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2014-10-09 |

A perfect opportunity for U.S. farmers to fill the market for non-GMO soybeans

The fashion and foreign auto industries are playing a unique and surprising role in benefiting farmers who are taking an active role in diversifying their farms and marketing their products.

When clothes and auto parts are shipped into the United States from other countries, it creates an abundance of empty containers that need to be returned. Sending those containers back full is much more cost effective and efficient then shipping them empty. And as it turns out, the situation creates a perfect opportunity for U.S. farmers to fill the niche market for non-GMO soybeans in southeast Asia.

The DeLong Company, which is based out of Clinton, Wis. and has a location in rural northwest Ohio, helps area farmers take advantage of the demand by offering contracts for non-GMO food grade corn and soybeans at a premium. In the village of Kirby, Ohio — with a population under 150 — the elevator can house nearly 1 million bushels of grain. In a year’s time, they can turn that over more than twice with local specialty crops that comes in from farms within a 60- to 70- mile radius.

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