge, N.J. “They’ll certainly see a lot, and, just as important, they will have the opportunity to talk with the farmer-leaders who represent them on USB,” Stern says.

The A&E program focuses on ensuring that every dollar U.S. soybean farmers invest in their checkoff continues to produce a strong return for them, Stern says. “There’s no better way to show someone the value of their investment than to show them the results firsthand.” This year’s program will be held from July 25-30.

After learning about the checkoff in St. Louis, the 10 farmers will head to the number one customer for U.S. soybean meal – Mexico – and visit PROAN in Jalisco, which continues to feed the thousands of chickens and hogs it raises using U.S. soybean meal rather than that of other countries.
“It’s important for U.S. soybean farmers to see that such customers around the world rely on their hard work to grow the best soybeans in the world,” Stern says.

The 2011 'See for Yourself’ participants are the following:
• Britt Anderson – Nebraska
• Gary Berg – Illinois
• Drew DeSutter – Illinois
• Timothy Dunn – Michigan
• Tim Even – South Dakota
• Mark Huseth – Minnesota
• Crystal Martodam – North Dakota
• Trent Profit – Ohio
• Fred Paul Robinson – North Carolina
• Jeffrey Sorenson – Minnesota

Anyone interested in applying to next year’s “See for Yourself” tour should check back on the site starting in January 2012.