Soybean farmers eager for free trade

By Karl Henkel | August 14, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Deals with s. Korea, colombia and panama await federal OK

The Utica Shale, the Tech Belt and the return of manufacturing are all well-documented cases of potential Ohio economic growth.

But Adam Ward, executive director of the Ohio Soybean Association, says there’s big potential for economic gains in another sector: soybeans.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity here,” Ward said. “As things are evolving in different parts of the world ... the demand for diets that are more similar to the U.S. diet is driving a lot of the demand for soybean.”

Soybeans are already Ohio’s largest cash crop. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that Ohio’s soybean exports made up 55 percent, or $1.5 bil- lion, of Ohio’s $2.7 bil-lion in total agricultural exports.

Soybeans also generate more than $5 billion in annual economic activity and sustain 30,000 jobs.

Ward said those figures could grow if three pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama can be agreed upon by federal legislators.

The impact could mean new jobs and an additional $3 billion in exports, Ward said.

Kirk Merritt, executive director at the Ohio Soybean Council, said many of the jobs would be agricultural but also could spawn off to industries that support soybeans, including processing, distribution and logistic jobs.

“We’re adding more value and more value-chain-type jobs if the free-trade agreements pass,” Ward said.

Ralph Wince of the Mahoning County Farm Bureau said the local agricultural community — not just soybean farmers — would benefit from the agreement.

“You consistently hear on talk radio how trade agreements aren’t beneficial, but for agriculture that’s not the case,” he said, noting the weak U.S. dollar has made exports more affordable for foreign countries. “There’s a number of things that work to our benefit in agriculture.”

In the Mahoning Valley, there were 60,600 acres of soybeans planted last year, Wince said. Ohio farmers planted 4.6 million acres.

Even some local soybean farmers, when contacted by The Vindicator, said increased production could be a boon locally but opted not to comment on the political ramifications of this particular agreement.

According to the Ohio Agricultural Connection, Colombia would eliminate its tariffs on soybean imports, some as high as 150 percent. South Korea would not impose duties on cooking oil, livestock feed and soybeans for tofu and soy milk. Panama’s zero-tariff soybean policy would continue to be locked in.

So what’s the hold up?

Congress was unable to reach an agreement on free-trade agreements before their August recess, but discussions have occurred about the ramifications of the agreement.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Avon, said in July that additional regulations must be in place before pursuing any free-trade agreements.

Those regulations include the extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance, a federal program that has provided aid to 3,341 displaced Mahoning Valley workers — including 2,860 in Trumbull County — whose jobs or wages were reduced because of increased imports.

“Thousands of Ohio workers have watched their jobs move to Mexico or Central America,” Brown said last month. “With a fragile economic recovery, now is not the time to pass more-of-the-same trade agreements that have shipped jobs overseas and undermined Ohio manufacturing.

“That means passing a long-term extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance to keep Ohio workers and manufacturers competitive and ensure that they can get retrained for 21st-century jobs.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky both indicated before the recess the free-trade agreements likely would pass when the Senate returns.

But further delay, Merritt said, could be costly.

He said countries such as Brazil and Argentina, which also grow soybeans, could fill the market void and put the U.S. further behind.

“Ohio farmers aren’t looking for special treatment,” Ward said. “We’re looking to compete on a level playing field with these other countries.”