That prompted processors in Taiwan to turn to Brazil for beans. In 1997, about 25 percent of Taiwan s soybeans came from South America. But the people who bought soybean meal for pigs and poultry and those buying edible soy oil made from South American beans did not like what the saw. Unlike the meal from U.S. soybeans, meal from the South American beans had a red color. Thang attributes that to the red soil in South America where the beans were grown.
Soil grows beans, but dirt contaminates shipments.
The animals did not eat, Thang says, explaining that pigs and chickens did not like the reddish color of the meal crushed from Brazilian beans. No, he says, shaking his head. That s good news, Maxwell soybean farmer Rick Kimberley says. Thang and buyers from Taiwan s top processors of soybeans visited Kimberley s farm on Sept. 30. Several weeks after soyoil crushed from those Brazilian beans was on supermarket shelves, the oil turned darker than normal.