Whether shipping by river, road or rail, the soy checkoff is committed to ensuring America’s infrastructure is a significant advantage for U.S. soybean farmers. We’re looking inside the bean, beyond the bushel and around the world to keep preference for U.S. soy strong. And it’s helping make a valuable impact for soybean farmers like you.
See more ways the soy checkoff is maximizing profit opportunities for soybean farmers at unitedsoybean.org
M&P and ICGA hosted stakeholders in the biofuels industry, retail fuel business owners and farmers for the High Performance, Low Carbon Liquid Fuel Summit near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.
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Dr. Bernie Engel, who has served as an ex-officio representing Purdue at ICMC and ISA board meetings for the past four years, was promoted to lead Purdue’s ag program on June 8.
ISA and partners such as USSEC, USB and ICMC hosted Soy Oil Masters graduates and foreign trade teams from all over the globe in an effort to encourage increased exports of U.S. soybeans.
Crafco, an Arizona-based supplier of packaged, pavement preservation solutions, will add PoreShield to its portfolio of products. PoreShield is a concrete protectant that extends the service life of concrete.
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About the cover:
Martinsville, Ind., farmer Mike Buis was influential in establishing the Indiana Corn Marketing Council, the state’s corn checkoff program. Now he’s using his influence to recruit new members to the Indiana Corn Growers Association, the state’s corn policy group. See the story on page 21.
Chairman Mike Koehne, Greensburg / D4
Vice Chairman Kevin Cox, Brazil / D3
Secretary Joseph Stoller, Bremen / D1
Treasurer
C.J. Chalfant, Hartford City / D2
Committee Chairs
Keevin Lemenager, Monrovia / D4
Carey McKibben, LaGrange / D2
Denise Scarborough, LaCrosse / D1
Directors
John Peters, Monticello / D1
Allen Buchanan, Fowler / D1
Dylan Christopher, Brookston / D1
Kevin Kelley, Brookston / D1
Steve Phares, Albion / D2
Jenna Scott, Muncie / D2
Brian Warpup, Warren / D2
Mark Wenning, Cambridge City / D2
Derika Lynam-Spaetti, Richland / D3
Gary McDaniel, Boonville / D3
Jason Misiniec, Bicknell / D3
Larry Rusch, Vincennes / D3
Roger Bommer, Brookville / D4
Kevin Burbrink, Seymour / D4
Anngie Steinbarger, Edinburgh / D4
President Scott Smith, Windfall / D5
Vice President
Chris Cherry, New Palestine / D6
Secretary Sarah Delbecq, Auburn / D3
Staff Credits
Editor / Dave Blower Jr.
Writer / Ann Hinch
Writer / Emma Hopkins-O’Brien
Writer / Susan Hayhurst
Creative Director / Carol Johnson
Indiana Corn & Soybean Post® is published five times per year by the Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Indiana Corn Growers Association.
For address corrections contact: Indiana Corn & Soybean Post® 8425 Keystone Crossing, Suite 200 Indianapolis, IN 46240
Phone: 800-735-0195 or 317-614-0377
Email: dblower@indianasoybean.com
Treasurer Tyler Everett, Lebanon / D7
Directors
Tom Murphy, Chesterton / D1
Joe Tuholski, LaPorte / D2
Mike Beard, Frankfort / D4
J.R. Roesner, Ferdinand / D8
Tyler Pottschmidt, Greensburg / D9
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For many of us, summer means cutting hay, the sounds and smells of a county fair and maybe family reunions. The calendar is dotted with traditional events. This is also true for the Indiana Soybean Alliance’s Membership & Policy Committee (M&P).
Among our biggest events of the year is later this month. The Ag Policy Summit is Wednesday, July 26, at the Howard County Fairgrounds in Greentown, Ind. The Ag Policy Summit is produced by M&P and the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) to share with row-crop farmers from around the state the policies that could help or hurt their farms. The event is free, and it offers up-to-date information on the ag policies being debated in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and even locally.
The Summit will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end promptly by noon. Lunch will be served at that time, and farmers may stay and network with the other growers, ag stakeholders and state lawmakers who will also attend the event. The networking and discussion after the Summit are valuable.
This year’s Summit will feature a panel discussion about Ag Banking. The panel will include Natasha Cox of Farm Credit Mid-America, John Rassi of CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, Aaron Gillum of 50 South Capital, and Mark “Doc” Holt of First Farmers Bank & Trust. With the challenges many of us are facing during this crop year, getting a peek of what might be on financial horizon will be important.
Radio broadcaster Eric Pfeiffer of Hoosier Ag Today will moderate the Ag Banking panel, and he will emcee the rest of the program.
The rest of the agenda includes an outlook from
Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Don Lamb, a review of conservation opportunities by John Ketzenberger of The Nature Conservancy and a wrapup of this year’s Indiana General Assembly by M&P and ICGA Senior Director of Industry Affairs Steve Howell.
As I said, the event is free, and the content is valuable. If you’re interested in attending, contact Khyla Goodman, Industry Affairs Outreach Manager for M&P and ICGA, at kgoodman@indianasoybean. com or register online at www.indianasoybean.com/ PolicySummit2023.
As you know, our representatives and senators in Congress are debating the next farm bill, and it is scheduled to be completed before the end of this year. The debate for what goes in the next farm bill is happening right now. We would like to keep the things that were good in the last farm bill while adding policies that will do more. Some of the things we’d like to see in the next farm bill include:
• Improving the farm safety net for commodities
• Protecting crop insurance
• Maintaining a voluntary, incentive-based approach to conservation programs
• Expanding investments that promote U.S. commodities globally
• Building opportunities for biofuels and biobased products
Each of these policies might require additional funding or maintaining current levels of funding. As the M&P chair, I am encouraging you to engage with your senators and representatives in Congress to seek additional resources from the budget committees. We want the 2023 Farm Bill to be a meaningful and comprehensive farm bill.
Find out how ASA/WISHH’s soy checkoff-supported work with Edesia Nutrition led to the company developing a product that contains 25% more soy flour than earlier formulations. Adding more soy allows Edesia to reach more people throughout the world.
Trade. Development. Food Security.
Top photo courtesy of SNI Global
Awinning team on the field requires teammates with different skills and strengths to work together for a common goal. On a baseball diamond, a good pitcher needs a skilled catcher. On the football field, a speedy running back needs many strong blockers.
It is with that principle in mind, I am reminded of how much all Indiana farmers need both the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA), a policy organization, and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC), our state’s corn checkoff program. More than 16 years ago, ICGA campaigned diligently for the launch of a corn checkoff program because our leaders knew that this effort would help farmers. ICGA’s leaders understood that states with checkoff programs enjoyed stronger bushel prices.
How have Indiana corn growers benefitted from the checkoff?
Let’s take our state’s ethanol industry as an example.
In 2007, the year the ICMC was created, Indiana had six ethanol plants. Today, there are 15 with one plant a short drive from nearly all of the state’s 20,107 corn growers. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, Indiana ranks as the fifth-largest producer of U.S. ethanol – generating more than 1.4 billion gallons per year. The Hoosier State produces nearly 8 percent of the total U.S. ethanol output.
Indiana is a major corn producer with an average annual crop of 975 million bushels valued at more than $6.5 billion. There are 15 ethanol plants in the state. Collectively, these ethanol plants consume about 43 percent of Indiana’s total corn crop – more than 461 million bushels. Furthermore, these ethanol plants produce 3.8 million tons of distiller’s grains, which is a
valuable livestock feed.
None of this would be possible without ICMC’s work in growing the ethanol industry.
ICMC actively recruits ethanol producers to bring more plants into the state. The newest plant came online within the past year. Indiana boasts six ethanol plants that produce more than 100 million gallons per year.
ICMC works with fuel retailers to offer higher blends of ethanol. Through programs such as the Higher Blend Infrastructure Incentive Program, the state now has 288 pumps offering E85 (a blend of 85 percent ethanol with 15 percent gasoline), and 90 pumps with E15 (a blend of 15 percent ethanol with 85 percent gasoline).
And finally, ICMC works with consumers to try ethanol. More than 309 million gallons of ethanol is used by Hoosier motorists each year – most at a 10.1 percent blend. Because ethanol-blended fuel is cheaper, motorists are saving an estimated $273 million per year.
Ethanol is not the only example of the benefits Indiana corn growers receive from the checkoff program. In 2021, the U.S. exported more than 2.7 billion bushels of corn, and much of that came from Indiana. ICMC has partnered with organizations like the U.S. Grains Council, the U.S. Meat Export Federation and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council to move a sizeable pile of Hoosier corn overseas. This, too, increases demand and bushel prices for Indiana growers.
When we pull our efforts together, we can accomplish great things for each other.
As the ICGA president, I’m happy to continue to fight for our checkoff program. ICMC is a great teammate for Indiana farmers.
At POET, we believe in cultivating communities and growing the local economy. We have been using biotechnology to create sustainable solutions from local agricultural products for 35 years – ensuring that rural farm families can continue to do what they love for generations to come.
POET purchases corn from local farmers to produce sustainable biofuels and bioproducts. There are four POET Bioprocessing facilities across Indiana: Alexandria, North Manchester, Portland, and Shelbyville with a fifth coming soon in Cloverdale. | poet.com/grain
I am happy to be back writing Ears in Washington after spending the last several months away on maternity leave. While I’ve missed the office, the team and policy work, I was thankful to have the time at home with our newest son, Henry, and his big brother, Daniel.
But over the last several months I had a lot of time to reflect on many things, and I realized I can use some of the same skills I have developed as an advocate to navigate the challenges that come with parenting. In fact, there are a lot of similarities between my two professions: mothering and lobbying.
In both cases, success depends on building wide support and sometimes joining forces with unlikely allies. Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), speaking last summer at Corn Congress, gave some great advice on the advocacy front:
“You’ve got to build relationships with people who care about food stamps,” she said. “You’ve got to build relationships with people who care about conservation. You can’t expect to basically get a farm bill by just being who you are in production agriculture.”
Her advice is true not just for the farm bill but for all policy issues. NCGA participates in several coalitions to help advance our policy work, from farm bill reauthorization to ethanol to transportation. We have learned, as many have, that the larger the group speaking in support of an issue, the more successful we can be. Similarly, Mom and Dads need a wide circle of support at home.
When it comes to raising kids or advancing public policy, it really is WE, not just ME.
Another key to success in lobbying and parenting is planning and strategizing. Just as we work to ensure that
our children’s needs don’t all fall on one parent, we also need to make sure the responsibilities of telling our story don’t fall on the shoulders of a handful of corn growers.
As we work to advance legislation on behalf of corn growers, we are constantly contemplating how we need to communicate about an issue or which farmer constituent voice we need to send in to talk with a particular policymaker to make them want to champion our priorities.
We also must carefully calibrate our advocacy efforts, at times going quiet on an issue so as not to upset a victory that is under way. (Just as a parent would calmly and quietly leave a room so as not to upset a sleeping child.) Like parenting, this all requires strategy and advanced thought.
The primary currency in Washington is relationships. Getting to know stakeholders is crucially important to success on Capitol Hill. I talked in one of my previous columns about how endangered bipartisan relationships have become among members of Congress as policymakers increasingly spend more time at home instead of here in Washington with their colleagues.
But relationships are still critical to success — no different than bonding with your children, it’s time well spent. Policymakers need to see me and the D.C. team as people who represent the nation’s corn growers, the very people toiling to feed and fuel America and, indeed, the world.
NCGA has built incredible relationships with congressional members and their staff on both sides of the aisle over the years, and we work to maintain those relationships every day.
My two life’s passions, parenting and lobbying, are both rewarding work. And I really don’t know which one teaches me more. But I know they both make my life meaningful and enjoyable, and I look forward to a life filled with surprises, victories and challenges in both arenas.
Congress can ensure more consumer choice in fuels and vehicles by taking greater advantage of low-cost,
low-emissions biofuels like ethanol, NCGA CEO Neil Caskey said during testimony before the Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on June 22.
“As producers of the sustainable, primary feedstock for low carbon ethanol, corn farmers stand behind agriculture’s contribution to lowcost, cleaner, domestic energy,” Caskey said. “Their production improvements will help achieve biofuels with net-zero emissions and higher ethanol blends cost less.”
In his testimony, Caskey discussed several bills that that would leverage the benefits of biofuels to ensure a level playing field in transportation, including:
• The Fuels Parity Act, which ensures EPA uses the most accurate lifecycle emissions assessment for biofuels: the Department of Energy Argonne National Lab’s GREET model. The legislation recognizes progress made under the Renewable Fuel Standard, allowing all fuels, including corn ethanol, that meet the 50 percent
lower GHG standard for an advanced biofuel to qualify as an advanced biofuel.
• The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act, which would permanently remove outdated and unnecessary barriers to full market access to 15 percent ethanolblended fuel, a lower-cost and lower emissions choice.
• Next Generation Fuels Act, which considers fuels and vehicles as a system, would improve our nation’s liquid fuel supply and transition new combustion vehicles to use advanced engines that take advantage of better fuels, such as higher blends of ethanol. This transition to updated fuels and vehicles would cut fuel costs, reduce GHG and other transportation emissions and increase fuel efficiency.
Caskey said NCGA supports policies to further reduce emissions from vehicles but is opposed to EPA’s proposed approach for emission standards.
