Market Expansion Spotlight: Animal Agriculture

December 28, 2018 Ohio Soybean Council

In 2019, each issue of Ohio Soybean News will look at a different market segment where the Ohio Soybean Council is working to expand opportunities for Ohio soybean farmers. The January/February issue is all about soybeans’ number one customer: animal agriculture. The meal from nearly 30 million bushels of Ohio soybeans are fed to pigs, chicken, cattle and other livestock and poultry every year.

Meat Ohio Farmers
In 2017, OSC started the Meat Ohio Farmers promotion in collaboration with City Barbeque restaurants. The promotion helps grow awareness of Ohio’s meat producers for suburban and urban consumers to increase the sale of meat, in turn increasing the demand for soybeans.

International Animal Ag
OSC is also working to increase meat, poultry and fish consumption across the globe. This year, Enzomeal, a soy-based fish feed that is directly patented and licensed to OSC, partnered with Matrix Sea Foods, an India-based manufacturer of aqua feed. By 2020, this partnership will use over 1 million pounds of soybeans as fish feed. OSC helped the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) to establish and develop local meat processors in Mexico, the largest market for U.S. poultry.

Industry Partners
OSC has collaborated with other meat and poultry checkoffs and trade associations across the state to promote Ohio’s animal agriculture industry. In 2013, OSC was named the Ohio Poultry Association’s (OPA) 2013 Industry Partner, and, in 2017, OSC received the Friends of the Ohio Pork Industry award from the Ohio Pork Council (OPC). OSC has also worked with OPC to establish meat tastings in Costco stores across Ohio.