Explorer or farmer? Northern Soy Marketing (NSM) Director Mike McCranie wears both hats. 

“Before I was married, I backpacked the world every winter,” McCranie said. “A friend of mine and I would decide where we were going to go and would be gone all winter. One year we went to New Zealand and Australia, another year we went to Central America and another year we went to South America.” 

But he always returned to the farm that his great-grandfather homesteaded over 140 years ago. 

“I grew up in Montana, but my mother was from south of Claremont and when she inherited two quarters of land, my brother took a quarter and I took a quarter,” McCranie said. “We farmed together for quite a few years.” 

Initially, McCranie didn’t grow soybeans on his operation. 

“I tried raising soybeans in the ‘80s,” McCranie said. “We thought we had the right maturity group for our area, so we tried them, and they actually worked out quite well. The problem was that we didn’t have the right harvesting equipment.” 

The McCranie’s opted not to grow soybeans again until John Deere started selling the first flex head, which was designed to follow the contours of the ground. 

“Once we had a flex head, we started raising more and more soybeans,” McCranie said. “As wheat prices went down, soybeans basically took over.” 

Pretty soon, he found himself on the South Dakota Soybean Research & Promotion Council board. 

“At the time, the Secretary of Agriculture was my neighbor, and he recruited me because the soybean growing region had moved so far north that they were adding another district in the state,” McCranie said. “I said I’d try it for a year or two and once I figured out what was going on, I actually really liked it.” 

In his role, he discovered that he was drawn to international exports, which was not surprising given his globetrotting past. 

“My favorite part is probably the marketing and working to expand our exports,” McCranie said. “Another favorite part is the cutting-edge technology that is being developed.” 

His passion for exports made him an ideal board member for NSM. 

“There was a need to expand markets in our area, especially the markets off of the Pacific Northwest,” McCranie said.  

Since he began his tenure on the NSM board, McCranie has continued to nurture his passion for expanding international exports. 

“Trade missions are my favorite part of NSM’s mission,” McCranie said. “Meeting the customers that are buying our soybeans or soymeal is priceless. Making new connections and meeting potential customers is another favorite part.”