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USB farmer leaders develop program priorities for upcoming investments

The 78 farmer-leaders of the United Soybean Board (USB) have begun developing strategic program priorities for upcoming investments.  

USB Vice Chair Meagan Kaiser says work during the recent board meeting is building on the new USB Strategic Plan that launched in December.

“It was exciting to watch our strategic plan unfold. This is also our first meeting working under our new vision statement, which is to deliver sustainable soy solutions to every life, every day,” she says. “…The meeting involved farmers getting together, sharing ideas, talking, and setting the strategic path of our investments for this year and moving into the next two years. We also discussed how we want to build on where we’ve been and where we can be in the coming years.”

The West Central Missouri farmer tells Brownfield committee structures have shifted to better serve growers.  

“We focus on both the supply and demand side, but we break those two things apart and focus on strategic pathways forward in the areas of health and nutrition; innovation and technology; and infrastructure and connectivity,” she says. “When I say health and nutrition, on the supply side that would be plant and soil health and nutrition and on the demand side we’re looking at human and animal nutrition. In innovation and technology, we’re looking at things like drone usage and different technologies that are currently available as well as future technology needs in increasing sustainable production abilities. On the demand side in infrastructure and connectivity, we’re looking at what our customer needs from us and how can we better connect the U.S. soy farmer to our end user. Lastly, we have a brand-new committee that has members from these priority areas that serve on the communication and education group. They are focusing on working in these areas and bringing all the work we do across the United Soybean Board together and making sure we raise the awareness of the information and who the U.S. soy farmer is.”

Kaiser says the communication and education committee will help share research.

“If we’re going to do research about soil and plant health, for example, how can we make sure that is best communicated and able to be metabolized by a farmer and implemented on our farms,” she says. “If you’re generating a lot of information and no one sees it, what’s the point. There’s a renewed focus to make sure the work we do has an impact and moves the needle on the issues we’re trying to address.”

She says the United Soybean Board is focused on increasing return on investment for growers.  

“What we do at USB is a return on investment and bringing value to our farmers through differentiation, reputation, and resilience,” she says.

The USB meeting was Feb. 21-23 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Kaiser says the next full board meeting is in July, but work groups will continue to meet monthly.  

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Audio: Meagan Kaiser