‘Better together’ new ISA chair’s theme

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The new Illinois Soybean Association chair is a firm believer in achieving goals through collaboration.

“Better together is something that I feel strongly about,” Bryan Severs, a Vermilion County farmer, said in an interview at the Illinois State Fair.

“Collaboration is my biggest thing. I want collaboration to work between all of the commodity groups and everybody across the board because when you go to Springfield or Washington, D.C., and you all walk together, you have a bigger footprint.”

He carries that same belief into his role as the new ISA chair.

“It comes down to collaboration and trying to figure out how we can get along because getting along as one is better than going in four different directions,” he said.

Severs, of Potomac, is a third-generation farmer raising corn, soybeans and cattle with his sons, Michael and Nicholas. He was elected ISA chair in July, replacing Ron Kindred, of Atlanta, whose term expired.

He graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in animal science and previously served as president of the local school board.

Severs became the ISA District 7 director in 2020 and has held leadership roles in the organization as treasurer and Soybean Production Committee chair. He also currently serves as chair of Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance and as an American Soybean Association director.

“Raising soybeans is kind of my passion. I enjoy that part. That’s why I got involved in the organization. The Illinois Soybean Association does a lot of good for us farmers, but we’ve got to get out there to tell everybody, making it worth while to people so they understand,” Severs said.

New Uses

He stressed the importance of the Soy Innovation Center, an ISA initiative to break down the barriers to the commercial availability of soy-based or infused products.

The SIC aims to help meet the growing demand for sustainably produced products across the supply chain by expanding the offerings of viable, renewable alternatives to products containing petroleum or other chemical compounds of concern.

“Our Soy Innovation Center is important to us because coming up for new uses for soybeans is what we need because, as farmers, we do a great job of growing it and get good yields, but we need to come up with markets,” Severs said.

“We have the quality and quantity, we just need to come up with new ideas, and we have some new ideas that are in the pipeline.

“We’re also always working on biofuels. That’s very important to Illinois. We have some small biofuel processors in Illinois and they need our support because they’re the reason we have a good basis in Illinois. Illinois is just blessed with ways to move our grain around.

“We have to be in the political arena pushing for biofuels. In the end, what I say as a farmer is I grow soybeans and corn. We’ve got to figure out a way for us all to work together.”