A group of USSEC consultants traveled to Aguascalientes, Mexico earlier this year to participate in a seminar and provide technical assistance to milk and feed producers in the area.
Consultants Carlos Campabadal Gonzalez, Carlos Espinosa, and Gerardo Luna worked with Bartlett Mexico, a grain merchandising and storage company that operates mainly in the U.S. and Mexico. In mid-2016, Bartlett started importing and selling a few hundred tons of U.S. soybean meal in Mexico through their facilities in El Chicalote, Aguascalientes; in a few months, at the turn of the year, their sales volume more than ten folded.
In order to promote U.S. soybean meal and assist Bartlett, USSEC consultants led a conference program targeting core milk producers and feed manufacturers for dairy cattle and other livestock such as poultry and swine. They shared tips on the efficient and continuous use of U.S. soybean meal in animal diets; how to evaluate good quality U.S. soybean meal; the benefits of using U.S. soybean and bypass protein; and the importance of having excellent feeding transition cows with the use of U.S. soybean meal with an audience of more than 30 people.
Participants at the conference included
 Julio Maldonado, Acting Director of the ATO / FAS in Mexico, as well as Lourdes Castellanos, Marketing Specialist. Mr. Maldonado highlighted the importance of agriculture in the Mexican economy and discussed the relevance of bilateral trade, pointing out the ag perspective.
Bartlett representatives that attended included Mexican senior staff (CEO and CFO), execution staff and merchandisers from their headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. They shared views on the current market situation and perspectives, while pointing out the importance of their customers in Mexico and how much they value the Mexican market.
USSEC consultants rounded out the experience with a series of technical visits to dairy farms where technicians and owners of the dairy operations of U.S. soybean meal over other sources of protein. They discussed the digestible amino acids present in U.S. soybean meal for the use in the ideal protein ratio and obtainment of higher animal production performance, as well as the importance of the origin of the soybeans and how this impacts the nutritional value of soybean meal. This experience allowed USSEC and Bartlett to visualize the potential opportunities that exist to further engage and educate dairy producers, animal nutritionists, technicians, and other decision makers about the value of U.S. soybean meal in animal diets. Bartlett is planning for a large increase of their sales of U.S. soybean meal to their customers in the region, while dairy producers are learning that U.S. soybean meal is an excellent source of protein.