USSEC CEO Jim Sutter recently announced the addition of Mitsuyuki Nishimura to the USSEC team as its new deputy country director of Japan. This assignment will allow for a seamless transition to taking over the country director position upon James Echle’s planned retirement in September 2012.
"Nishimura-san brings more than 30 years of industry experience to the soy family," said Sutter. "His extensive knowledge about the soybean business, as well as relationships in the oil-crushing, feed production and chemical industries, will greatly enhance our efforts to promote U.S. soy in Japan.”
Nishimura most recently led the Kyoto office and Brazilian operations for Sun Chlorella, a Kyoto-based company that promotes products containing chlorella, a strain of green algae grown in fresh water. Earlier in his career, Nishimura managed the oilseeds and feedstuffs department of Nissho Iwai Corporation, a Japanese trading company based in Sogo Shosha, Japan. During that time, he lived in the United States for 9 years, in Portland and New York City, and also lived in Brazil for 12 years.
Nishimura is a graduate of Meiji University, where he studied commerce. He is married with four children, two grown adults and two enrolled in Japanese universities. He speaks Portuguese, English and Japanese and, in his free time, enjoys oil painting and golf.

USSEC recently partnered with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Santeh Feeds to begin a milkfish cage demonstration project in the Philippines. The project focuses on the growth performance and economic returns of milkfish fed using floating feeds made with soy. As a result, the demonstration showed the advantages of using low-volume, high-density cage culture technologies. Santeh Feeds produced the extruded floating feed used in the project.
“The demonstration highlights how extruded floating feeds and feed enclosures designed to prevent feed from escaping the cages can also minimize the feed conversion ratio,” said Levy Manalac, technical manager for aquaculture. “A proper cage orientation and cage positioning would also maximize fish growth.”
Milkfish farmers in the Panabo and Mindanao regions currently use sinking feeds but expressed interest in using soy-optimized extruded floating feed.
During the stocking of milkfish in the USSEC Milkfish Cage Demonstration Project: (L-R) Mr. Albert Lanojan (Planning Officer, Regional Fisheries Training Center Employees Cooperative, Panabo Mariculture Park); Ms. Maria Lourdes Campeon (Aquaculturist and Officer in Charge of the USSEC Milkfish Demo Project); Mr. Andrew Ventura (Training Center Director, Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources, Davao del Norte); Mr. Levy Loreto Manalac (USSEC Technical Manager-Aquaculture); and Mr. Diomede C. Bucog Jr. (Area Sales Manager, Tateh Premium Feeds-Santeh Feeds Corp.)

USSEC hosted a delegation from the China National Fishery Technical Extension Centre, a group representing provincial aquaculture interests in China, on a visit to the U.S. that included stops in Michigan, Maine, Washington, DC and Florida. The program was focused on raising awareness about the advantages of
The visits focused on raising awareness about the advantages of industrialized intensive aquaculture to urge its adopted in China.
The group was accompanied by USSEC aquaculture specialists Jim Zhang and Zhou Enhua who collaborated with the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee to organize the event at Indian Brook Farms. The delegation continued on to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center in Franklin, Maine; The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute in Shepherdstown, West Virginia; University of Maryland’s Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology in Baltimore, Maryland; Mote Aquaculture in Sarasota, Florida; and EW Shell Aquaculture Experiment Station in Atlanta, Georgia.

In an effort to increase soy consumption, USSEC recently conducted the 5th Regional Meat Processing Workshop in Costa Rica. More than 25 participants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia attended the five-day event.
The program focused on best practices in meat processing, including the proper use of soy proteins and the advantages of its use in quality improvement such as: increased nutritional value, increased yields, decreased purge and more stable meat products, and meat replacement for healthier sausages and lower price. Participants will utilize this knowledge in their meat formulas which should result in an increase in the amount functional and non-functional soy proteins they use.
Speakers included Juan Camou, Ph.D., from the Food Research Institute of Mexico; Lynn Knipe, Ph.D., meat science professor from the Ohio State University; Eliana Mora from the National Food Research Center of the University of Costa Rica; and Julio Chaves, USSEC specialist. The presentations focused on product development, packaging, and cooking and smoking. Luis Soto from Baltimore Spice discussed the use of soy in meat. Griffith also had three specialists on hand to address sensory panels. Specialists from ChemSol discussed the use of fibers in sausage as well as fat replacements.
Participants had the opportunity to process chorizo and emulsified products using soy concentrate and evaluate production.
More than 25 participants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia attended the five-day workshop in Costa Rica.

USSEC began working with Santeh Feeds in the Philippines several years ago to provide technical assistance regarding feed and culture approaches. Over time, the feed mill staff has seen an increased ability to diagnose diseases, as well as an increase in overall health management.
“Two years ago when we came to the farm, their staff would inform us that they had unexplained mortalities but they had no idea what caused it or, how to address the issue,” said Lukas Manomaitis, technical director. “They now show us photos from a dissected fish and a list of initial symptoms.”
As a result of USSEC’s partnership with Santeh, feed mill reports show an increase in purchases of U.S. soy.

USSEC is seeking an experienced marketing program manager to provide oversight, professional project management, and direction to USSEC’s global animal utilization projects.
This excellent opportunity to represent U.S. soybean growers is located in St. Louis and reports to the Global Director of Commercialization and Marketing. Knowledge and experience in agribusiness and specifically the soy industry is a plus. Contact USSEC-HR@ussec.org for additional information.

Are you traveling to China for a marketing mission or hosting a Chinese trade team at your farm this year? If so, contact the USSEC office in St. Louis to request a copy of the new talking points and briefing paper. The document outlines up-to-date information regarding our largest soy trading partner and the most effective messages to improve relations with our largest customer. To request a copy, please contact Greg Olwig, golwig@ussec.org or Lisa Pine, lpine@ussec.org.