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4,229 Miles to New Insight
4,229 Miles to New Insight
While there is always a wealth of knowledge to be gained in our own backyard, sometimes it’s important to look beyond our native state or country and see how things are done in other places. This past July, I was able to be part of a group of Illinois Soybean Association staff and board directors that traveled to the Netherlands to see firsthand the agriculture industry and lessons that can be applied in ISA’s three main focus areas: soybean production, government relations, and market development.
On the soybean production side, the ISA group got a taste of what Dutch agriculture looks like. The Netherlands has a long and famous history of reclaiming land from the sea, with about 17 percent of the country’s land being reclaimed. This makes for interesting and relatively “young” soil profiles being studied at the World Soils Museum and Netherlands Institute of Ecology.
On the farm, the delegation saw how different the scale and type of farming can be there. On only a couple hundred acres you could see five different crops growing in a space that might only have one or two in the United States. Crops often included vegetables, especially potatoes. Of course, the size of the equipment matched the relatively smaller scale of the farming operations. A common thread between Dutch and American farmers is the use of cover crops as a weed control strategy.
A tour of the Port of Rotterdam gave a great perspective on the trade side of things. As the largest port in Europe, Rotterdam is the gateway port for the transshipment of American agricultural goods into Europe. This, of course, includes soybeans. With U.S. soybean exports to the European Union on the upswing in recent years, the Port of Rotterdam plays a vital role in getting U.S. soybeans into the European marketplace.
Finally, the importance of the public policy work the Illinois Soybean Government Relations team engages in was made apparent while visiting the Dutch farming operations. The group learned about the higher levels of environmental regulation in the Netherlands, impacting the use of fertilizers and pesticides by putting limits on how much can be used and when. This highlighted the importance of continuing to educate legislators on how policy decisions impact Illinois farm families, as well as finding policy solutions that encourage voluntary conservation while also ensuring that Illinois farmers are able to continue to grow their crops and keep food prices reasonable for the consumer.
The experiences from this trip gave great insight on how things are done abroad as well as the journey U.S. soybeans can take once they leave our shores. While there were differences, we also saw common threads. No matter where in the world you may farm, there is still the shared bond of growing crops to feed the planet. These opportunities help ISA staff, as well as myself and my fellow board members, to make the most informed decisions on behalf of Illinois soybean farmers. To take an even deeper dive into what was seen and learned, be sure to read the feature article in this issue.