Chair
ISA Membership and
Policy Committee
No job is easy. All jobs have their own challenges and frustrations – otherwise we wouldn’t call it work. However, it is also true that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.
Right now, most of us who farm in Indiana are in the middle of getting this year’s crops in the ground. The long hours and expense of planting season can make a pleasant spring day seem stressful. Still, I wonder how many Hoosier farmers realize how fortunate they are.
Earlier this year, I was part of a group of farmers who traveled to Argentina to witness the conditions of one
of our leading competitors of global soybean exports. Argentina is the third-largest exporter of soybeans in the world at more than 4.8 million metric tons per year. The country benefits from a favorable climate, has hardworking farmers and willing trade partners.
Yet, the overriding thought that I took from that trip was, Argentina would be a real threat to U.S. Soy exports if they could work together to coordinate international trade, or share research on production agriculture, or develop
new soy-based products, or promote their soybeans to consumers. In other words, Argentina would be a stronger competitor if it had the services our soybean checkoff provides.
In Indiana, we have these benefits and more through the work of the Indiana Soybean Alliance and the United Soybean Board.
We have seen checkoff projects such as the development and commercialization of high oleic soybeans offer lucrative premiums to farmers. We’ve seen the checkoff invest and promote new products, such as the concrete durability enhancer PoreShield, among many other items. We’ve seen the checkoff secure profitable new trade markets in places such as Colombia, Korea, Vietnam and others. We’ve seen the checkoff create and maintain customers for products such as biodiesel.
All of these efforts and more move piles and piles of soybeans throughout Indiana, the United States and the world. This work makes our crops more valuable, and it makes our farms more profitable.
Despite all of the good provided by our soybean checkoffs, there are those who seek to stop this progress. At this moment, there is a bipartisan group of senators backing something called the Opportunities for Fairness in Farming Act – or the OFF Act.
This bill is supported by liberal, Democratic Party members Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and also conservative Republican Party members Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Who would’ve thought those lawmakers would agree on anything? On top of that, the states these senators represent produce very few soybeans. How could they possibly understand our industry? Let alone, checkoff
programs.
Some lawmakers are mildly calling this bill the Checkoff Reform Act – but it does more than reform.
It is a blatant attack on our efforts to work together to better the soybean industry by politicians who know nothing about our industry.
ISA will continue to work with our congressional delegation and others to protect checkoff programs. Farming is challenging enough. We certainly don’t need our Congress damaging our checkoff program at a time when we are realizing increased competition overseas. The bill would prevent the American Soybean Association (ASA) and USB from working together to help U.S. soybean farmers.
ASA and M&P strongly oppose this bill and have been working with leadership in both the House and Senate to educate congressional leaders on the countless benefits checkoff programs bring to farmers.
