INKERMAN - The successful family venture that has put food-grade, identity-preserved soybeans on Eastern Ontario's cropping map hosted 100 local growers as well as a couple of visiting representatives from an important buyer from the other side of the world, where many of the beans are turned into soy-based staples of Japanese cuisine - things like miso, natto, okara and tofu.
"At the end of the day, you're not just growing beans, you're growing food, and it ends up on people's tables every day," James dePater, Hendrick AgriFoods CEO, reminded the audience at the Dec. 16 annual grower meeting, held inside the firm's spacious headquarters, a former public school shared with its plant research and development affiliate, Hendrick Seeds.
"You guys, the growers, are very, very important to the Hendrick breeding and research program," dePater said.
That program, begun in 2004, will achieve a milestone of sorts in the 2012 crop year, according to the CEO. "This year we will have [seed] varieties coming out expressly from our breeding program. We're very excited about that."
In another new development, sales of those seeds are now handled exclusively through the dealer network of ProSeeds, with Hendrick Seeds becoming a shareholder in the other firm. "It was a natural partnership," dePater said of the arrangement with Proseeds, whose local dealer reps he introduced by name in the audience.
Around the world, 250 million acres of identity-preserved (IP) soybeans - non-GMO and intended for human consumption - are cultivated each year, much of it crushed for oil and other purposes, said dePater, putting the industry into context for the growers. Only 20 million acres is "used directly for food," he added, comprising about 15 million tonnes annually, with Canadian production currently accounting for 900,000 tonnes of that production.
"It's very reassuring to be in a business that is growing and will continue to grow," he said, highlighting an annual two per cent expansion in the IP soybean market.
Nine varieties of IP soybeans will be planted this spring in thousands of acres of Eastern Ontario cropland, under contract with Hendrick AgriFoods.
The approximately 200 farmers who participate will receive a premium for their crop, although there are higher expectations in terms of quality control.
"You have to follow a number of steps and protocols and equipments," dePater acknowledged to the gathering. "But because you do these things, Canada is regarded as the safest place to buy non-GMO soybeans. The work you do has a payoff in terms of reputation, and we're looking to maintain that reputation," he said.
In addition to Japan, soybeans sourced through Hendricks end up in Malaysia, East Asia, Korea, Singapore and the European Union. "And we are beginning to deal with China," he added.
One particular buyer in the far east uses the product to make frozen desserts, he said.
A chart distributed at the session showed that a farmer's net income per acre would be $411 for a crop of natto-type IP soybeans - higher even than navy beans at $397 per acre. Those figures were based on the Nov. 25, 2011 market closing price.
"Is it worth it to grow IP soybeans? Damn tootin'!" exclaimed David Guy, director of research and commercialization at Hendrick Seeds, during a frank bullpit discussion with the group.