Lee Steinhauer has been involved in ag production pretty much since the day he was born.
He grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, one he continues to visit regularly to work alongside his father and brother. But he’s also spent much of his adult life working on the marketing and export side, becoming expertly versed in grain trading and shipping at various stops in his career.
“I’ve been building relationships on both ends of the spectrum,” Steinhauer says, “from farmers to international buyers.”
Steinhauer’s wide array of experience ought to serve him well in his latest stop. He recently joined the team of Mankato, Minn.-based Ag Management Solutions (AMS) as a market development project manager. One his main roles will be with Northern Soy Marketing (NSM), helping to strengthen the ability to market northern-grown soybeans and the traits that make them more desirable to global buyers.
“I love being part of feeding the world,” Steinhauer said. “In the grain trade I was doing that, and it’s the same thing here, helping the U.S. farmer. It’s come right back home to me in southern Minnesota.”
Steinhauer is one of those famers himself, raising soybeans and corn in Walters, Minn. Since graduating from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a Bachelor of Science degree in business, he’s worked for different companies, learning the grain trade and working with farmers, processors and exporters alike, as well as with buyers around the globe.
“I’ve learned what the market is looking for,” he said.
He’s worked extensively with producers on growing and marketing specialty crops and has traded millions of bushels to processors and millions of MT for export. His experience also includes working with all shipping methods conductive to business, including container, truck, rail, barge and cargo vessel, helping move crops grown for export in the inland region of the United States to ports such as the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf of Mexico.
“We’re very pleased to welcome Lee to our team,” said NSM Executive Director and AMS Tom Slunecka said. “He brings a wealth of experience, a fresh viewpoint and a robust list of connections that will ensure success as we strengthen the international market pull for northern-grown soybeans.”
Steinhauer lives in Minnetonka, Minn., with his wife, Hilary, and their two cats, Wesson (White Foot) and Webley (Not White Foot).
Hired in November, just after harvest, he has hit the ground running.
“I’m meeting everybody and getting up to speed on things, getting prepped on the direction we’re going to go,” he said.