“EPA’s proposed rule envisions only one solution to meet new standards, electric vehicles, without accounting for their full lifecycle emissions,” he said. “Rather than endorse a single technology, we are urging EPA to focus on outcomes and open pathways for all low-carbon fuels and technologies, as well as advance a needed rulemaking to improve fuels.”
BY BLAIR SHIPP
June was a mixed bag month for decisions involving the Environmental Protection Agency and agriculture policy. While soy growers were left dissatisfied at the agency’s final Renewable Volume Obligations, they look forward to EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers updating the current “Waters of the U.S.” rule to remain consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA decision.
EPA on June 21 released its final RVOs for 2023, 2024 and 2025, which sets annual biofuel blending targets under the Renewable Fuel Standard. Soy growers are disappointed with the rule, as it does not accurately reflect the growth expected in the industry and falls far below the industry’s current production.
For the first year of the rule, EPA did not make any increases to the biomass-based diesel (BBD) category over the totals reflected in the draft rule released in December, despite ASA and others in the BBD industry sharing data demonstrating that the sector saw significant growth. For the years 2024 and 2025, EPA only made modest increases in the BBD and non-cellulosic advanced biofuels categories. EPA acknowledged that some of this growth resulted from updated feedstock availability projections based on data ASA shared.
“This announcement is a letdown for soy growers. It threatens the success of the biomass-based diesel industry by significantly dialing back annual increases
in volume obligations and failing to account for the progress being made in biofuels investment and growth,” said ASA President Daryl Cates, a farmer from Illinois, in a media release from the organization.
BBD is a vital domestic market for soybean farmers. The RFS has reduced U.S. dependence on foreign oil, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and added value by increasing demand for soybeans and corn. Billions of dollars are being invested in biodiesel, renewable diesel, soybean crushing plants and other infrastructure to be able to produce more BBD.
Soy farmers were encouraged by EPA’s 2022 volume target—which included the highest-ever number for total renewable fuels and specifically for biomass-based diesel since the renewable fuel standard was created— and were hopeful EPA would continue its support of the RFS. However, EPA’s final rule will limit growth in soy-based biofuels over the next three years and leaves farmers and biofuels industry partners reeling.
The Biden administration has announced its plans to directly issue a final rule on the definition of “Waters of the United States” by Sept. 1, consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s May 25 decision in the case of Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Supreme Court ruled last month that the “significant nexus” test – heavily used in the new WOTUS rule – shall not be used to determine which streams and wetlands fall under the scope of Clean Water Act protections.
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor told the House Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee that EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to use expedited authorities to finalize a new regulation on the issue. Connor explained that the agencies are looking at “surgically removing” the significant nexus elements from the recent rule.
While farm groups are pleased with this quick move to execute the court’s opinion, this approach is still likely to raise concerns with agricultural stakeholders, who are looking at options to provide comments on the revisions.
Connor also explained that until the rule is finalized, the Corps has halted approval of jurisdictional determinations. This is what infrastructure developers request from the Corps to understand which waterbodies are subject to Clean Water Act jurisdiction and therefore require a federal permit.
This is likely to slow down the Biden administration’s rollout of the ASAsupported Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
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Join Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Growers Association on July 26 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in Greentown, Ind., for the annual Indiana Ag Policy Summit. This event is open to all farmers and agriculture industry professionals to participate in discussions on current agriculture policy that affects Hoosier corn and soybean farmers.
In this year’s Summit, John Ketzenberger from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) will explain how the TNC works alongside landowners to increase conservation adoption. He will give attendees report on additional federal conservation dollars available to farmers. As part of this presentation, Ketzenberger will be joined by farmers who will share their experiences with conservation adoptions.
A panel discussion highlighting the banking industry, interest rates and future insights is planned. The panelists will feature experts from First Farmers Bank and Trust, Farm Credit Mid-America, CliftonLarsonAllen, and 50 South
Capital. Time for questions from the audience will be allotted. Attendees will also hear from the new Indiana State Department of Agriculture Don Lamb. A farmer from Boone County, Lamb will report on the current work of ISDA and what plans he has for the agency in the near future.
This year’s sponsors include: FMC, Corteva Agriscience, First Farmers Bank and Trust, Beck’s Hybrids, Farm Credit Mid-America, Timpte, Conexus Indiana, and the United Soybean Board. Registration opens at 8 a.m. and the program will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon with lunch catered by Shoup’s Country Foods and time for networking to follow.
This event is free, so bring questions and a friend for a busy morning discussing Indiana agriculture. Register while space is available. To register, go online to www.indianasoybean.com/PolicySummit2023 or scan the QR code.
The Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) and the Indiana Soybean Alliance’s Membership & Policy Committee (M&P) represent our state’s farmers in the legislative halls in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C. These organizations need your membership to influence federal and state lawmakers. Indiana soybean and corn growers can now save money and eliminate the hassle of annual renewals by purchasing a LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP to both ICGA and M&P. For only $1,700, you can be a member of both ICGA and M&P for life!
Anyone interested in buying this membership, should contact Industry Affairs Outreach Manager Khyla Goodman by phone at 317-614-0377 or by email at kgoodman@indianasoybean.com. Or, you can go to our website, www.indianasoybean.com/memberships, to join!
Lifetime Members:
Phil Ramsey
Matthew Lucas
Courtney Kingery
Tyler Everett
David Gottbrath
Michael Sprinkle
Jeff Troike
Matthew Lucas
Brownstown, Ind., farmer
“I decided to become a lifetime member because it was a great investment for me to always support Indiana corn and soybean farmers through policy advocacy.”
SAVE THE DATE! The Indiana Ag Policy Summit is scheduled for July 26 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in Greentown, Ind. This annual event, presented by the Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership & Policy Committee (M&P) and the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA), is for farmers and industry leaders to learn about agriculture policy and to network with others throughout the state. More details to come.
Dear Hoosier Farmers,
I hope you’re enjoying the warm weather the summer brings, which I’m hoping means an abundant harvest for all. Whether you live in the 7th Congressional District in Indianapolis or across our beautiful state, your voices and work in this industry are vital.
You are the backbone of our county, and you keep us moving forward. I want to take the time to talk about my 2023 Farm Bill priorities this Congress.
Food Insecurity: The wellbeing of every American is of the upmost importance to me, and making sure every American has access to healthy and nutritious food is essential to that goal. That’s why I introduced the Food Desserts Act of 2023, which creates new avenues to fund stores in underserved communities. This bill will create USDA- funded, state-operated revolving funds that will issue low-interest loans for the operation of grocery stores in food deserts. The bill ensures that recipients of these loans, including for-profit, non-profit and municipal entities, can provide affordable, healthy food, including fresh produce and staples like milk, bread, and meat.
PFAS Testing Funding: Farmers and Agriculture producers across the United States have a growing concern about microplastics. From dairy producers to farm workers that produce our corn, soybeans, and other staple crops,
microplastics have been known to have the ability to contaminate our water ways, air and soil. Funding for testing for farmers, especially those that use well water, should be a top priority in this Farm Bill to protect the health of the American public.
Sustainable Agriculture: As we are hit by more devastating floods, storms, and changes to our climate because of human impact, we must meet the moment to mitigate and stop the damage to our environment. That is
why I’m urging for increased funding to help train farmers on implementing sustainable agricultural practices. Many of our land grant colleges do a great job of gearing up the next generation of farmers and agriculture producers, but not enough are teaching students about sustainable agriculture.
Nutrition: More than 290,000 Hoosier families benefit from SNAP. We must continue to fund and strengthen this program to continue the fight against food insecurity.
I have signed a letter to the House Agriculture Committee along with the rest of Indiana’s Congressional delegation to support Hoosier farmers through our collective Farm Bill priorities. You can read the letter here.
The letter was supported by the Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Beef Cattle Association, Indiana Corn Growers Association, Indiana Pork Producers Association, Indiana Soybean Alliance and the Indiana State Poultry Association.
Thank you for your ongoing investment in our state. Please feel free to contact my office at 317-283-6516 or 202-225-4011.
As state and federal lawmakers continue prioritizing environmental and energy issues, carbon policies and incentives are steering the future of biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). While the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) continues to be an important federal policy driving biomass-based diesel production, states are increasingly taking leadership roles developing and implementing their own renewable fuel policies.
California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) continues to build the framework for the success of biodiesel and renewable diesel. More than 1.5 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel was used in 2022, displacing nearly half of the entire diesel fuel pool in California and accounting for the largest source of carbon reductions in the program. Carbon programs in Oregon and Washington are expected to see similar results from the increase in biodiesel and renewable diesel consumption helping achieve carbon reduction targets in the hard to electrify sectors.
In Colorado, legislation introduced this year would have exempted biodiesel and renewable diesel from the state’s excise tax for special fuels. New Mexico was again on the cusp of passing a Clean Fuel Standard and incentives for blending and selling biodiesel. Although these bills did not pass, they signal new opportunities and markets for biodiesel and renewable diesel.
Several policies supporting the sale and production of biodiesel passed in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri
last year, resulting in an additional 280 million gallons of biodiesel demand. These successes have led to states like Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan pursuing similar initiatives.
A proposal was introduced in Nebraska incentivizing the sale of biodiesel, bringing together a large supporting coalition hoping to make home-grown fuels a priority in the state. This bill could be one of last pieces of legislation that the unicameral legislature approves before adjourning in June.
Indiana and Michigan also considered legislation this year that would create tiered incentives for the sale of biodiesel. These proposals offer escalating value of tax credits for fuel retailers who offer higher blends of biodiesel to their citizens. This type of program has been successful in other states and continues to be the preferred option for prioritizing biodiesel in Midwest states.
Numerous Northeastern states are considering policies for biodiesel, renewable diesel, Bioheat® fuel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Making up 40 percent of the home heating oil market in the northeast, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island previously enacted Bioheat® fuel mandates requiring increasing amounts of biodiesel to be blended with traditional heating oil. Vermont recently approved a Clean Heat Standard that would require heating oil dealers and suppliers to buy or sell credits based on the carbon content of their fuel, including biodiesel and renewable diesel.
These efforts and successes are due in large part to the state soybean and Clean Fuels-member organizations who work diligently with our state and federal advocacy teams to implement policies that meets America’s energy needs while adding economic value here in our heartland.
Launched in 2021, the Biden administration’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge aims to produce enough low-carbon jet fuel to slash aviation emissions in half by 2050.
Thanks to new incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), that goal appears much more attainable than it did two years ago. However, getting there will require the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to take a page from the Department of Energy (DOE) when it comes to following the best available science on climate modeling.
Currently, farm-based feedstocks – including bioethanol and corn oil, among others – are the only viable sources of clean, renewable energy available in large enough volumes to meet projected demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In fact, the U.S. ethanol industry accounts for more than 80 percent of biofuel production capacity in the United States at 17.4 billion gallons per year.
Unfortunately, a handful of interest groups have been encouraging the U.S. Treasury to decide who can earn credit for making SAF based on an emissions model based in Europe. Not only does that outdated model ignore years of data about U.S. agriculture and biofuel production – it also effectively blocks American farmers from participating in a major new market for green energy.
This means that this effort to decarbonize aviation would be hugely dependent on foreign feedstocks. One of the best things about biofuels is that they increase America’s energy independence and reduce our reliance on foreign resources. Choosing this European model would effectively do the opposite.
There is a better way. The DOE and Argonne National Laboratory have invested decades into building the world’s best tool for modeling transportation emissions. It’s called the Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Technologies (GREET) model.
GREET was created by researchers with real-world expertise examining both the domestic agricultural supply chain and the latest hard data from the USDA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The gold standard for lifecycle modeling, GREET harnesses the latest data on everything, including yield, fertilizer and agriculture inputs.
In fact, several provisions of the IRA specifically require the use of GREET to calculate the benefits of other transportation fuels, such as hydrogen and non-aviation low carbon fuels. Unfortunately, the legislation didn’t offer the same clear guidance on SAF – an omission that could keep U.S. SAF production grounded for good.
Leaders at the U.S. Treasury could easily avoid that outcome by relying on the GREET model, which would incentivize further emissions reductions and advance the IRA’s climate goals.
Lawmakers agree. A bipartisan coalition of 16 senators recently warned Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that, “[f]ailure to provide businesses with the certainty and reliability of a science-based, United States governmentdeveloped model to determine eligibility for IRA tax credits could have dire consequences. Prohibiting the aviation industry from decarbonizing with the most readily available SAF options will not only prevent American farmers from contributing to a clean energy economy, but it will drastically delay adoption of promising low emission energy sources and force the aviation industry to miss an opportunity to eliminate millions of tons of carbon emissions in the coming years.”
In short, it would be climate malpractice to anchor our SAF ambitions to outdated, foreign models that disregard U.S. innovations in biofuel production and climate-smart agriculture and tie U.S.-based carbon incentives to inaccurate foreign carbon models.
The biofuels industry is already lowering carbon emissions, reducing our reliance on foreign oil, saving drivers money at the pump, and creating new American jobs. And by following the best available science, bioethanol can clear the way for America’s bioeconomy to deliver even greater progress toward low-carbon aviation.
As consumers seek more environmentally friendly solutions to energy challenges, Indiana’s corn and soybean policy organizations are working to convince state and federal lawmakers that farmers can help provide those clean fuel answers.
On May 9-10, the Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership & Policy Committee (M&P) and the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) hosted stakeholders in the biofuels industry, retail fuel business owners and farmers for the High Performance, Low Carbon Liquid Fuel Summit at the Dallara IndyCar Factory in the shadows of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Ind.
