South Dakota businesses bolstering foreign sales using state, federal trade programs

Advanced Sunflower, Sioux Corporation share South Dakota Trade, U.S. International Trade Administration success stories

When Advanced Sunflower lost access to a rail line near its corporate headquarters in Huron last year, a handful of international buyers went with it.

The company still had the means to get their products out, but hauling to Sioux Falls to be loaded onto rail came with an increased cost — both for the supplier and the customers that stayed.

However, with a new line now in the works, the Beadle County sunflower seed producer is looking to again plant itself in foreign markets where some of its market share had fallen off. And for Advanced Sunflower co-owner and CEO Danny Dale, the goal is not just to return to an export production level of about 150 train cars full of seeds before local rail access was lost, but to exceed that annual output.

“It’s just reconnecting with old and new customers,” Dale told The Dakota Scout this week of the company’s ambitions, which are bullish thanks in part to the help of the South Dakota Trade Association.

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