Members of the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council traveled to Colombia for the two-day Latin America Product Showcase produced by the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Exporters and importers gathered to see examples of U.S. meat products available in Latin America. The goal was to highlight the quality and availability of those products.

Why do farmers go on these trips and what do they learn? Perhaps more importantly, what do Hoosier farmers bring back from these trips and overseas efforts supported by checkoff groups that benefit you at home?

Four of the growers on the Colombia trip attempted to shed light on those questions. They include Jenna Scott, ISA board member, Gaston; Carey McKibben, chair of ISA market development committee, LaGrange; Joe Stoller, ISA board member, Bremen; and Ron Hensley, ICMC board member, Daleville.

Why did you decide to go on this particular trip?

Scott: I am familiar with corn and soybean production and specialty vegetable production, but I wanted to see a different segment of agriculture. This trip was focusing on livestock and meat products. It was a chance to see where our corn and soybeans end up, and it helped me tie the entire chain together.

McKibben: I knew this event would reflect the value of adding checkoff dollars together from multiple sources to make something happen that one group could not pull off by itself. At the same time, it was encouraging to see how much the people there really want our products. Our challenge is to make sure we can provide the quality and quantity they need.

Stoller: I wanted to see how our checkoff dollars are spent. I had not attended a USMEF event before. After going, it appears that our dollars are spent wisely and efficiently.

Hensley: I’m amazed at how hard these people in USMEF are working not only for the meat people, but for the grain people. What they’re doing promoting products is helping everybody.

How will you think differently when you get home because of this trip?

Scott: I will engage pork and beef producers back home a bit differently. I have something in common with them now and a better frame of reference, knowing what their products are like in places like Colombia. It should help me better engage in conversations with them.

McKibben: The trip reinforced how important our livestock industry is to Indiana and all producers in the U.S., as far as getting products around the world, and in consuming grain to produce those products.

Stoller: I will think differently now when I drive by a chicken or pork production facility. It’s like when you dump soybeans into the pit at the elevator — you never know where they’re going to end up. Now I understand you never know where meat products will end up either.

Hensley: I want to pass along to pork and beef producers that they’re very well represented overseas by these various groups. If theirs is not the cheapest product, it needs to be the best. We need to keep quality up. It helps maintain these markets.