The environmental benefits, economic potential and overall value of corn-based ethanol and soybean-based biodiesel were the focus of the two-day Liquid Fuels Summit. ICGA President Scott Smith, a farmer from Windfall, Ind., and M&P Chair Keevin Lemenager, a farmer from Monrovia, Ind., were the first to address the conference attendees.
“Ethanol is more than a quality fuel or fuel additive. It’s a performance-enhancing, low carbon, octane source made from renewable corn,” Smith explained. “Soy biodiesel is a clean-burning alternative fuel that can be used in existing, unmodified diesel engines. Both biofuels are critical for a sustainable, clean energy future. Farmers are good stewards of the land. We feel the responsibility to create a more environmentally and economically sustainable world for future generations. Thank you for coming together today to help expand the use of ethanol and biodiesel in Indiana.”
Advocating for more long-term opportunities for biofuels is a primary mission for M&P and ICGA. This year, the
soybean and corn policy organizations have campaigned for year-round sales of higher blends of ethanol and a biodiesel fuel tax credit.
“Along with ICGA, (M&P) works closely with our allied industries, recognizing the roles that food, livestock, industry, trade and fuel markets respectively play in building one, cohesive farm economy supporting our rural communities,” Lemenager said. “As many of you know, we are membership organizations that serve as the policy voice of Indiana’s soy and corn farmers. Our policy work is not funded by checkoff dollars. That means we must rely on membership dollars and corporate contributions to ensure farmer voices are heard and to address issues at all levels of government that directly affect Hoosier crop producers. We continue the work to educate our state legislators and our Congressional delegation around the positive benefits and economic impact of biofuels. This is an all-out effort to build stronger soy and corn industries for Indiana and to reduce dependency on foreign oil.”
The policy groups work closely with the state’s corn and soybean checkoff programs, the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC), which are charged with increasing production of ethanol and biodiesel, expanding the infrastructure for biofuels and aiding consumer trust in the products. ISA Board Chair Mike Koehne, a farmer from Greensburg, Ind., and ICMC President Paul Hodgen, a farmer from Roachdale, Ind., both said a successful biofuels industry is vital for Indiana’s farmers.
“As the directors of the ICMC, we are tasked with the stewardship of the funds collected through the checkoff,” Hodgen told the Summit attendees. “Now, we have a fancy mission and vision statement, but to boil that down into something everyone here can remember, our goals are to move the pile of corn, make that pile more valuable and to produce that pile of corn more efficiently and environmentally friendly. Part of that is what we’re talking about here today.”
Koehne said coordinated efforts between ethanol and biodiesel industry stakeholders, environmental groups and agricultural leaders have all worked to grow the biofuels industry. He said there’s room for more growth and continued, coordinated efforts are needed.
“We are grateful for partners like you in the biofuels industry who support our farmers to increase demand for our
programs,” Koehne added. “Indiana has five biodiesel plants with a combined capacity of more than 100 million gallons of biodiesel and is home to the world’s largest integrated soy biodiesel facility. A total of 289 million pounds of soybean oil from Indiana soybeans goes to producing biodiesel. Our state is a leader in biofuels thanks to your continued partnership.”
Helena Jette, ISA and ICMC Director of Biofuels, said the production of biodiesel creates measurable economic benefits across Indiana. As the seventh-largest producer of biodiesel in the country, increased demand has created roughly 3,200 jobs across the state and boosted soybean farmers’ income by an estimated $36 per acre. She is a part of an effort, known as the B20 Club of Indiana, that encourages large public and private fleets to commit to using B20, which is a blended fuels of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel fuel.
“The benefits of B20 biodiesel are clear,” Jette said. “It is a crucial component of green fleet technologies that boost the performance of diesel vehicles; and since it is produced locally from renewable resources, like sustainable soybean oil, B20 biodiesel helps support all of Indiana while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent compared to petroleum diesel.”
She added that biodiesel boosts all of Indiana by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality. Biodiesel lowers carbon footprints by reducing lifecycle carbon emissions. Biodiesel also improves air quality by drastically reducing particulate matter and other harmful vehicle emissions.
The state’s ethanol industry has a similar impact on the environment and the farm economy. Indiana ranks as the fifth-largest producer of U.S. ethanol – generating more than 1.2 billion gallons per year. The Hoosier State produces nearly 8 percent of the total U.S. ethanol output. There are 14 ethanol plants in the state. Collectively, these ethanol plants consume about 47 percent of Indiana’s total corn crop – more than 461 million bushels.
“Almost half of Indiana corn is converted into ethanol,” Hodgen said. “Biofuels are positively serving our state’s economy, environment and local farmers. Our organizations are doing all they can to help fuel retailers take full advantage of the benefits of ethanol blends in their operations. One of our priorities is to spark conversation and collaboration across the industry. This fuels summit supports that mission.”
He added that biofuels have contributed to the checkoffs’ beneficial return on investment to farmers. The state’s soybean checkoff returns $12.34 for every dollar invested. Hodgen said Indiana’s corn checkoff program has enjoyed similar success.
“For farmers, every $1 invested into the checkoff creates a $6.40 return to each farmer’s operation,” Hodgen said. “For every $1 of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) generated by Indiana agriculture creates another 88 cents in the economic activity of our state’s industries. When you think about it, that’s a tremendous return on investment.”
Along with ISA and ICMC, the American Lung Association was another primary sponsor of the Liquid Fuels Summit. Other sponsors included the B20 Club of Indiana, Family Express, First Farmers Bank and Trust, the Indiana Ethanol Producers Association, Growth Energy, Valero, Clean Fuels Alliance America, Fuels Institute 10, CountryMark, Central Indiana Ethanol, Corteva Agriscience, the Michigan Advanced Biofuels Coalition and Indigenous Energy.
Biodiesel is accelerating the demand for Indiana soybeans and has boosted soybean farmers' income by $36 per acre. Indiana Soybean Alliance puts checkoff dollars to work by promoting and expanding the availability of biodiesel in local farm communities.
Learn more about biodiesel programs and availability at Indianasoybean.com .
BY DON LAMB, Director Indiana State Department of Agriculture
As farmers, we know that trade is vital to our industry. We know that relationship building and finding new markets is crucial for our success. We know that the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance have entire teams devoted to this and spend checkoff dollars fighting to gain access to new markets.
But, until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know what that meant. What exactly is “international trade?” How does it work? How does one “find new markets?” And what exactly is a “trade mission?”
On Saturday, June 3, I boarded an Airbus flight destined for Tokyo. We left Indianapolis around 7:30 a.m., had a layover in California and landed in Japan at 11:30 a.m. the next day.
I was on the flight to Japan with the USDA’s Foreign Ag Service destined for an international trade mission. This trade mission was led by Undersecretary for Foreign Trade Alexis Taylor. Our flight was filled with USDA officials, business leaders from across the country and state department of agriculture directors from Kentucky, North Dakota, Nebraska, Maine and Wisconsin. The goal? To see agriculture in Japan and how Hoosier farmers and producers can fit into Japanese markets.
We spent three days in Tokyo, and we were able to meet with business leaders and tour a vegetable farm, an orchard that specializes in peaches and cherries and participated in trade discussions with other attendees on the trip. We also met Mitsuru Takamiya, the President
of Kewpei (similar to Kraft in the United States). We took the bullet train (traveling at 200 mph) to Osaka, which is a large port city, and there we toured an oil company that specializes in using products like soybean oil to make protein foods.
So, why Japan? Japan is an extremely important trading partner, as 62 percent of the calories consumed in Japan are imported. Of that, currently the United States provides 22 percent of those calories with our products.
According to the USDA, Japan was the fourth-largest export destination for U.S. agricultural products, importing $14.2 billion. The United States is Japan’s top supplier of agricultural goods, with a market share of 24 percent.
According to USDA-NASS’s Indiana Field Office, Japan is Indiana’s third-highest export country behind Canada and Mexico, in that order. Annually Hoosier export more than $182 million worth of agricultural products to Japan.
So, what did we learn?
Overall, the Japanese have a strong economy and a very hard-working culture. The Japanese people place a high value on quality and convenience over price almost always.
They shop quite differently than we do, most will go to the grocery store a few times a week because they do not have deep freezers or pantries like some in the United States do. Therefore, everything packaged needs to be in small quantities and easily carriable, which is quite different than our big box stores in the United States.
This was a firsthand experience into why international trade is so crucial and why finding new markets, like the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and Indiana Soybean Alliance do, is particularly important.
Like many Indiana grain farmers, Mike Buis grew up farming cropland side-by-side with his immediate family — his siblings, father and grandfather — beginning in the 1950s. Like most farming families in Indiana, his also raised livestock, including hogs in the 60s and 70s and cattle until just six years ago.
However, unlike most teenagers, Buis rented his first farm in 1964 — three whole years before he graduated high school.
“I started in 1964, so this will be my 59th or so crop this year, and I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs in farming over the years,” Buis said. “But you just have to be patient and stick with it — that’s just how it goes with farming.”
Having farmed his whole life, Buis would go on to be an important player in overseeing the birth of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC), and today he farms 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans in Putnam and Morgan counties. But that’s skipping ahead.
He also attended Purdue University, graduating with a degree in education in 1971, and was even a walk-on basketball player for the university his freshman year,
which happened to be the opening year of Purdue’s Mackey Arena. He got his master’s degree in education from DePaw University in 1974. Buis taught high school and middle school for six years at Cascade High School before deciding to “take a short break” and go back to farming.
“I was a basketball coach and enjoyed teaching high school,” he said. “But I’ll tell you what, I did six years and it got to me. So, I thought ‘well I’ll just take a little break.’ Then my brother and I rented some more ground, and bought some more acres, and the next thing you know it’s full-time farming.”
Despite the unintended side-step of his would-be teaching career, Buis has enjoyed every day of his farming life. As it turns out, he has good sense in helping the industry move forward. This became evident when he was an early proponent of establishing the corn checkoff in Indiana. There was wide skepticism, at the time, of its necessity.
“There was some bad publicity around other checkoff programs,” he said. “Some checkoffs had problems back in the 1970s, so when ICMC was being organized (in the early
2000s), I was afraid it wasn’t going to pass. But the directors we had back then, and the legislators, they got it through –they worked hard on that. A lot of hours were put in, and it went through.”
Not only was the ICMC established, but Buis noted that many Indiana farmers chose to participate in the program despite it being voluntary.
“Of course, it was voluntary, you could get your money back and everything, but I was surprised at how many farmers understood the importance of it from the getgo,” he reported. “Only a minimal number of producers requested their money back, and I was really impressed. Hats off to the Indiana farmers for recognizing that.”
Buis believes promoting a voluntary checkoff program was a key to its success adoption. Making the checkoff mandatory would encourage pushback from producers. “I think the checkoff is pretty universally accepted in Indiana now, and I’ve been off the council for four or five years,” he said.
As his years on ICMC continued, Buis said the value of the program became evident to many producers, who realized that “this organization was busting their tails” to promote corn.
“I feel like they’ve used the money wisely promoting and educating the uses of corn,” he explained. “The marketing council has helped sponsor corn use programs through universities, and a lot of good things
have come out of there.”
Buis recalls that a few years into his term on the Council, to demonstrate the versatility of corn, the ICMC office had carpet installed that was made of corn, and the members were brought shirts made from corn, as well. Similarly, in the heyday of ethanol being introduced on the corn scene, it became ICMC’s duty to educate Indiana on the benefits of biofuel.
“Through the checkoff dollars, they’ve done a lot of promotion and education, especially about ethanol because a lot of people had a lot of different opinions about ethanol — especially big city people and corporations,” Buis said. “They said ‘well they’re going to take our food away — food to feed people and turn it into fuel.’ People didn’t realize that about 80 percent of corn is turned into livestock feed, and we were not wasting that corn.”
Buis said many press conferences occupied the ICMC’s time then, and there were a lot of testimonials from the likes of large grocery store chains against ethanol. However, with checkoff dollars, the Council actively worked to educate the public. “We educated kids at school with pamphlets, we had a rodeo where we promoted corn, we just did a lot of different things to get through to people the importance of corn and what it was used for,” he said. “One year we sponsored the Amazing Maize exhibit at the Indiana State Museum, and a lot of people went through that to learn the history and importance of corn when the ethanol thing took over and was a whole new concept for many people.”
All kinds of businesses pushed back on any promotion of ethanol with the thought that using corn for fuel would be a waste. Buis credits the corn checkoff in Indiana and other states with playing a big role in the success of the ethanol industry in Indiana today and in the country at large.
“All the controversy and publicity around ethanol with the
food versus fuel controversy have made producers aware” Buis said. “That’s one of the biggest things I think checkoff dollars have helped with: To educate people about the importance of corn globally.”
In addition to the huge help that checkoff money provides to the corn industry, Buis said the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA), which he joined more than 15 years ago, has been just as important in shaping the industry through policy work.
“I feel the ICGA is a loud voice to the legislators, and we have a tremendous staff that keeps up on the different issues and keeps track of the bills coming through the Indiana Statehouse,” he said. “Things that affect Indiana farmers, whether it’s about grains or livestock or any federal issues—they do a good job of getting publicity and information to our farmers.”
Buis commented that ICGA puts on “shop talk meetings” for farmers to come and meet with representatives from their district to talk and get their opinions across, emphasizing to legislators the importance of the producers’ end of it and voicing their concerns.
