International trade a key element to success for Indiana agriculture 

By Brian Warpup, Chair, ISA Membership & Policy Committee 

Ready or not, fall of 2025 is here. No matter what your yields are or how well you sold the crop, it will either be stored on farm, at an elevator, or at an end user such as ethanol. Did you forward price the delivery? Are you storing for hopeful higher pricing moving forward? 

Every scenario is probably in play for every grower here in Indiana as well as the entire Midwest. These decisions are generally the same every year no matter what the yield because none of us want to put all of our eggs in one basket. It’s always about spreading the risk. 

The same can be said about our exports and the final destination of our crops. Nearly 62 percent of U.S. soybeans are exported, and our biggest customer is China. So far this year, minimal sales have made it to that destination. How can we compensate for that market being nearly closed for the entire 2025 calendar year? 

International trade is the key component to Indiana agriculture succeeding in moving into 2026. Indiana is 38th in terms of size, but we are seventh in farm exports. Corn, soybeans and pork account for more than $6.4 billion from Indiana. An estimated one-third of Indiana’s farm income is exported. Our primary export countries are Canada, Mexico, Japan and Turkey. 

Tariffed countries seem to not allow our products to move throughout the world. This suppresses our prices here domestically. Political delegations are key to our exports inbound and outbound to ensure that Indiana agriculture succeeds moving forward. Exports of corn and soybeans are simply not filling the gaps. We must be innovative in how we market and sell future products worldwide. 

Meat is a notable example of how we can move our products into the world market. Processing the grain and feeding the livestock domestically can help with the exportation of those products through an animal such as beef or pork. 

When we sell our commodity here in Indiana, we need to look at two areas for that crop: One is called commodity based and the other is called value added. 

Commodity based is simply selling the whole grain as it is to a buyer no matter where in the county or world it is destined for end use. Value added is taking the commodity and processing or inserting it within another product to increase the value of the outcome. 

Most value-added products are “worth more” than the raw material and can significantly boost the cost of the product that we as farmers produce. So, in times such as these where raw exports of corn and soybeans are at their lows, the value-added sector can help offset that deficiency. 

Agencies in Indiana are the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, and your corn and soybean checkoffs that continually look for other avenues and promote our products locally as well as around the world. 

Simpson to lead policy staff 

Sarah Ash Simpson has been hired by the Indiana Soybean Alliance to serve as its Senior Director of Public Policy and Industry Affairs. Simpson has 20 years of experience in policy leadership – most recently with the Indiana Board of Animal Health. 

A Tippecanoe County native, Simpson was raised on a grain and hog farm in Carroll County. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and Juris Doctor from the Valparaiso University School of Law.

She began her role on September 15.