{"id":13426,"date":"2021-08-15T17:02:09","date_gmt":"2021-08-15T23:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futurefarmer1.wpengine.com\/?p=13426"},"modified":"2021-08-15T17:08:07","modified_gmt":"2021-08-15T23:08:07","slug":"from-seed-to-feed-genesis-feed-technologies-new-project-with-the-grand-farm-gives-you-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-the-life-of-a-soybean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futurefarmermag.com\/from-seed-to-feed-genesis-feed-technologies-new-project-with-the-grand-farm-gives-you-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-the-life-of-a-soybean\/","title":{"rendered":"From Seed to Feed: Genesis Feed Technologies New Project With the Grand Farm Gives You a Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Life of a Soybean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Consider the simple soybean. Less than a tenth of an inch wide, this beige-colored bean is tucked inside green pocketed sprouts whose stalks can grow up to 6.5 feet high. Small, unassuming little beans, and yet they are the United States\u2019 most valuable agricultural export. According to USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) “2020 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook,\u201d total soybean exports in 2020 reached $25.683 billion, far exceeding corn at $9.210 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here in North Dakota, soy is part of our agricultural DNA. We are one of the top ten states for soybean production. However, few have traced the journey of soybean from seed to feed in its entirety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Seed to Feed project was created as an educational experience demonstrating how the supply chain works. It looks at questions like, \u2018Who are the key players along the supply chain, and what solutions are being developed to improve it?\u2019\u201d Peter Schott, Genesis Feed Technologies CEO, said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big show and tell, a conversation starter, and hopefully an inspiration for improving both the supply chain and ag industry as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Genesis Feed Technologies, a Fargo-based agtech startup, partnered with The Grand Farm, an ag-tech innovation and research initiative, to secure a 5-acre plot of land for the project located at the Grand Farm Innovation Site south of Fargo. Seed to Feed partner Proseed supplied the seeds, which were planted at the beginning of May and are already sprouting. Soon, the land will be decorated with signage walking visitors through the journey of the soybeans, as they go from plant to harvest, to soybean crushers, to feed manufacturing. The idea is that the entire supply chain can be represented in close proximity, Schott said\u2014ultimately showing how this kind of traceability can bring more value back to the growers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis project plays a key role in our mission to define new premium standards for soybeans being sold to crushers and grain elevators,\u201d he said. \u201cI grew up on a farm, and the goal is for our work to give value back to farmers like my dad and brother\u2014who are as we speak planting crops for the year. We believe this project and other GFT initiatives have a real shot at making positive changes on production agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are the innovative projects that the Grand Farm is designed to make possible, Grand Farm leadership said. Andrew Jason, Head of Special Projects for Grand Farm, and William Aderholdt, Grand Farm Program Manager, described the Grand Farm as existing to foster connection, facilitation, and amplification of local agtech innovators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We want people to see that we have a global ecosystem around ag innovation based in Fargo,\u201d Aderholdt said. \u201cBy bringing these ideas together, we hope this leads to more collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Seed to Feed project is led by Genesis Feed Technologies. GFT is in turn organizing and collaborating with other industry partners. Each of these partners is a leader in the ag industry and each represents different solutions within the supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n