“I think with the legislators, ICGA has built up a good reputation,” Buis said. “I know some legislators come to our organization to ask ‘what do farmers think about this?’ So, we get together, and we form an opinion on it, whether we support it or disapprove of it, and that’s what I like about the organization.”
A strong proponent of ICGA, Buis will at times take it upon himself to recruit new ICGA members and has recruited somewhere around 28 members in the past seven years. He recognizes how difficult it normally can be to have people take the time to join an organization, but says he has no secret recipe for success in recruiting other than approaching potential members one-on-one.
“When I talk to people about joining the ICGA, I say ‘listen, if you have a problem with anything you do as a corn farmer, if you have problems about any aspects of growing corn, sit down with us, call the Indiana Corn Growers office. We can get with some representatives and see if we can get something solved through the proper channels.’”
Events such as the “Shop Talks” can sometimes bring in ICGA memberships, but Buis said nothing works better than sitting down with producers one-on-one to stress the importance of being an ICGA member. Through the years, he noted that ICGA has had a great staff to represent corn growers, keeping members informed of issues going on and what farmers need to watch. He believes it is important to always put up an effort to recruit new members, which is why he takes membership applications with him whenever he knows he might see others in the industry.
“The organization needs you just as much as you need
the organization,” Buis said. “That’s the way I look at it.”
There’s no time commitment to being a member of ICGA, and farmers can put as much or as little effort into it as they want. For those farmers who do put time into it, Buis feels it will never be time wasted.
“I think it’s a huge advantage as a farmer, because growers can learn from each other,” he said. “I mean, here I’m in my 70s, and even I’m still learning things.”
More than 10 years ago, Indiana soybean growers decided to build something to educate millions of people about how soybeans are grown and why it is an important crop. The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) unveiled the Glass Barn to the public in 2013.
During the 2023 Indiana State Fair, July 28 through Aug. 20, ISA will celebrate the Glass Barn’s 10th anniversary opening its doors to the public to educate on modern farming practices and introduce them to family farms. To do that, ISA seeks volunteers to work in the Glass Barn during the Fair.
Volunteers who work a 4-hour shift will receive a ticket to the Indiana State Fair, a free parking pass, a free t-shirt and a meal coupon. ISA needs more than 200 volunteers to staff the Glass Barn during this year’s State Fair. Volunteers will help visitors take part in various hands-on Glass Barn exhibits such as operating the interactive combine simulator, playing the BeanGo game to earn this year’s Glass Barn hat, taking photos in the Picture You booths and answering quiz questions about Indiana agriculture during live virtual Farmer Chats for prizes.
To volunteer, email beanteam@indianasoybean.com. Volunteers may also contact ISA Consumer Outreach Manager Ben Linder by email at blinder@indianasoybean. com or by phone at 317-644-2857.
Those who can’t volunteer this year are encouraged to visit the Glass Barn during the Indiana State Fair. In recent years, ISA updated some of the Glass Barn’s most popular exhibits, which now include a combine simulator, soybean farming video game and an updated photobooth with new backgrounds. The popular Glass Barn’s WeGrow Theater will once again feature live farmer chats at 11 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m. each day.
In recent years, ISA updated some of the Glass Barn’s most popular exhibits. The video game, “Soy You Think You Can Farm,” teaches visitors about agriculture from planting to harvest. But the games have been moved to old-schoolstyle, arcade cabinets.
ISA has updated some of the Glass Barn’s most popular exhibits. The video game, “Soy You Think You Can Farm” teaches visitors about agriculture from planting to harvest. But the games have been moved to old-school-style, arcade cabinets.
“The Glass Barn is celebrating 10 years at the Indiana State Fair, and in those 10 years we’ve been able to tell our story to millions of people,” said ISA Chair Mike Koehne, a farmer from Greensburg, Ind. “Having farmers and friends who are passionate about agriculture is vital to educating the public. Volunteering is fun and easy. We hope to have a record number of farmers sign up and participate this year. If you haven’t volunteered before, it is a good experience. I encourage everyone to try it at least once.
The Bean Market also received a facelift. In this interactive experience, visitors will scan items on a grocery list and learn how soybeans play a role in their development. Items like newspapers, birthday candles, ice cream and hot dogs can be scanned to complete the shopping list.
Along with the Glass Barn, soybeans will have an increased presence at other places around the fair this year. Such as:
• Soy biodiesel will again power the State Fair’s Midway rides and tractor shuttles.
• In a partnership with the Indiana FFA, SynLawn turf is used on the putt-putt golf course in the FFA Pavilion. About 15,000 consumers play putt-putt each year.
For additional information about the Glass Barn, go online to www.glassbarn.org
BY SUSAN HAYHURST
Awise organization plans for the future.”
Sage advice from Rensselaer, Ind. farmer Kendell Culp, who is a strong proponent of ASA’s Corteva Young Leader Program, which develops, trains and engages young farmers to be voices for American agriculture.
Culp is also a board member for the American Soybean Association and a past board member of the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA). “This program is not only a really great opportunity for young Indiana farmers, but also a great investment by ASA.”
Founded in 1984 and sponsored by Corteva Agriscience, this is ASA’s longest-running leadership program. “The Young Leader Program continues to set the bar for leadership training in agriculture,” said Matt Rekeweg, Corteva’s U.S. Industry Affairs Leader.
According to Rekeweg, the program’s mission is to enable and inspire participants to engage with key stakeholders – including local, state and national in government and industry. “All farmers need to be engaged with various audiences and policy matters and be effective in sharing our message. We give them the tools to communicate with all audiences,” he said.
“Program candidates are nominated by their state soy organizations. They should be soybean growers – couples or individuals – and be a minimum age of 21 or older. Program participants are from throughout the United States, making for a wonderful networking opportunity. A husband-and-wife team are both farmers, not a farmer and a wife. For example, a husband may primarily be a farmer and his wife lead a local nursing program, but she still joins him in parts of the program and vice versa.”
“Participants commit to attend two training sessions. The first phase takes place at Corteva’s Global Business Center in Johnston, Iowa, and the second phase is held in conjunction with the annual Commodity Classic Convention and Trade Show,” said Rekeweg, whose focus is oilseeds and soybeans specifically along with leading Corteva’s engagement with ASA, USB, the
U.S. Soybean Export Council and the young leader program. “We’ve added a smaller phase three group which goes to Washington, D.C. for ASA’s Fly-In in July. They visit Capitol Hill and work on critical agricultural issues using their new skills learned during phases one and two.”
The class receives extensive training in understanding and practice with media and video interviews, recognizing and working with different personality types, public speaking opportunities, and how to make your point with policy makers. Rekeweg participates in all three phases and is grateful Corteva and other professionals in regulatory, international trade policy, and governmental affairs leadership guide the men and women in the experience.
The 2023 class will begin in November after Thanksgiving and concludes following the February 2024 Commodity Classic in Houston, Tex. Corteva’s program sponsorship provides for travel and accommodations for the young leaders and their spouses or single farmer participants.
“I cannot recommend this program enough to young ag professionals,” said Tyler Smith, who along with his wife, Keyaira, are hog, soybeans, corn, wheat and sorghum producers at Hillsdale, Ind. “This program has given us a network that we normally wouldn’t have had, and it is completely irreplaceable. Having a group of exceptional young farmers we can call and bounce ideas or problems off is great. We also learned about much about ourselves and our personality types. This is important when working with employees because not everyone takes the things you say the same way. The program has made me a better manager.”
Smith noted his program highlights were attending Commodity Classic and going to Washington, D.C. to join ISA delegates as they met with Indiana senators and congressmen discussing problems soybean producers are facing. “The experience of being able to have one-on-one meetings with our representatives
was one we’ll never forget.”
Eric Schwenke, a Rockville producer of corn and soybeans, participated in the program in 2020 because past graduates had expressed the program was a great opportunity to enhance leadership skills and network with fellow producers. “Sharing conversations with U.S. and Canadian operators, how they face problems and overcome them on their operations foster ideas I can bring back to my farm.”
James Ramsey, a Shelbyville, Ind. farmer and owner of a drainage and excavation business, desired to be better educated, grow his business, and be a better husband and father. He’s grateful he participated in ASA’s program because it “really pulled me out of my comfort zone. Corteva’s program is very heavy on the self-development side. It’s made me a better public speaker and leader. I love my fellow alumni from all over the US have a group chat where we talk about every single day about farming, family, commodity prices, and networking. I absolutely encourage everyone to apply.”
ISA board member and chair of ISA’s Producer Engagement Committee, Kevin Cox, knows farmers always have their eye on the future. “We take care of our land so we can hand it down to the next generation. We teach the next generation the things we’ve learned from our parents and grandparents. That extends to leadership
in the ag industry and that’s what the Corteva Young Leaders Program is all about. Future leaders of checkoff programs and other ag groups come out of this program.”
Giving farmers an increased confidence and comfort in leadership in a safe environment bodes well for the future of agriculture, said Rekeweg. “ASA is looking to build team leaders who continue to embrace leadership in their communities. Our hope is they will see where there are needs, feel confidence to step up, and show fortitude in being engaged for agriculture.”
Sustainability is a way of life for Craig and Mindy Fruechte, Fruechte Turkey Farms, Decatur, Ind. Part of generations of Adams County farmers, the Fruechtes and their team are passionate about turkey production. They promote environmental excellence in numerous ways, and help others outside agriculture better understand poultry farming.
Their e orts, ranging from litter management techniques to innovative rainwater management to wetland protection, earned them a 2023 Family Farm Environmental Excellence Award from the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. The Fruechtes illustrate how Indiana’s turkey farmers are good stewards of the environment, and how poultry production helps stimulate the economy for Indiana corn and soybean farmers.
• Gobblers love Indiana crops: It takes 100 pounds of feed to raise a 50-pound tom turkey, adding value to Hoosier-grown corn and soybeans
• Turkey production creates jobs: More than 12,500 people in Indiana are directly employed as part of turkey farming with an extra 37,000 jobs in supplier and related industries such as contract growing, product distribution and equipment manufacturing.
Hardworking Indiana turkey farmers bring delicious turkey to your table! Scan the QR code for a colorful Asian Turkey Meatball Bowl Recipe.
Visit www.indianaturkey.com for turkey tips, trivia, and tasty recipes.
BY DAVE BLOWER JR.
June that Indiana farmers are eligible to enroll in its program that provides payment for environmental outcomes that result from implementing conservation practices. The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA), the state’s soybean checkoff program, is in its second year of assisting with this project.
In 2022, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund provided an average of $34 per acre to farmers who transitioned to on-farm conservation practices that yield outcomes like carbon sequestration and water quality improvements. New conservation practices that qualify could include tillage reductions, implementing cover crops and extending crop rotations. When implemented with another one of these practices, fertilization management can also yield environmental outcomes.
“The soybean checkoff program supports many programs like this that encourage good soil and water conservation practices,” said ISA board member Denise Scarborough, a farmer from La Crosse, Ind., and chair of the Sustainability and Value Creation Committee. “As a checkoff, we believe this program is unique because it focuses on the outcomes of soil and water conservation practices. This is a chance for farmers to receive a payment for taking care of their own land.”
USDA and several private companies, including PepsiCo, Cargill, Renewable Energy Group, Ingredion, Target, JBS, and Coca-Cola, are partnering with the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund to encourage farmer adoption of conservation practices that generate verifiable gains in carbon reduction and water
quality. “We are thrilled to work with our partners to provide new conservation incentives to Indiana farmers and to deliver greenhouse gas and water quality improvements on farms,” said Dan Yeoman, Soil and Water Outcomes Fund managing director.
Adam Kiel, executive vice president of the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, added, “As the most farmer friendly ecosystem services program in the industry today we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver practical and flexible conservation agronomy support to farmers to enhance the value of their land for years to come.”
ISA and program participants believe Hoosier farmers will also see soil improvements. “It may take some time, but practices like cover crops and minimum tillage will help with soil health. I would tell anyone on the fence that if you’re leaning toward enrolling in a carbon program, go with the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund because of the team and the support they provide,” said Adam Peters, an Ohio farmer enrolled in the program.
A map of cropland areas in Indiana that are eligible for 2023 enrollment is available on the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund website, www.theoutcomesfund.com.
Farmers or landowners interested in enrolling in the program can do so through the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund website or by contacting a member of our conservation agronomy team at contactus@theoutcomesfund.com. Farmers may also contact ISA Sustainability and Value Creation Director Ben Forsythe at bforsythe@indianasoybean.com
$34 PER ACRE AVERAGE PAYMENT IN 2022 NO LIMITS* ON ACRES ENROLLED FARMER FOCUSED PROGRAM
1-YEAR CONTRACTS 50% PAID UPFRONT
“This program allowed us to take our conservation efforts to a larger scale. We have been working on different conservations practices for several years. This opportunity helped us expand those efforts and try things on different fields we hadn’t done in the past.”
- Nick Hermanson, participating farmerThe Soil and Water Outcomes Fund provides financial incentives directly to farmers who implement new conservation practices that yield environmental outcomes like carbon sequestration and water quality improvement. Participating farmers typically implement practices including no-till/reduced tillage, cover crops, and extended crop rotations. Already implementing these practices? No problem, you can still enroll with additional practices or acreage.
Small changes can make a big difference. Diversify your revenue stream and enhance your operation’s financial resiliency through improved soil health with the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund.
