ISA celebrates 60 years serving farmers

NORMAL, Ill. — As soybean acreage began to increase in the early 1960s, a small group of farmers formed an organization to provide legislative representation.

Through those efforts, the Land of Lincoln Soybean Association was organized in 1964, led by Champaign County farmer Lyle Grace.

Since those early days, LOLSA evolved into the Illinois Soybean Association that now encompasses the Illinois Soybean Growers and Illinois Soybean Board that promote marketing, research, outreach and legislative efforts.

“Back in 1964, the United States grew 30.8 million acres of soybeans with an an average yield of 24 bushels per acre and produced 739 million bushels. This year, Illinois grew 11 million acres of soybeans and we produced 700 million bushels with an average of 65 bushels per acre,” Ron Kindred, an Atlanta, Illinois, farmer and ISA chair, said to kickoff the anniversary celebration Dec. 3.

“So, as we look back at what we’ve accomplished and the foresight that a few farmers had back 60 years ago to form the Land of Lincoln Soybean Association and how far we’ve come, where we are today, what we’re producing, the demand we have for our soybeans today, it’s just really hard to believe.

“It took a lot of work with this association in partnership with the American Soybean Association, the United Soybean Board, the United States Soybean Export Council, industry, university research. It took a lot of collaborating to get to where we are today.”

“The Land of Lincoln Soybean Association was formed 60 years ago and, to me, that’s a special event. There’s a lot of the thankful for, a lot has been created during that time,” said John Lumpe, ISA CEO.

“It’s a time to celebrate because the next 60 years are going to be so impactful compared to the first 60 years, but to get there we had to have this created and have it started. Now we’re on a great trajectory on behalf of the soybean farmers of this state.”

“The things we have done since I started almost five years ago have been monumental tasks of change. What we’ve been able to accomplish over this past five years, and it’s not just me, it’s the staff and the board, we are working together both internally but also with our ag family. To me, that’s the most important thing. It’s not one person doing all of this. It’s a collective goal that we all want to do.”

TRANSFORMATION

Roseville farmer Ron Moore, past ISA chairman and former American Soybean Association president, joined the ISA board along with Kindred in 1999.

“I’ve had 20-plus years of working with soybeans and soybean farmers and trying to promote soybean sales overseas and domestically. A lot of it was policy work in Springfield and Washington, D.C.,” Moore said.

“We don’t talk too much about that, but one of the most important things soybean farmers on these boards can do is go to Washington, D.C., and tell those folks out there how the rules they make affect us back in the countryside.”

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, China was not a major importer of U.S. soybeans.

“They eventually became our number one buyer of soybeans overseas. They’re taking a little bit less right now, but I think they have the potential to buy U.S. soybeans as their population improves their diet,” Moore noted.

“We have trading partners in Mexico and Canada that we can continue to explore and expand some of those options as well.

“Back in the early 2000s we had 12 or 13 employees. We had what I’d call a skeleton staff on policy work and marketing, and now I believe there’s four or five policy staff members, four or five marketing staff members, as well.”

Kindred recalled that the U.S. was producing about 2 billion bushels of soybeans when he began on the ISA board in 1999, and there was some skepticism as to the future of the oilseed.

“At one of the first meetings I was at, a professor from the University of Illinois said, ‘in 10 years you’ll no longer be growing soybeans, you’ll be growing corn for the world.’ Ten years later, we were producing more soybeans, we’re finding markets for them, global soy demand is thriving,” Kindred said.

“Today, we’re growing 4.5 to 4.6 billion bushels of soybeans and it’s through the hard work and dedication of not only farmers but the industry, researchers, you have a lot of staff and a lot of people that really care. We have people placed throughout the world through the United States Soybean Export Council. They’re doing great work for us and they’re moving soybeans in places we never dreamed there would be demand for soybeans.

“I’m one that believes the future is very bright for soybeans. We have a lot of unknowns with this sustainable aviation fuel but it’s a potentially huge market. I don’t think one niche is going to be able to fill that market. It’s going to take all of us to fill that market.

“I think the soybean demand in the future is going to continue to thrive and we’re going to continue to find more markets around the world for our soybeans.”

AGRONOMY ASSISTANCE

Moore noted the most recent changes in the ISA that provides benefits to Illinois farmers.

“Something that they’ve done in the last five or six years is have a production staff that are helping farmers understand production practices that will improve their soybean yields. They’re working on conservation projects,” Moore said.

“I’ve talked to them about having cover crops on my farm and they’ve advised me on what works and what doesn’t work in our area. I think that’s important that people understand that they’re doing more all the time trying to promote soybean exports, soybeans used domestically, and production practices that will improve profitability for soybean farmers.

“Abigail Peterson, ISA agronomy director, has been to my farm and given me some advice and some things to think about that I hadn’t thought about. We’ve implemented them and those turned out pretty well. I would encourage anybody who wants to improve their yields to contact our agronomy team.”

CHALLENGES CONTINUE

Among the challenges going forward for the soybean industry is connecting legislators to what’s important on the farm.

“I would say the biggest challenge is how hard it is to go to Washington, D.C., and tell the folks there the effects of what they do has on farmers. There are a few folks in Washington that understand and are a willing to support us, but there’s a vast majority that live inside the Beltway and they don’t understand agriculture,” Moore said.

“So, probably the biggest challenge is trying to get the regulators and the legislators to understand what I have to go through to raise a crop every year. It’s not just put seed in the ground and wait for it to grow. You’ve got to market it, you’ve got to borrow the money, you’ve got to buy the inputs, and there’s a whole lot of things that have to happen before we can have a profitable year.”

INNOVATIONS

While the soybean global market is important to producers, ISA is also making strides on domestic demand.

ISA started the Soy Innovation Center a year ago and recently completed its first licensing agreement for a bio-lubricant.

“Anything that petroleum is used for on the lubricant side, there’s a chance that the soybean can replace some of the petroleum in that product. It’s more environmentally friendly and a better carbon footprint for that company,” Kindred said.

“I think pretty soon we’ll have a product out there that somebody is going to commercialize and put out into the market, and it was through the work of the Soy Innovation Center that came about.”