USSEC IGP
Participants in the USSEC Oilseeds and Grain Purchasing Resources and Tools Program visit a soybean farm near Topeka, Kansas, U.S.
Photos courtesy of IGP.
 
MANHATTAN, KANSAS, U.S. – By utilizing educational and training resources through the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the collaboration of USSEC and the IGP Institute hosted a program to further the knowledge or education of the feed industry to international customers for exports of U.S. soybeans.

The USSEC’s Oilseeds and Grains Purchasing and Resource Tools program was held July 18-20 at the IGP Institute Conference Center in Manhattan, Kansas, U.S. The program trained 29 participants from 10 countries representing the Central and South American and Caribbean regions.

“It’s interesting to know about all of the tools from this course for risk management,” said Alfonso Pérez, purchasing manager at Productora Pecuaria Alpera Sapi De CV in Tepic, Mexico. “They will be beneficial to make better purchases for our company.”

USSEC IGP
Rodrigo Martinez, risk management consultant at INTL FCStone Financial Inc., LLC, discusses technical analysis during the USSEC Oilseeds and Grains Purchasing Resources and Tools Program.
 
The program included presentations and workshops led by faculty and staff of the IGP Institute, USSEC, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and experts from private companies such as Intl’ FCStone Merchant Services, LLC.; ADM North America; Simpson, Spence and Young, Limited; and Commodity and Ingredient Hedging, LLC.

The training also included a trip to the Kansas Soybean Commission in Topeka, Kansas, U.S., and tour of a soybean farm nearby.

Presentations included topics such as the USDA’s export credit guarantee and facilities guarantee programs, options on futures trading, CFTC’s commitment traders, technical analysis, option trading and the Greeks, the impact of the origin of soybeans in soybean meal, U.S. soy sustainability and hedging workshops.

“Participants heard from industry experts and have been very good at engaging with not only the instructors but the other attendees as well,” said Jay O’Neil, IGP Institute senior agricultural economist. “They’ve heard from expert presenters from the industry and this group of participants have been having a really good give-and-take session with presenters and it’s been a fantastic week.”