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On Wednesday, the Ohio Soybean Council (OSC) and soybean checkoff signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment of Vietnam. The MoU promotes trade cooperation between the Ohio soybean industry and Vietnamese partners, including trade missions and promotional events.

Vietnam is the 13^th-largest consumer of U.S. Soy, importing 1.44 million metric tons of U.S. Soy last year. There is good growth potential in the country to supply its growing pork and aquaculture sectors with feed. Vietnam’s growing middle class has contributed to an increase in demand for soy foods – a demand that can be met by Ohio’s high quality food grade soybean production.

Logan County soybean farmer and OSC chairman Bill Bayliss signed the MoU on OSC’s behalf. “We are excited about the potential for this MoU to create more export demand for Ohio soybeans and further reinforce our commitment to providing high-quality soy to the Vietnamese people,” Bayliss said. “Thank you to Minister Duy and the rest of the Vietnamese delegation. The timing of this MoU could not be better to provide our farmers an additional market opportunity as we head into the growing season.”

The Vietnamese group, which included nearly 50 representatives from the livestock, meat, and fertilizer industries, was led by Minister of Agriculture and Environment Do Duc Duy. The group started their visit to the U.S. in Iowa, and will continue to Washington, D.C., later this week after visiting an Ohio farm and The Ohio State University.