Visit theoutcomesfund.com to view eligible geographical locations, learn more, and enroll. You can also use the QR code or send an email to contactus@theoutcomesfund.com
*Enrollment closes once we reach our acre goal for the year.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number NR233A750004G002. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition, any reference to specific brands or types of products or services does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for those products or services. M013_0623
The new dean of agriculture at Purdue University will be a familiar face to those with the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC). Dr. Bernie Engel, who has served as an ex-officio representing Purdue at ICMC and ISA board meetings for the past four years, was promoted to lead Purdue’s ag program on June 8.
Patrick Wolfe, Purdue provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity, has announced Bernie Engel as the next Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, effective July 15. Engel was chosen following an extensive national search. He has served Purdue most recently as senior associate dean of agricultural research and graduate education in the College of Agriculture for the past four years and succeeds Karen Plaut, who earlier this year became Purdue’s executive vice president for research. Agricultural Economics Professor Ken Foster has served as interim dean since January.
As the school’s leader in agricultural research and graduate education, Engel worked closely on many projects with ISA and ICMC. He has also worked with the graduate students who are selected by the ICMC-funded Gary Lamie Scholarship.
ISA and ICMC CEO Courtney Kingery said Engel’s specialty is connecting university research to practical application for Hoosier farmers.
“Dr. Engel is a champion in Purdue’s College of Ag for expanding funding and areas of study for research,” said ISA and ICMC CEO Courtney Kingery. “But Dr. Engel does an excellent job of explaining the purpose for the research. He can translate fundamental research into information that is applicable to commercial farm operations. Dr. Engel understands that for basic research to have the greatest impact, it must be accessible to those in agriculture who can use it.”
ICMC and ISA Sustainability and Value Creation Director Ben Forsythe agreed. “Bernie has been an outstanding voice for Purdue in the ICMC and ISA board rooms and an equally great voice for those growers across campus,” said Ben Forsythe, Sustainability and Value Creation Director for the soybean and corn checkoff programs. “We are excited to see what he accomplishes during his tenure as Dean, and we are excited to have good partner filling the seat.”
Engel said his service on the state’s corn and soybean
checkoff boards has allowed him to learn more about Indiana’s farmers and their goals.
“For the past four years, I’ve had the privilege to serve as an ex officio board member for both ISA and ICMC,” Engel said. “This experience provided opportunities for me to learn firsthand about the immediate and long-term needs of the more than 20,000 farmers in Indiana who grow soybeans and corn. It also helped me better understand how Purdue can engage our researchers and extension specialists in meeting farmers’ needs.”
He plans to continue applying this knowledge as Purdue’s new ag dean.
“As Dean of Agriculture, I will continue to be committed to strengthening the bond between Purdue’s agricultural expertise and the farming community in our state,” Engel explained. “This connection is a top priority for our college as we work together to meet the evolving needs of our state’s farmers.”
While introducing Engel as dean, Wolfe said, “Professor Engel is exactly the right leader to take our strong College of Agriculture to even greater heights of research and academic excellence, while also serving our state’s 92 counties better than ever before through Purdue Extension. Having built and sustained a No. 1-ranked department at Purdue for more than a dozen years, and then driving graduate student enrollment, scholarly impact and intellectual innovation across the college as senior associate dean, he has proved time and again his ability not only to impact the farms and fields of our state and world, but also to drive Purdue’s continuing excellence at scale. I am extremely grateful to our search advisory committee and to all who contributed to this excellent search and outcome.”
Engel has been a Purdue faculty member for 35 years. He shared the vision and commitment he brings to the position.
“As dean I will be dedicated to fostering excellence and driving impactful initiatives that align with our mission as a leading public research university and land-grant institution,” Engel said. “I will seek to elevate our reputation as a leading global agricultural college, where groundbreaking research, innovation, student education and stakeholder engagement converge to shape the future of agriculture. I am confident we can attain these goals because of the incredible commitment and talent of our faculty, staff and students.”
Prior to serving as senior associate dean in the college, Engel was department head of Agricultural and Biological Engineering from 2005-2019. Under his leadership, ABE undergraduate and graduate programs were repeatedly ranked the country’s No. 1 biological/agricultural engineering program by U.S. News and World Report. During that time, the number of both undergraduate and graduate students in the department doubled and research expenditures more than tripled.
During Engel’s tenure as senior associate dean, the college has received more than $85 million in external research funding for two consecutive years. This year the college rose in the QS rankings to No. 3 in the United States and No. 5 in the world. Engel also provided leadership in the area of the college’s entrepreneurship and intellectual property commercialization efforts. In the last fiscal year, the College of Agriculture had a record number of intellectual property disclosures (70), patent applications (87) and license/option agreements (31).
After earning his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois and his PhD in agricultural engineering from Purdue, Engel joined the faculty in 1988.
He has received numerous recognitions from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ASABE) over the course of his career, including: Outstanding Young Researcher Award, 1999; ASABE Fellow, 2014; Gilley Academic Leadership Award, 2016; and the Hancor Soil and Water Conservation Engineering Award, 2019. He was also honored as the Purdue College of Agriculture’s Outstanding Researcher and Outstanding Graduate Educator, University Scholar and received Engineering’s Best Teacher Award. He has authored over 330 peer-reviewed papers. To date, he has served as major professor for 54 graduate students (27 MS and 27 PhD).
Engel is a leading global expert in the development and application of water quality models and environmental decision support systems. The models address agricultural, rural, urban and mixed land-use watersheds and a range of
constituents including nutrients, pesticides and soil erosion.
Engel led the development of the web GIS technology that forms the basis of a national registry to protect crops from pesticide spray drift (www.fieldwatch.com). FieldWatch, a nonprofit launched in 2010, currently operates in 24 states and one province. The technology is credited with greatly reducing unintended drift damage to sensitive crops. Engel serves on the FieldWatch Board of Directors.
BY EMMA HOPKINS-O’BRIEN
Beginning in 2014, the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) has been awarding $25,000 scholarships each to two Purdue University students per year working on their master’s or doctoral degrees in corn research. The scholarship, formally titled Purdue College of Agriculture’s Graduate Student Corn Research Assistantship, was named after the late Gary Lamie, a Tippecanoe County farmer and key player in establishing the state’s corn checkoff when he was ICMC president in 2013.
Last year, the scholarships were awarded to Seth Tolley for his research in integrated genotyping and phenotyping in corn to assess hybrids, and Brendan Hanson for his work on nutrient detection in corn leaves to assess crop condition in-season.
Seth Tolley did his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois-Champaign before transferring to Purdue for his graduate and now doctoral degree in plant breeding and genetics. He graduated this past May and has spent the last few years working under Dr. Mitchell Tuinstra in the areas of corn genomics and phenomics and evaluating the use of emerging technology for those purposes.
“My project has been almost entirely related to corn and how we can bring together data sets in genomics and the environment and phenotyping to better predict yield,” he said.
One of the major ways to collect phenotypical data for Tolley has been using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with different kinds of sensors which tell him much more than what a crop looks like from the sky.
“They can collect any number of data points and
types when it comes to crops, but for me, the UAVs are collecting three different kinds of data.” he said.
The most basic of these is standard RGB, similar to what a camera would capture. Some phenotypic data can be collected in that way. Another one is called LiDAR — light detection and ranging — that recreates the plants in three dimensions based on the data points collected.
“What the LiDAR sensor does is send out a pulse of light and measure the time that it takes to hit the plant,” he said. “It might hit the top of the tassel; some are hitting the canopy, and some are hitting the ground — it’s sending out millions of points over our fields, and we can have a really detailed look at our field and collect more structural kinds of traits like plant height.”
The final and perhaps most complex sensor Tolley used was a hyperspectral sensor, which can see just beyond the spectrum of light visible to the human eye. This allowed him to collect about 136 spectral values related to the nutrition of the plant such as water and nitrogen contents.
“We can use the information all of these different sensors give us and assess our plots without having to go out there with a rod and a stick to measure plants,” he said. “Understanding and integrating these technologies and techniques will be valuable to the corn industry to maintain and increase genetic gain over time.”
Tolley said he has truly enjoyed his PhD work at the intersection of phenomics and genomics and hopes to do similar work in the industry to create and assess hybrids that will increase yield for farmers at the end of the day and do it quicker. This work has helped him find and practice the kind of research that is worthwhile to him, and he credits that in part to the Gary Lamie Scholarship funds, of which he is now a three-time recipient.
“The scholarship has been huge, one of the biggest
Purdue graduate student and three-time Gary Lamie Scholarship winner Seth Tolley is using unmanned aerial vehicles, otherwise known as drones, equipped with different kinds of sensors to tell him much more than what a crop looks like from the sky. The drones collect three different kinds of data. The most basic of these is standard RGB, similar to what a camera would capture. Some phenotypic data can be collected in that way. Another one is called LiDAR — light detection and ranging — that recreates the plants in three dimensions based on the data points collected. Lastly, a hyperspectral sensor can see just beyond the spectrum of light visible to the human eye. This allows Tolley to collect about 136 spectral values related to the nutrition of the plant such as water and nitrogen contents. In this photo, the same field is show through a (A) red-green-blue (RGB) sensor, (B) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from hyperspectral, and (C) side-view of LiDAR point cloud (C).
things is that I haven’t really had to worry too much about funding,” he said. “That sounds simple, but it is a huge relief to just know — OK the money is there, I can just do the research that that I’m wanting to do.”
Tolley will wrap up a few projects and his post-doctoral work under Dr. Tuinstra soon and is already applying to jobs in the industry. “I would just like to express how grateful I am for the financial support from the grant,” he said. “This is an incredible partnership that they have put together, and I’m so grateful and lucky to have been a recipient.”
Growing up in Minnesota, Brendan Hanson often helped his grandparents with their crop operations. Specifically, both of his grandfathers farmed just a half-hour away from each other, yet he noticed that their crop management techniques varied immensely.
“Part of the reason I went into agronomy, I think, is that my grandpas were farmers and from year to year, even as a little kid, I saw that they did things quite differently, yet were both successful,” Hanson said. “I realized that with the cropping systems, there’s so many different things that farmers can do to promote yield, and they all have their own reasons, but that’s the beauty of it.”
Fascinated by the inner workings of crop management, he completed undergraduate studies in agronomy at North Dakota State University and transferred to Purdue for his graduate degree in Dr. Tony Vyn’s cropping
systems research lab. There, his graduate project under Vyn involved evaluating the concentration of nutrients in various leaf selections at specific growth stages on corn plants to determine whether an in-season fertilizer application is justified.
“At a few stages of the corn growth cycle, we are selecting a few different positions — for example the top leaf versus a middle leaf, versus the bottom — sampling those leaves and comparing the nutrient status of each,” he said.
Some farmers find it advantageous to sample leaves on their plants to get an idea of how healthy those plants are during the growing season. With this in mind, the idea behind Hanson’s research is to find which leaves of a corn plant are most representative for each nutrient.
“We’re going in with the understanding that each nutrient — five or six nutrients in particular that we are concerned with — each of these nutrients acts differently,” Hanson said. “Some of them are stored in the bottom of the plant, some like to go towards the top, and so we understand that there’s not going to be a single leaf that is the best representation of the whole plant, so the idea is with my research to try and figure out — if you are interested in this specific nutrient, which leaves should you sample?”
His experiments spanned two field locations — one at the Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education (ACRE) and another at the Corteva Research Service Station in Windfall, Ind. He gathered leaves from
corn situated differently in terms of hybrid type, fertilizer application and density at the V8, V12 and R1 stages of development (five weeks, seven weeks and at the silking stage, respectively).
“Those are the row stages we chose because you’re still able to sort of do something about any nutrient stress at that time,” he said. “Beyond that, there’s really no benefit to understanding because it’s kind of a lost cause if you waited that long to apply more nutrients.”
Hanson mentioned that this work is also part of a collaboration with a research group called Internet of Things (IoT) involving Purdue and four other universities throughout the country. The purpose of the entire project is to breach the gap between agronomy and remote sensing. Engineering students involved in the project are collecting drone data as well as data from ground rovers that drive autonomously through fields.
“We have a lot of different perspectives of imagery, and we’re trying to relate those with my samples,” he said, “We know the true concentration of the nutrients while we see the traits, and then we’re training these robots that — OK from our samples, if the percentage of the nutrients are this, then this is what it’s going to look like and so on.”
With the entirety of the IoT project, the goal is to one day develop equipment that can confidently deduce the concentrations of nutrients in leaves without even needing to go through the sampling and nutrient analysis process. He credits the depth of his research to the funding he was awarded via the Lamie scholarship.
“There’s so many different treatments we’re looking at, with four different genotypes, two different densities, and two different nitrogen rates,” he said. “We definitely would not have been able to explore as many different
environments without the scholarship—we probably would have just been limited to nitrogen rates.”
With the funding, Hanson’s project could afford more samples and introduce different treatments to have a more complete story to tell through the results. It also allowed for more undergraduate help to prepare the samples—a process that takes a lot of hard work, and up to a month or more to receive analysis.
“My adviser and I are both very appreciative of the scholarship,” Hanson said. “My research would not be as good or as thorough as it is without the funding and I’m really excited because this is a project that I know farmers will find value in, and I’m really looking forward to growers being able to see what we’ve discovered.”
