Iowa no-till corn and soybean farmer, Rolland Schnell, was one of the many farmers from states throughout the Midwest who trekked south to Panama for the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) and Soy Aquaculture Alliance (SAA) Aquaculture Educational Opportunity. During the event, AgWired’s Jamie Johansen spent a day at the Panama Canal getting a full glimpse of the important role infrastructure plays in our export market.

As a soybean farmer, Rolland understands how vital the expansion of the Canal is and the type of competitive advantage it provides. He said, “We have a very open free-trade program. Our infrastructure allows us to be timely, which is very important to our customers. We need to support every effort to keep our infrastructure efficient.”

When it comes to aquaculture, U.S. soy also has a competitive advantage with USSEC’s Soybean Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP) which global customers are very interested in. “Aquaculture is a fast growing industry and we have an opportunity to be in at the ground floor showing preference, dependability and advantages in sustainability. They get efficiency with the use of U.S. soy.”

Listen to Jamie’s complete interview with Rolland here: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/ussoy-panama-17-rolland-grower.mp3″ text=”Rolland Schnell, Iowa Farmer”]

View and download photos from the event here: 2017 USSEC Aquaculture Educational Opportunity Photos