During the second week of April, USSEC met with integrated companies and feed mills from Romania to listen to and understand their challenges and offer technical assistance to customers of U.S. Soy. USSEC consultants Dr. Craig Coon, professor of poultry nutrition at the University of Arkansas, and Dr. Jan van Eys, animal utilization consultant from France, traveled to Romania to visit with large and rapidly expanding companies; all were top companies in their respective fields in southern Romania. Meeting with managers, quality control managers, nutritionists, and veterinarians was instructive and enhanced the access of U.S. Soy to these customers.
Together with the specialists at the companies visited, the USSEC experts reviewed the businesses’ quality control programs and laboratory methods. At this stage, the feed mill laboratories are pre-formatted and are under excellent management, thanks to the investments and high level of investment in the education of young professionals.

High levels of certain mycotoxins have been detected over the past year in the imported South American soybean meal in Romania and continue to be a problem for feed and livestock producers. Dr. Coon emphasized seasonal advantage (September to March), good infrastructure, and logistics as key advantages of U.S. Soy during discussions with the technical personnel of the companies visited.

Dr. van Eys, the author of the USSEC Soy Quality Manual, pointed out that careful attention should be paid to KOH protein solubility index since feed manufacturers around the world often found this quality parameter below the recommended levels and needing to be constantly investigated. Similarly, soybean meal carbohydrate levels are highly variable and have to be constantly analyzed compared with reference values.
The meetings with feed mill managers, quality control managers, nutritionists, and veterinarians were informative and allowed USSEC to gain a better understanding of the reality of the Romanian poultry and feed industries and its potential for progress and expansion. It clearly showed the opportunities and potential that exist in the Romanian market for growth in poultry production, and, consequently for the use of U.S. Soy products.
Specifically, USSEC should assist or continue provide local feed producers and integrations with information and support to enhance the understanding and importance of quality measures and formulation advantages/techniques to increase the performance of feeds and animals and, through this, show the potential of U.S. Soy.