By Breanne Brammer, University of Missouri and Margery Magill, University of California Davis
After a hearty breakfast, participants of the International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership (I-CAL) program met with Jeanne Bailey and Tran Quoc Quan of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) here in Vietnam. Topics discussed included an overview of Southeast Asia and U.S. trade.
The importance of Vietnamese food security was stressed with an FAS prediction that it will soon be an impending leading rice producer. Adel Yusupov, U.S. Grains Council regional director in Southeast Asia, predicted that the countries of Southeast Asia will soon be as successful as Japan, Taiwan and Korea.
The tour then progressed to Thanh Binh Feed Mill, which is an integrated agriculture facility that includes a broiler breeding farm, rubber tree plantation and swine facility. Thanh Binh Feed Mill began in the 1960’s with one hog and has progressed to include 20,000 head. Mr. Ph Duc Binh, owner and operator of the facility, gave students a firsthand tour of his operations.
Compared to most U.S. feeds, Vietnamese feeds contain 10 ingredients which create a more cost effective product. After learning about distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) from member presentations at orientation and the U.S. Grains Council, the group finally got to see DDGS in person.
The tour concluded with a Vietnamese dinner hosted by Mr. Ph Duc Binh. Today’s tour opened participants’ eyes to the possibilities of Vietnamese trade and future industry opportunities.
“Farming is an extremely tough job,” Bailey said. “You not only feed part of the United States but the world.”