There are around 2,000 miles that separate Gentry Clark’s family farm in Doddsville and Central America.
Those two places, however, have a much closer connection than Clark had ever thought before he traveled to Guatemala and Honduras back February as part of the United Soybean Board’s See for Yourself Mission.
“It was eye-opening to learn how dedicated our customers in Honduras and Guatemala are to using U.S. Soy in their products,” said Clark. “With 60% of our soybeans exported, it’s important to continue growing markets in smaller countries, so we’re not solely reliant on those typical countries that import our product. U.S. Soy is a superior product, and I'm proud that they’re committed to the quality of our soybeans.”
Clark is a Doddsville native, and he took after his maternal grandfather and started his own farming operation about 10 years ago.
This past year, he was approached by a friend, who serves on the United Soybean Board, about making the trip to Central America.
“When we sell our soybeans, a half a percent of everything we sell goes into (the checkoff), which goes into funding research and education for new markets for our soybeans,” Clark said.
Clark grows a small amount of corn in Doddsville, but his major crop is soybeans
Guatemala is the 15th-largest market for U.S. agricultural exports, according to the Foreign Agricultural Service, and with Honduras sourcing a vast majority of its soybean meal demand with U.S. product, Central America serves a critical market for U.S. farmers, the United Soybean Board said in an article about the trip.
During the mission from Feb. 1-9, the See for Yourself participants met with Guatemala’s Minister of Agriculture Maynor Estrada, USB said.
They also visited Guatemala’s largest port, Terminal De Granos Del Pacifico, which services more than 50 million bushels per year and imports 80% of the country’s food and livestock product. In addition, the mission comprised visits with feed manufacturers, egg producers and food companies using soy protein.
Clark said that one of the major differences between the Central American countries and the United States is the infrastructure.
“We can go 40 miles in 40 minutes, but it takes them triple that amount of time,” Clark said. “The roads are so bad that it would take you two and a half hours to go that amount of miles.”
Guatemala and Honduras utilize American soybeans for cattle and chicken feed, as well as for meat replacement foods that place American beans into 97% of homes there.
Another observation for Clark — the high regard Central American buyers have for America’s product.
“They took a lot of pride in American soybeans,” Clark said. “It was surprising to us as producers, because South America plays such a large role in the international soybean market, but they claimed that the quality of U.S. soybeans was so much better that was the only soybeans they would use.”
Clark stressed the importance of retaining those markets, as nations such as China have become major players in that region of the world.
Clark said that the trip painted a much broader picture of the impact operations like his have across the globe.
He said that he hopes that the United States will continue to work toward keeping its agricultural footprint in those countries.
As he begins to plant for the 2025 season, Clark said that he will be primarily planting beans as usual, but this time around, he’ll have a bit more perspective when it comes to his operation’s global impact.