Once he wraps up his master’s degree in the fall, Hanson would like nothing more than to continue what he has been doing, but in a commercial space. Ideally, he would like a research and development role overseeing experiments, testing hybrids and testing chemical products.
“I’m really excited if I end up with a job like that, for the opportunity to have field days where farmers can come and see the comparisons of the products, and we can relate it back to their own farm,” he said. “Because to me it’s really important that a company not only sells a product, but they sell it to benefit the farmer the best that they can.”
While Tolley and Hansen are packing up and heading out on their journeys into professional life, two new students –Mariela Fernandez Campos and Denise Caldwell — have been named the 2023 Lamie Assistantship winners. Having won out in an application process and filmed themselves in videos summarizing their projects, the two will carry out their research this year and report back to ICMC next summer.
The Indiana Corn Marketing Council conducts an annual election to place farmer-leaders on its board of directors. The following individuals are seeking election for District 3, 6, 9 & two at-large seats. Each candidate, even if unopposed, must receive at least one vote to become elected. Visit your county extension office from August 7-11, 2023 to vote. Absentee ballots are available at your county extension office or at incornandsoy.org/ICMCelection until August 3rd and must be received by August 4th. For questions, call 317-644-2863
Unopposed Race
Jerry Osterholt
Roanoke, IN – Huntington County
• Seeking second term
Unopposed Race
Ron Hensley
Daleville, IN – Delaware County
• Seeking second term
District 9 Candidate
Unopposed Race
John Adam Jr.
Sellersburg, IN – Clark County
• Seeking third term
Susan Brocksmith
Vincennes, IN – Knox County
• Seeking second term
Lori Cyr
Fowler, IN – Benton County
• Seeking first term
Tim Gauck
Greensburg, IN – Decatur County
• Seeking third term
Learn more about these candidates & download absentee ballots:
Scan this QR code
InCornandSoy.org/ICMCElection
Two of these candidates will be elected.
BY DANIEL QUINN, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Purdue University
The biggest challenge so far this year for Indiana corn production has been the dry conditions throughout the state. Despite timely planting progress in 2023 and overall good planting conditions, much of the crop condition has deteriorated in June due to dry conditions.
For example, areas of Tippecanoe County have only experienced 0.6 inches of rainfall in June – an 87 percent decrease from the 30-year average. In addition, crop condition rated good to excellent has declined from 72 percent on May 22 to 47 percent on June 26. (Figure 2)
The main question being asked is “how much yield potential am I losing?” This can be a difficult question to answer because the nature of drought varies from one year to another. Figure 2 highlights that in certain drought years (2002 and 2012) large reductions in state yield averages can occur in comparison to trend yield. Whereas, in other drought years (2007 and 2020), state yield averages can still be at or above trend yield.
The unknown factor at this point in the 2023 growing season is we do not know how the drought will progress during the remainder of the summer. Therefore, it is still difficult to determine where the state’s yield average will be by the end of the season.
Corn can be affected by drought conditions at each stage during the plant’s life cycle. However, corn can also tolerate drought conditions, better or worse, at different growth stages. Therefore, it is important to assess and understand how drought conditions can impact a corn plant at different stages in the season.
One of the biggest observed crop establishment and crop condition differences that has been observed in 2023 has been a function of planting date. Drought conditions did not begin to appear in the state until the last week of May and have continued to persist throughout June.
Therefore, much of the corn planted at the beginning of May was well established and had good rooting depth by the time drought conditions began, which should provide some drought tolerance. Whereas, corn planted during the latter half of May has become more susceptible to germination and establishment issues
caused by the drought conditions.
Overall, corn in early vegetative growth stages is fairly tolerant to high temperatures and drought conditions. Dry conditions can encourage deeper rooting which will likely assist the corn plant with moisture access later in the season. However, issues and yield loss can still occur.
Common issues observed in young plants experiencing drought stress include the desiccation and death of nodal root development causing “rootless” or “floppy” corn syndrome and in severe cases, the outright death of young plants resulting in plant population losses.
One of the most noticeable symptoms of drought stress is leaf rolling, which is due to plants closing leaf stomates to limit the transpiration of moisture through the plants. Although the attempt to limit transpiration of moisture can help a stressed corn plant, stomates closed for a prolonged period can reduce plant photosynthesis due to reduced carbon dioxide accumulation.
Severely drought stressed plants start to turn gray, which indicates death of the chlorophyll and a severe reduction in photosynthesis. The earlier leaf rolling occurs in the day and the longer the duration of leaf rolling is observed, the more stress the plant is under, and the more potential yield loss can occur.
Yield loss estimates from previous research when drought stress and leaf rolling occur for four consecutive days or more are provided in Table 1.
With persistent drought stress and leaf rolling causing
reduction in photosynthesis, drought stress during the vegetative growth stages can reduce overall plant and leaf size. For example, previous research has observed upwards of 28-32 percent reductions in final plant dry matter weight with persistent drought conditions during the rapid vegetative growth period. Reductions in plant and leaf size can reduce the overall photosynthetic “factory” of the plant, thus limiting optimum photosynthate production for kernel formation and grain weight later in the season.
Significant drought stress during vegetative growth can also reduce yield due to kernel number reductions caused by restricted ovule (potential kernel) formation during the rapid growth period. Potential kernel number per row is more sensitive to environmental stress than kernel row number per ear. In addition, since dry soil conditions limit water uptake of a corn plant, nutrient uptake can also be limited. For example, potassium deficiency is often observed under drought stress conditions. Unfortunately, applying more potassium fertilizer will not help alleviate this issue.
As corn approaches maximum height and pollination, this is when the risk of yield loss due to heat and drought stress is the greatest. Corn evapotranspiration increases from as plants get larger and peaks through silking and pollination and until the R2 growth stage (blister) before decreasing (Table 2).
Corn needs approximately 0.32 inches per day of water during peak demand, but temperature, humidity level and cloud cover impact daily water use. Yield loss caused by drought conditions during the critical flowering period is often a result of a significant reduction in final kernel number due to failed pollination. A 14 percent reduction in final kernel number has been observed when drought stress began at the V14 growth stage. Significant heat and drought stress that occurs 7-10 days ahead of silking and throughout pollination can result in delayed silk emergence, reduced silk elongation and silk desiccation.
Once pollen shed has begun, a single corn plant will only shed pollen for approximately seven days. Therefore, delayed silk emergence can cause poor synchrony with pollen shed, resulting in failed opportunities for pollen capture and fertilization of the ovules on the ear.
Extreme heat stress (> 100-degrees F) can kill pollen, but Indiana rarely experiences such temperatures. Furthermore, pollen shed does not occur on one single day and peak pollen shed typically occurs in the morning when temperatures are lower. Drought stress during the early reproductive stages can cause kernel abortion whereas drought stress after the milk stage of kernel development can reduce plant dry matter partitioning to the grain causing low weight kernels.
Overall, corn is fairly tolerant to heat and drought conditions during early vegetative growth. However, if drought conditions continue to persist and severe plant stress is observed, plant photosynthetic capacity and
This table shows the average corn evapotranspiration per day at specific growth stages and the average total water use needed for each specific growth stage.
This table shows the corn percent yield loss per day estimates when drought stress for four or more consecutive days.
Where heat and drought stress can become a significant problem and impact yield the greatest is during pollination and silking due to poor synchrony between silk elongation and pollen shed, resulting in large reductions in final kernel number. In addition, reductions in overall plant and leaf size due to persistent drought conditions during the vegetative and rapid growth phases may also limit kernel formation and grain weight accumulation.
BY BEN WICKER, Executive Director
Alliance
The Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance (IANA) is dedicated to keeping Indiana at the forefront of proactive nutrient management and soil health practices that improve farm viability and, ultimately, reduce nutrient loss to water. Fourteen partner organizations, including the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council, have come together to achieve these common goals.
In this article, I want to highlight a few of the resources we have been developing to move these efforts forward.
When it comes to recommending specific practices for reducing nutrient losses on our farms, we have quite a bit of confidence knowing which practices can help and which may hurt, but being able to quantify those water quality improvements can be more of a challenge. This concern led to the development of the Indiana Science Assessment.
This effort pulls together researchers and experts from across the state to determine and agree upon nutrient loss reduction values for commonly used practices using relevant regional data and expert judgment. This information will allow farmers, agronomists and conservationists the opportunity to better assess the relative impact of different practices like cover crops, tillage practices, nutrient timing and placing, drainage water management, and more, and make decisions on what practice options might fit best to meet collective goals on individual farms.
Learn more about the Indiana Science Assessment at www.in.gov/ isda/divisions/soil-conservation/ indiana-state-nutrient-reductionstrategy/indiana-science-assessment.
To the outside world, how fertilizers and manure are managed on the farm is sometimes viewed as a bit of a black box. Unlike tillage practices or cover crops, there is no simple, tangible way to track or measure how nutrients are being used without creating systems of farm level reporting or auditing – not necessarily popular or practical options.
Many farmers utilize trusted advisors, crop consultants or ag retailers to assist them in planning fertilizer management decisions and applications. Out of this, IANA worked with the Agribusiness Council of Indiana to develop the Indiana 4R Nutrient Management Certification Program. 4R Certification is designed for Nutrient Service Providers who sell and service farmers fertilizers to participate in a voluntary review or audit of their fertilizer training, education, application, and documentation to ensure that they are following and recommending best management practices.
The 4R guidelines make certain that the Right Source, Right Rate, Right Time and Right Place are being considered for fertilizer and manure use. This confidential third party audit at the ag retail or consultant level is a way to document those best practices and certify those acres being managed for 4R in a way that does not have to require on-farm certifications.
Learn more about Indiana 4R Certification, go online to www. inagribiz.org/indiana-4r-certification and ask your ag retailer or crop consultant to consider becoming certified.
Want to learn more? Visit www. keepitmidwest.com for more information about IANA and its goals, as well as information about best practices, programs and other opportunities to get involved in ensuring Indiana’s Healthy Soils, Clean Water and Viable Farms.
“ That was a question posed during a soybean meeting I attended. The speaker said farmers who can improve their productivity by at least five percent over average are farmers who will succeed.
While there may be many ways to improve our production plan, one of the first that came to my mind is one we already invest in: the Soybean Research & Information Network (SRIN).
Research is one the primary buckets funded through state and national soybean checkoff dollars. As a checkoff organization representative, I often get asked how our checkoff money is spent and whether it generates return on investment. Unequivocally, I know SRIN is worth every dime. ”
SRIN is a website that was created to share with farmers results from research that is housed in the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database for every state. SRIN representatives read through the research reports and boil down the information for farmers to understand and easily implement on their operations. The site highlights state soybean research programs, profiles key soybean researchers, hosts a YouTube channel of educational videos and farmer perspectives on production challenges, as well as shares diagnostic tools, agronomic tips and pest control recommendations by state and region. Content is constantly added to keep the site fresh and relevant and is supplemented by a timely social media presence and monthly e-newsletter.
Sign up NOW for the SRIN monthly newsletter!
The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA), Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) and Beck’s Hybrids are excited to offer Indiana corn and soybean farmers in the Upper White River Watershed the opportunity to participate in a fully funded cover crop program this fall. The deadline to apply is Aug. 7.
The program includes enough cover crop seed and an option for aerial application for a 40-acre field located in the Upper White River Watershed The corn and soybean checkoff programs will also soil and biomass sample the field and report those results back to each participant.
The Upper White River Watershed spans multiple counties in east-central Indiana. The watershed channels rainfall and melting snow into creeks and streams and is the main source of freshwater for a large portion of Indiana residents. To help ensure that source of water is as safe and clean as possible, farmers are looking to keep nutrients and sediments in the field. Cover crops can be one way to achieve this goal, as proven by soil scientists from across the country.
Six years ago, ISA and ICMC introduced its Upper White Cover Crop (UWCC) program. Corn and soybean growers who sign up can participate each year as long as the program has open slots each summer.
In the 2017 Census of Agriculture, USDA reported Indiana ranked third in the nation for cover crop acres planted into corn and soybeans, at about 8.2 percent of those acres. According to a 2022 Conservation Survey conducted by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and Indiana Conservation Partnership, the state’s farmers planted roughly 10 percent of all cultivated acres in over-winter, living cover crops – including wheat. This also included 550,000 acres of cover planted in corn and 780,000 acres in soybeans prior to harvest in 2021.
The state’s corn and soybean checkoffs use Beck’s Hybrids seed and partner with the company for technical expertise. Beck’s Small Seed Product Manager Ryan Moore, as well as ISA and ICMC Sustainability and Value Creation Director Ben Forsythe, provide the field sampling and look for ways to communicate the results
of the program back to its participants. Each year, new participants in the UWCC receive a nutrient test from their 40-acre cover plot as a baseline and all growers receive above-ground biomass sampling to measure nitrogen and carbon sequestration levels.
By using cover crops and no-till, Moore said farmers can increase soil organic matter by one-quarter of 1 percent in 10 years. He said a 1 percent difference in matter between two fields means the higher-organic soil can hold another 25,000 gallons of water per acre in its pores – not pooled on the surface, but down where plant roots can pull productively from it.
Moore said farmers can start seeing a visible difference in their soil health within 3-5 years of planting annual cover crops. “You have soil, versus what I call ‘dirt’ in a conventional tillage system,” he noted.
