For decades, farmers have looked to the Iowa Soybean Association to expand into international markets with carefully crafted relationships. The ISA has generated greater demand, fueled research that has led to new products and capitalized upon technology that has helped farmers increase yields and boost their bottom line.

In 1964, farmer Dennis Lundsgaard worked with six other farmers from across the state to launch what would become the ISA. Membership ebbed and flowed over the years and the opinions about the soybean checkoff were just as varied until it finally achieved a majority vote and took hold. In 1967, membership leveled off at 1,510.

ISA Chief Operating Officer Kirk Leeds said that one of the organization’s responsibilities is to help farmers appreciate and understand the fundamental change that’s occurred in the global marketplace as it relates to supply and demand.

“We’ve reached a pivot point to where, unless we react quickly, we will be a residual provider of soybeans and not the leading provider unless the ISA works to expand trade and reduce trade barriers,” Leeds said. “We need to focus on global expansion and get growers ready for the new realities of the marketplace. Farmers need to understand the implications of consumers’ desire to know how their food is grown.”

Soybeans are an export crop with 60 percent of the U.S. product shipped outside of the country, Leeds said, and the ISU is charged with finding additional markets for the remainder of the products.

“When you think about the disruption in trade with the trade war with China and elsewhere, we need to look at ways to use soybeans domestically. The livestock sector is No. 1,” he said.

In 1971, soybean producers formed the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board to guide the checkoff funds. Since 1972, Iowa’s soybean farmers have funded millions of dollars for production research at Iowa State University to help farmers better manage crops.

Leeds explained that the ISA is considered to be a dual hat organization, so the two boards of directors “wear two different hats.”

“One is responsible for the investment of soybean checkoff dollars under the National Soybean Checkoff program, a federally mandated program, and we’re responsible for that. The other half is a grassroots membership policy organization that uses non-checkoff resources to pursue policies and advocate policies both in Des Moines at the Capitol and in Washington, D.C., in partnership with the American Soybean Association,” Leeds said.

The checkoff program raised about $900,000 yearly from 1971 to 1975 with money being used by state and national soybean organizations to promote marketing efforts and to finance soybean research. During that same period, ISA nominated 24 farmers from its nine crop-reporting districts to serve on the newly established ISPB; 12 nominees were elected. In an effort to expand leadership, ISA established a county delegate system in 1978.

In 1994, the National Soybean Checkoff in Iowa passed by an 8,237 to 6,129 vote.

With revisions in ASA’s bylaws, ISA picked up another ASA director.

In 2005, the two boards merged in an effort to support each group’s individual actions. The ISPB addressed research and biodiesel development activities while the ISA board handled policies and issues related to biodiesel.

The first Midwest Soybean Conference was held in August 1996 in Des Moines with 300 in attendance from 15 Midwestern states, Canada and Russia.

In 2001, ISA launched its environmental program called Certified Environmental Management Systems for Agriculture (CEMSA) and the On-Farm Nitrogen Network to enable growers to improve nitrogen management by evaluating their current practices. The Soyfoods Council was incorporated in 2002 and, in 2004, ISA launched the On-Farm Network Field Scouting project to provide growers with weekly field scouting reports from more than 60 corn, soybean and alfalfa fields around the state. On July 1, 2005, the unified board of ISA was formed.

In 2012, President Xi Jinping of China visited Iowa to learn about farm technology and Iowa’s rich agricultural industry. Chinese leaders made commitments to purchase $4.31 billion worth of U.S. soybeans during signing ceremonies that took place at the World Food Prize Center in Des Moines. The commitments signed in Des Moines total more than 8.62 million metric tons or 317 million bushels.

“We have a lot of work to do on the trade front. We are certainly encouraged by what appears to be a truce in the trade war between China and the U.S. But there are other issues we need to address, like access patent,” Leeds said. “Farmers are really struggling to make money and without the market facilitation payments the last two years, many farmers would’ve been in worse financial position. We have to advocate and speak out for assistance. Farmers would rather have trade, not assistance.”