(Colon, MI) - A southwest Michigan soybean producer was part of an effort to increase U.S. poultry exports during an event in the Middle East, where over 190 countries were represented.
Sara Trattles was among the representatives from the Michigan Soybean Committee attending Gulfood, the world’s largest annual food, beverage, and hospitality show in the United Arab Emirates. Her trip to the nation’s capital of Dubai was through a partnership between MSC and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council. There were more than 5,500 major global exhibitors at the show, attended by nearly 150,000 people.
Trattles said the main purpose of the trip was to showcase how valuable Michigan soybeans are to the U.S. poultry industry, in order to increase U.S. poultry exports to countries represented at the annual February 19th-23rd event.
Trattles said more U.S. poultry exports would mean higher demand for soybeans. According to MSC, poultry eats over 60 percent of the soybean meal produced in the U.S. as feed for livestock.
“If we can do something within our state to help exports then it’s kind of a win for all of us,” she said.
Another reason for the trip was to see the MSC-sponsored show pavilion, which hosted a record 18 exhibiting members working to promote exports of U.S. poultry products. It was also where many meetings were held between representatives of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and other industry leaders, along with stakeholders from other countries such as India.
According to MSC, the emphasis of the talks was how the U.S. can position itself as a provider of high-quality poultry products able to meet the needs of buyers from around the globe.
Trattles said one of the many things she learned was how important the packaging of poultry is to exports. For example, how packaged chicken quarters look after delivery from the U.S., Brazil, or some other country has influence in choosing a foreign poultry or meat provider.
“Sometimes it doesn’t look so pleasant,” she said.
As a result, Trattles said, MSC and Michigan State University are discussing the possibility of doing a study about the packaging of food to try and gain more of an edge in the global competition.
“We’re in talks. Nothing is committed yet,” she said.
Trattles, 45, said there were also displays for the beef, lamb, and dairy sectors of the industry, but not so much for pork since that choice of meat isn’t as popular in that region of the world. Other foods showcased included snack meats, nuts, and dried fruit.
She was taken aback somewhat by the different cultures reflected at the event, along with an exhibit of meat from Russia, which made her think about the devastation from the ongoing military conflict between that nation and Ukraine.
Trattles said that among the type of foods she discovered included halal and kosher, which have to be made, produced, processed, manufactured, and stored to the specifications under Islamic law.
She spent two days at the five-day event mostly learning and doing some light promoting of Michigan soybeans.
Trattles grew up on a farm raising mostly corn and soybeans in Dowagiac. She studied agricultural science and agricultural business at Michigan State University and then worked for MSU extension for five years. During that period, Trattles met her future husband, who now operates the corn and soybean farm he grew up on in Colon, roughly 40 miles east of where she was raised. She now works at the Schoolcraft branch of GreenStone Farm Credit Services, which offers things like farm loans at close to 40 locations throughout Michigan and northeast Wisconsin.
“I’ve been to a lot of trade shows but nothing quite that big. It was interesting to see the international experience,” she said.