Farmers in UWCC have the cover seed broadcasted by plane in late August or early September to take advantage of rain to help establish the crop before the weather starts getting cool. Moore said the timing is also meant to be convenient for farmers, and they don’t have to worry about buying the seed and running a planter. Self application is also an option this year. First-year participants are delivered a terminal oat/radish mix, while those in subsequent years receive a non-terminal mix of rye, radish, oat and rapeseed planted in corn or a winter rye and rapeseed mix planted in soybeans.
To register, go online to KeepItMidwest.com/soil-health or contact ISA and ICMC Sustainability and Value Creation Project Manager Madeline Lilly at mlilly@indianasoybean.com.
More than 300,000 race fans packed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 28, for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500-mile race. Nearly 100 of those fans were buyers and consumers of U.S. soybean meal and oil from across the globe.
The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and partners such as the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the United Soybean Board (USB) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) hosted these foreign trade teams in an effort to encourage increased exports of U.S. soybeans. These foreign buyers came from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico in the West; China, Japan and Korea in the Far East; India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam in Southeast Asia; and the European country of Spain.
Their whirlwind trip through Indiana included tours of farm businesses such as Beck’s Hybrids, Corteva Agriscience and Bunge; tours of agricultural research sites at Purdue University; tours of the Middletown, Ind. farm of David Howell, the Brookston, Ind., farm of Kevin Kelley, and the Noblesville, Ind., farm of Adam Sheller. Finally, the tours wrapped up with the pageantry and power of the Indianapolis 500.
“Among the most important aspects of working with foreign buyers of soybeans and corn is establishing good relationships,” said Ed Ebert, Senior Director of Market Development for ISA and ICMC. “It’s always easier to buy from someone you know. Building relationships with corn and soybean buyers around the world is essential. When they come here, they want to know how we grow our crops; they want to know how we do business; and they
want to know about our culture and who we are.”
Building relationships and showcasing culture during the Memorial Day weekend, Ebert said, is why these foreign buyers were treated to a traditional American barbeque at the Howells’ farm and a trip to the largest, single-day sporting event – the Indianapolis 500.
Most of the tour participants were also a part of the Soybean Oil Masters program, which is a partnership between ISA and USEEC. The program educates those in the soybean oil industry about the process and uses of U.S. soybean oil.
Shinji Hori, a manager with Showa Sangyo Co. in Japan, was one of the tour participants. Showa Sangyo is a soybean crusher, and they also make flour from wheat and vegetable oil from canola. Through an interpreter while at Howell Farms, Shinji said that there is room to use more soybean oil in Japan. “The Soybean Oil Masters program has been very informative,” he said. “I have a lot of information that I can take with me back to Japan.”
Indiana’s soybean growers already do an excellent job of producing a crop. According to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Hoosier farmers plant more than 5.6 million acres of soybeans each year. Indiana produces more than 335 billion bushels of soybeans worth an estimated $4.4 billion. Indiana is the fifth-largest, soybean-producing state in America.
For ISA, Indiana’s soybean checkoff, the mission is to increase the crop’s value by moving that large pile of
soybeans to customers around the world. ISA’s strategy to accomplish this goal is comprehensive and requires partners such as USSEC and USB.
The Soybean Oil Masters program started in Korea and has expanded to Colombia. More than 350 soybean oil industry representatives have graduated from the program in Korea. USSEC and ISA use the program to encourage trade, and Korea is the No. 1 importer of U.S. soybean oil. Korea is also an early adopter of high oleic soybean oil. In Colombia, there is room for growth in the market. The country imported more than 285 million metric tons of soybean oil; however, only 40.3 million metric tons were from the United States.
“By developing new export markets, USSEC does a great job of increasing the value of U.S. soybeans and helping the profitability of soybean growers across the country,” said ISA board director Kevin Kelley, a farmer from Brookston, Ind., who hosted several tours on his farm. “USSEC has boots on the ground in countries around the world promoting the advantages of using U.S.-grown soybeans. It is critical that they are there in touch with the people in those markets to access those customers and anything they might need.”
USSEC’s mission is to maximize the utilization, value and access to markets of U.S. Soy around the world. USSEC receives soybean farmer checkoff dollars from USB and several state soybean checkoff organizations, including ISA. USSEC tries to fulfill its mission by creating a preference for U.S. Soy by nurturing relationships, growing awareness and demonstrating value to global customers. With offices in more than 80 countries, USSEC helps customers with diverse backgrounds and experiences to reach their full potential by using U.S. Soy products.
The purpose of these tours was to highlight the care of soybean production in Indiana and to give international soybean stakeholders an opportunity to ask questions of farmers.
“These stakeholders represent buyers of soybean oil from several countries,” said Will McNair, USSEC Director of Oil and Soy Food Programs. “The tour participants included vice presidents, business owners and key R&D or purchasing personnel. Indiana is a crucial state for soybean production, exports and innovation. Being able to visit places like Purdue University, Bunge and Corteva really helps to send the message to the international buyers of innovation, production and supply reliability. Our hope is that they will return home knowing the United States is a consistent, reliable supplier that is innovating to help meet their demand needs for the future.”
During the barbeque at the Howell Farm, David Howell and his wife, Mary, gave wood plaques to each visitor with the following proverb, “When there is food on the table, there are many problems. When there is no food on the table, there is only one problem.”
Visit www.ussec.org for details about U.S. Soy export efforts. Go to www.unitedsoybean.org for news about the national soybean checkoff. For more on ISA, visit www.indianasoybean.com.
BY MARK LEGAN, Coatesville, Ind., farmer USMEF Executive Committee member
Trade with Mexico is generating headlines this year, not just due to concerns about the Mexican government’s call to end the use of GMO corn, but also because of the strong growth in purchases of U.S. pork and beef that bolster Indiana corn and soy usage.
Mexico has long been a leading buyer of U.S. pork with 2023 purchases up 10 percent year-over-year in volume through April (350,270 metric tons) and 27 percent in value ($691.3 million). Beef exports to our neighbor to the south are also up significantly, increasing 14 percent in volume (64,912 metric tons) and 17 percent in value ($365.4 million).
The importance of that trade relationship was highlighted at the recent U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Spring Conference in Minneapolis where Kenneth Smith Ramos, the former chief NAFTA negotiator for Mexico, detailed the critical role of the two countries’ agriculture sectors in NAFTA and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
“When the original NAFTA was negotiated, there was a lot of nervousness, especially in Mexico, because of the full opening of agricultural trade for the first time,” he said. “But you fast-forward to where we are now, over half of what we export to the United States is in the area of fruits and vegetables. We can grow yearround, and that satisfies demand in the United States. Mexico imports grain, oilseeds and meat products from the U.S., taking advantage of the comparative and competitive advantages in both countries. That is what has helped grow the overall agricultural trade pie over the years.”
Agricultural products typically flow smoothly between the United States and Mexico, creating opportunity for producers on both sides of the border.
As Smith pointed out, preserving free trade is vital for food security in the region.
“We must put food security at the top of the agenda so that our governments – especially in the case of the Mexican government – understand that this is not just an ‘ask’ from private sector companies that want to make a lot of money,” he explained. “International trade – barrier-free trade – is how we are going to strengthen food security in the future.”
In the USMEF Feedgrains and Oilseeds Caucus meeting that I co-chaired with Dave Bruntz of Nebraska, we heard how that move to free trade is benefiting U.S. producers and consumers in foreign markets.
USMEF representatives from Colombia shared details of a successful program to help that country’s butcher shops offer a better shopping environment and enhanced marketing of U.S. red meat products. It’s a key component of a plan that has helped pork consumption in the country nearly double over the last decade to 28 pounds per capita.
Likewise, we heard how USMEF is working with the foodservice industry in Mexico that is rebounding from COVID to meet the needs of price-conscious consumers who still want a quality U.S. beef product.
On the final day of the conference, we heard from former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson who noted the need to highlight the importance of these trade issues as a deeply divided Congress takes up a new Farm Bill.
“For those of you who have members of Congress in your area who are on the Ag Committee, start talking to them about trade,” Peterson said.
“I used to meet with everyone from my district who came to discuss the farm bill. They would talk about crop insurance, Title One, conservation and rural
development. And at the end of the meeting they would say, ‘Oh by the way, we have to do something about trade.’ It should be the first thing you talk to them about, not the last thing. That way you can get some people to the table who will put trade at the top of the agenda, not the bottom, and that’s what needs to happen.”
Last year red meat exports accounted for more than 7 million bushels of soybean consumption and 35 million bushels of corn consumption in Indiana alone. Maintaining the flow of food with key trading partners and keeping trade interests at the top of the Farm Bill priority list are vital for the Indiana corn and soy industries.
Mark Legan is a soybean, corn and livestock producer from Coatesville, Ind., who represents the Oilseed Producing sector on the U.S. Meat Export Federation Executive Committee.
Kenneth Smith Ramos, the former chief NAFTA negotiator for Mexico, detailed the critical role the U.S. and Mexican agriculture sectors are to each country’s economy. He was among the speakers at the USMEF Spring Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., earlier this year.
“We must put food security at the top of the agenda so that our governments
especially in the case of the Mexican government – understand that this is not just an ‘ask’ from private sector companies that want to make a lot of money.”
The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) doesn’t really care if the chicken or the egg came first. They just want to make sure that consumers around the world buy U.S.-grown poultry and eggs. This philosophy extends to turkey, duck and other products, as well.
The Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) and the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) have supported many USAPEEC projects for several years because expansion of our state’s poultry industry adds market value to Indiana’s soybean and corn crops. One of those projects includes marketing efforts to increase turkey consumption in Mexico.
ICMC board member David Ring produces corn, soybeans and turkeys on his farm in Huntingburg, Ind. He understands that increased turkey consumption in Mexico, through these checkoff-funded efforts, will help his farm’s bottom line.
“Here in Dubois County, turkey production is huge,” Ring explained. “We’re the No. 1 county in Indiana for turkey production, and we consume a whole lot of local corn. In fact, we don’t have enough corn. We bring in a lot of corn from the rest of Indiana to feed all of the turkeys we have here in Dubois County.”
Ring is among the 225 farm families in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky who raise turkeys for Farbest Foods, a turkey processor based in Jasper, Ind. In mid-May, ICMC, ISA travelled to Monterey, Mexico, to assess the progress of their investment in Farbest Foods and their export efforts into Mexico. ISA and ICMC toured turkey food processing plants and grocery stores in Mexico.
Many of the turkey products in the country were sourced from southwestern Indiana farms. Farbest Foods started in the late 1960s. Through most of the 1970s, they processed less than 1 million whole turkeys per year – mostly for the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Today, Farbest processes more than 15 million turkeys per year. This growth comes from opportunities to export turkey products.
“International markets for Farbest are very important,” said Ryan Downes, vice president of sales for Farbest Foods. “Roughly 30 percent of the overall volume we produce on an annual basis goes to export markets. Of that, 95 percent of our exports go to Mexico. Obviously, it’s an important market for us.”
With the help of USAPEEC and Indiana’s corn and soybean farmers through checkoff funding, Farbest Foods began working with a Mexican meat processor called Proboca, which launched a “Mexicanized” turkey label called Dos Familia.
“One of the largest success stories in recent years was with a company in Mexico named Proboca,” Downes added. “It’s a family-owned business, much like Farbest. We approached USAPEEC about funding for a marketing campaign. Proboca was starting to increase consumption of turkey and turkey products in Mexico. USAPEEC partnered with the Indiana corn and soybean checkoffs, and this paid dividends during the past 8-10 years.”
After tailoring the turkey products to a Mexican palate, Farbest and Proboca found success.
“From our company alone, we sell $120 million a year in Mexico.,” Downes said. “We started with selling (Proboca)
Proboca officials said Mexican consumers were aware of turkey as a healthy, good protein. They were not aware that they could use turkey as a day-to-day protein on the center of the plate. Proboca, under the Dos Familias label, tests recipes to see they can add value to turkey products as an alternative protein for consumers.
These
a load or two. A load is 42,000 pounds per week. Now we’re selling them anywhere from 9-12 loads per week; thanks to the increased demand for the product.”
Much like the beginnings of Farbest, the executives with Proboca said most Mexican consumers were accustomed to buying whole turkeys. And, most often, turkeys were a seasonal, holiday purchase. However, Proboca’s market research was showing Mexican consumers were interested in adding turkey as a healthy protein into their meals.
“Back in 2013-14, we started the Dos Familia brand after conducting market research to see how turkey products would be accepted by consumers,” said Mario Gorena, vice president of sales, operations and international supply for Proboca. “I would say consumers were aware of turkey as a healthy, good protein. They were not aware that they could use turkey as a day-to-day protein on the center of the plate. So that gave us an idea to see if we could add value to turkey products – an alternative protein for consumers.”
Farbest ships fresh turkey thighs to food processing facilities in places like Monterrey. Mexican workers then remove the bones by hand and prepare the meat for packaging.
“Since we started the brand, we say we’ve Mexicanized the turkey,” Gorena
said. “What we wanted to do is adapt a traditional Mexican dish by adding turkey or switching turkey into it.”
For Farbest, this has created a valuable export market.
“The growth in export markets and the growth of turkey as a great protein, has led us from buying about a million bushels of corn per year back in the early years to now buying more than 15 million bushels of corn in a year,” said Farbest Foods President Ted Seger. “We try to source all of that corn locally here in Indiana. And same way with soybeans.”
“We use soybean meal, so we have to bring the soybean meal in from crushing plants, primarily here in Indiana. About 30 percent of our turkey meat gets exported each year. So, I assume a lot of those checkoff dollars are supporting those efforts.”
