History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

fi rst greenhouse. Prior to that one of Hartz’s fi eld reps, an
agronomist named Jimmy Johnson, was doing the crossing;
he now works for Stratton Seed Co. Chris hired Keith
Thompson in about 1980 as a salesman. When Chris left in
1986, Keith took over the food side of the business.
Chris was never able to get used to Monsanto’s way
of making decisions. “Decisions took months instead of
minutes, as they did in the family-run business. It was very
frustrating.” Dan Lamberth was the general manager after
Monsanto took over; he and Chris did not get along well.
Concerning Roundup Ready soybeans: Chris has heard
a number of farmers say that they are very good on fi elds
where there is a weed problem, but if you don’t have a weed
problem it is very diffi cult to accept Monsanto’s value-added
pricing. Chris uses a huge amount of Roundup on his seed
nursery. “It is a standby for us. We like it because it kills
virtually all weeds but does not harm most of the plants he
wants to raise. Our workers are careful with it, as with any
chemical, but it is relatively problem-free.” In Chris’ opinion,
from a human health viewpoint of his employees using
herbicides on the nursery, there is less to worry about with
Roundup than probably any other herbicide. “In addition, we
can spray it on our woody ornamentals and it doesn’t hurt
them–as long as there is no new growth. But it does hurt the
redwood and cypress plants.
As far as Chris knows, Hartz never operated a soybean
crushing plant to make soybean oil and meal.
In June 1942 the company named Hartz-Thorell split up.
Jacob Hartz took the seed side of the company and named it
Jacob Hartz Seed Co.; Mr. Thorell took the implement side
and named it Thorell Implement. After Mr. Thorell died,
his implement company was sold to White Implement–
headquartered in Houston, Texas. They handle McCormick-
Deering farm machinery. It is now more a wholesale outlet
than retail. Address: Stuttgart, Arkansas. Phone: 501-673-
2242.
1568. Roller, Ron. 1997. New developments with organically
grown soybeans in America (Interview). SoyaScan Notes.
Jan. 16. Conducted by William Shurtleff of Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: The demand for organic soybeans in America
is rising rapidly. Ron thinks this has nothing to do with
concerns over genetically engineered (transgenic) soybeans
such as Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soybeans. “Soybeans
have become, hands down, the main cash crop (the one
that makes the most money) for organic farmers, at least
those in the Midwest. Organic growers in the Dakotas and
Montana still rely on wheat as their main cash crop, but the
corn, wheat, and soybean growers everywhere else rely on
soybeans.” The demand for organic soybeans is growing
faster than the supply–even though the supply is rising.
Increasing prices have attracted more and more farmers
to growing soybeans organically. The biggest demand is
still from Japan, as it has been for the past 4-5 years. As
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 486
interest in organic foods has grown in Japan, bigger food
manufacturers (primarily of tofu and natto) have started to
use organic soybeans. The American food companies that
use organic soybeans are still relatively small and few. Ron’s
company (if you add the organic soybeans Ron exports) may
be the single biggest.
The demand for organic natto soybeans from Japan
appeared suddenly and is now very large. Acreage that
was used to grow organic soybeans for tofu or soymilk
suddenly got switched to growing small-seeded organic natto
soybeans. Because of that, the acreage used to grow organic
soybeans for tofu and soymilk has decreased. Last year the
organic soybean crop in the Midwest (especially Michigan
and Ohio) was smaller than expected. So the combination of
the export demand (mainly to Japan but also to Europe), the
loss of acreage to natto beans, the bad crop, and the lack of
new growers, has made the price of organic soybeans rise–by
about 10%. But remember that the price of organic soybeans
were already more than double, very often triple, that of nonorganic
beans. The highest prices are paid for Vintons and
natto beans. It is these premium prices that are so attractive
to the organic farmers. “This trend is of great concern to
me, and especially the effect it could have on the price of
soyfoods. In a free market economy, with lots of farmers
looking for value-added crops, you would think that many
more of them would start growing organic soybeans. But
it is a diffi cult chasm to cross. A farmer must learn a whole
new way of farming, and, he must wait for 3 years before
that land can grow organic crops. That 3-year lead time is
the big stumbling block; many farmers actually lose money
on that land during those 3 years. Some big farmers are now
starting to grow organic soybeans, but they getting involved
on a gradual basis, adding 50 to 100 acres a year. Those large
commercial growers, who have recently switched to growing
soybeans organically, are sitting in the catbird seat, and doing
extremely well.”
In Ron’s market, there have been very few questions
from consumers about genetically engineered (transgenic)
soybeans. “It hasn’t become a problem at all for ASP; I think
it will be an asset for us–because we don’t use them and we
can prove that we don’t. However a lot of growers want to
grow transgenic soybeans.” Address: President, American
Soy Products, 1474 N. Woodland Dr., Saline, Michigan
48176. Phone: 313-429-2310.
1569. Thompson, Keith. 1997. History of breeding soybeans
for use in making natto at Jacob Hartz Seed Co. (Interview).
SoyaScan Notes. Jan. 20. Conducted by William Shurtleff of
Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: Hartz got involved with natto and with food
soybeans in 1975 when Yaichiro Mogi, founder and president
of Asahi Shokuhin, a major Japanese natto manufacturer,
contacted Continental Grain in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Bud
Currie (phone: 604-684-7292) of Continental was there at