Chicken and pork remain as the preferred proteins in Mexico, and introducing a value-added turkey product would prove to be difficult for the company. Proboca launched promotional efforts in 2017 with USAPEEC’s help, which was largely funded by the checkoffs.
The campaign included television and billboard advertising across Mexico. ISA and ICMC funding also aided Proboca in creating new branding, digital campaigns and in-store tasting promotions. As of now, Proboca and Dos Familias have seen the most success in tasting promotions where consumers can try the product in the grocery store before deciding to purchase it.
Proboca and the Dos Familias brand now owns more than 90 percent of the specialty turkey, value-added product market share in Mexico. But that success did not come easy, and it could not have been possible without USAPEEC’s work and the financial support of Indiana corn and soybean checkoffs.
U.S. soybean farmers consistently manage to produce more with fewer resources, while at the same time supporting a healthy society and preserving the planet. And they are continuously improving.
The U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) shares these accomplishments with global customers in many ways.
Documenting the sustainability of U.S. Soy helps many customers justify its purchase, adding to its intrinsic value.
USSEC explains how U.S. Soy farmers lead the way in implementing conservation tillage and sustainable precision agriculture. This includes agronomic practices that are common in Indiana, like minimizing soil disturbance, ensuring crop diversity, ensuring the soil remains covered with crop residue or growing plants and integrating livestock. Indiana farmers are increasingly adopting other methods, like maintaining living roots in the soil via cover crops.
As a result, USSEC has been able to show that U.S. Soy has the lowest carbon footprint compared with soy of other origins. This includes minimal land use change, a hot topic globally.
In some regions, soybeans grow on land recently converted to cropland. In contrast, about 15 percent of U.S. farmland is currently set aside for conservation, forest development and wildlife habitat. In fact, non-federal forest land increased more than 1.8 million acres from 1997 to 2017, while cropland decreased nearly 8.9 million acres.
Certificates of Sustainability reassure international U.S. Soy customers that products truly contribute to sustainable development, while also helping to stem challenges of “greenwashing.” Verification of the sustainability of U.S. Soy is provided through the U.S. Soy Sustainability Assurance Protocol (SSAP), a program developed in 2013 to meet
international sourcing requirements. It covers all the laws and regulations that U.S. farmers must follow, as well as voluntary on-farm sustainability practices.
The European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation confirmed that the SSAP conforms to their Soy Sourcing Guidelines 2021, including criteria to confirm “conversion-free” soy, or crops produced without the need to convert forestland or natural habitats to farmland. The Consumer Goods Forum’s Sustainable Soy Sourcing Guidelines and the Global Seafood Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices, among others, also recognize SSAP as meeting their guidelines.
SSAP certificates can be transferred along the supply chain up to four times. They allow companies to keep records of sustainable U.S. Soy purchases that demonstrate how they are meeting their environmental goals. For the 2022 marketing year, 60 percent of all U.S. Soy exports had an SSAP certificate. The year-over-year growth has been dramatic. Shipments of verified sustainable U.S. Soy have increased from little more than 851,000 metric tons in 2014 to more than 40 million metric tons in 2022.
An increasing number of food companies are adopting the Sustainable U.S. Soy label as they shift towards demonstrating more sustainable supply chains. The logo is currently featured on more than 1,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) from 70 companies across the Americas, Greater China, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia.
A notable example of this is Ichiban soy milk, which started featuring the Sustainable U.S. Soy logo on soy milk served on non-stop Vietnam Airlines flights from Ho Chi Minh City to San Francisco in late 2022. The manufacturer, ThaiCorp International, can now leverage the logo to generate new sales and marketing opportunities, as consumer demand for sustainable products continues to grow.
Through this emphasis on the sustainability of U.S. Soy, USSEC is building and maintaining preference for these products with key global customers.
Crafco, an Arizona-based supplier of packaged, pavement preservation solutions, will add PoreShield to its portfolio of products. PoreShield is a revolutionary concrete protectant that extends the service life of concrete. The soy-based product was created through a research collaboration between the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA), Purdue University and the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), funded by soybean checkoff dollars.
PoreShield extends the service life of concrete by five-to-nine times longer than competing products. In a single application, PoreShield delivers more than 10 years of proven protection against water, salt and freeze/thaw damage.
Not only is PoreShield a high-performance solution for concrete, it is also safe, environmentally friendly and easy to apply. PoreShield requires no additional personal protective equipment. PoreShield’s key ingredient is soy methyl ester-polystyrene (SME-PS), which is derived from U.S. soybeans.
“This is exciting news for soybean growers everywhere, but especially for those of us from Indiana who invested checkoff dollars into the research and development of this product,” said ISA Board Chair Mike Koehne, a farmer from Greensburg, Ind. “Soybeans have always been a versatile crop that can provide many, inexpensive products that help the world, and PoreShield is another product realizing its potential. Not only that, it creates new markets for soybeans.”
On average, 200 bushels of soybeans are used for every two-lane mile of concrete highway joint treated with Poreshield.
Crafco, Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of pavement preservation products and equipment, along
with supplying specialized preservation products to the roofing, waterproofing and athletic surfacing industries. Established in 1976, Crafco helped pioneer the pavement preservation industry and continues to invest in cuttingedge research to extend the service life of infrastructure around the globe.
“Crafco is a great partner to take PoreShield to the next level, and I can’t wait to see all they are able to accomplish,” said ISA CEO Courtney Kingery, who added that farmers and staff of the state’s soybean checkoff program worked hard to create this opportunity.
“So many people had a hand in getting PoreShield to this point. Everyone should be proud of their work.”
Under terms of the agreement Indiana soybean farmers will continue to benefit from PoreShield. For a period of time, Crafco will pay a royalty fee to ISA based on sales revenue.
PoreShield’s unique solution to enhancing concrete should make it a popular choice for contractors and consumers.
The growth of PoreShield was aided by soybean farmers from across the country. The United Soybean Board (USB) invested in the product and helped showcase it to potential vendors from around the country. Kingery said checkoff groups working in tandem produce the best results.
“PoreShield is not a coating but is instead absorbed deep below the concrete surface to protect concrete from within,” said Paul Imbrock, the creator and technical lead for PoreShield. “This cutting-edge, renewable and
sustainable technology has proven, powerful performance protecting and preserving new and existing concrete infrastructure including PCCP joints, highways, bridges, buildings, pipes and walkways throughout the nation.”
Imbrock is joining the Crafco team as PoreShield Product Manager to continue developing and promoting Poreshield.
University and Department of Transportation research studies demonstrate that PoreShield extends the life of concrete by reducing calcium oxychloride formation by 90 percent. At greater than 93 percent bio-content, PoreShield is a safe and cost-competitive choice for concrete protection that provides numerous environmental and public health benefits. PoreShield is non-toxic and is safe to use over waterways, and it does not pose any hazards, such as respiration, organ, eye or skin damage. By replacing traditional toxic products, PoreShield reduces volatile organic compounds by 83-93 percent, further reducing carbon dioxide emission impacts.
For these reasons and more, PoreShield became an attractive product to Crafco.
“We immediately recognized that PoreShield represents the next generation of pavement preservation products: safer, easier to use and more effective,” said Lisa Zentner, Vice President of Specialty Products for Crafco. “Innovation has long been a core value at Crafco, so we appreciate the extensive research and development invested in PoreShield. We are pleased to welcome this exciting product into our lineup because we believe it will become the new standard in concrete preservation.”
Water is the enemy of highway structures. It carries deicers, salt and chemicals into concrete pores where they react and ignite a domino effect of damage including cracks, chips, gouges and potholes. Once the network of concrete pores is compromised, it’s all over for the concrete.
Premature joint failure on highways and bridges costs $1 million per highway mile to repair, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Many highways do not have concrete protection, and those that do receive an application of silicon rubber, asphalt crack filling or hazardous surface sealants made of silane. In 2008, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) came to Purdue University seeking a more durable and sustainable solution to this costly problem.
They partnered with ISA and began researching Soy Methyl Ester as an environmentally friendly, longerlasting alternative. This innovative technology has been branded PoreShield over a decade later, as PoreShield is adopted as a solution across the state, demand for Indiana soybeans continues to grow.
Each 60-pound bushel of soybeans contains approximately 12.4 pounds of soybean oil. There are 7.7 pounds of soybean oil per gallon of PoreShield, in the form of Soy Methyl Ester. On average, PoreShield utilizes 400 bushels of soybeans per mile of highway joint. That’s around 7.5 acres of soybeans.
In 2009, when the Purdue research project took off, Imbrock was an undergraduate research assistant working under Dr. Jason Weiss and Dr. Bernard Tao. “We were interested in SME from the start because of its ability to spread thinner than water,” he explained.
Current solutions create a top layer of protection that can trap chemicals in concrete pores. PoreShield is absorbed into the pores as a liquid. “Where other solutions work as a film cover, PoreShield protects from within the pores, preventing outside elements from entering the pores,” Imbrock added.
In 2019, INDOT applied PoreShield on sections of US 24, I-69, and I-65. INDOT saves money and reduces labor compared to the products and practices it replaced –estimates are a 20 percent savings from application on joint treatments and a 25-35 percent savings from surface treatments (i.e. bridges).
“You’ve invested millions in concrete highway, it’s something you want to last for at least two decades, and PoreShield has been proven to extend the life of concrete,” Imbrock added.
PoreShield isn’t only used in road and bridge maintenance, it has been applied on patios and walkways at universities including Purdue, the sidewalks of a fire station, on hundreds of driveways and can be used in other construction and architectural projects including parking lots and garages, curbing, buildings, dams and pipelines.
Growing more and better beans increases our bushels for the marketplace. Working with the Indiana Corn and Soybean Innovation Center, Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University and farmers themselves, the Indiana soybean checkoff invests in identifying solutions for environmental stressors, weeds, pests and input use and costs — all driving toward improved production and improved farm profitability.
For every dollar invested in research, $18 returns to the farm.* See research at work at Indianasoybean.com.
The Soybean Nutrition Institute Global (SNI Global) and the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) provided registered dietitians with an opportunity to learn more about the health benefits of soybeanbased foods during an event on June 14 at the Normandy Barn on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. SNI Global was founded as the Soy Nutrition Institute in 2004 by the United Soybean Board.
“Our goal was to give dieticians in Indiana an opportunity to learn about how a soybean comes from the field to the plate, giving opportunity for dietitians to learn more about the health and nutrition benefits of soy protein and soy oil, and then also get to hear from a soybean farmer,” said Sarah Alsager, director of communications and outreach with SNI.
“One of those markets is human consumption. As more and more companies are considering putting a plant protein in their ingredient list, we wanted to use soy protein isolate or concentrated sources of soy protein. I think that’s really our goal to enhance the farmer’s livelihood.”
The meeting’s agenda included:
• Mark Messina, SNI Global director of nutrition science and research, examined the health and nutritional attributes of soy foods.
• Kim Galeaz of Galeaz Food & Nutrition Communications discussed how and where to find soy-based foods.
• Kelsey Murphy, a Indiana chef who was the winner of the MasterChef: Legends television show, cooked and served a skillet dish called Spanish Paella while answering questions from the audience.
Alsager said soy foods are not in competition with beef, pork and poultry. Instead, she said meat and soy products work well together on the same plate for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“A lot of the consumer market research that we’ve seen shows that consumers are not reducing their animal protein intake – they’re simply increasing their plant protein intake,” she said. “So if someone’s going to choose plant protein, we want them to choose soy protein.”
To wrap up the day’s events, the attendees travelled to the Greenfield, Ind., farm of Marc and Heather Hill, who raise corn, soybeans, wheat and hogs.
“We were able to bring them to the farm and show them we’re normal people, too,” Heather said. “We were able to show them that this is where we live, and this is how we raise our animal. We were able to give them a true visual of how the pigs are being raised, where we’re making their feed, and where we’re growing the crop that becomes their feed.”
For more information, including soy recipes, visit sniglobal.org
U.S. Grains Council (USGC) Chairman Josh Miller, a corn and soybean farmers from Anderson, Ind., has stayed busy in his role, joining Council delegations to the United Kingdom and Mexico to grow and maintain vital relationships between U.S. producers and overseas buyers.
In May, Miller traveled to Mexico with USGC President and CEO Ryan LeGrand as they joined staff based in the Council’s Mexico City office to meet with industry representatives who play a role in the Council’s work in the country, while also celebrating the National Association of Feed Manufacturers for Animal Consumption’s (ANFACA’s) 30th anniversary.
“This was a valuable mission for me to take part in during my time as Council chairman,” Miller said. “As our No. 1 trading partner, it is important to continue showing our commitment to the Mexican market and our relationships there.”
While in Mexico, the group visited with Proteina Animal (PROAN), Mexico’s largest integrated feeding operation comprised of egg, swine, beef and dairy production. They had the opportunity to visit PROAN’s swine processing plant and meet with the procurement and logistics departments. Additionally, the group took part in a round table with the Camara Nacional del Maiz Industrializado (CANAMI), Almidones Mexicanos S.A de C.V (ALMEX) and Ingredion to discuss the Mexican corn decree and what the next steps for the industry should be.
“It was very important for our chairman to visit our top corn and DDGS market and to meet the customers driving this robust demand,” LeGrand said. “We have strong partners in Mexico that share our commitment to a rulesand-science-based system that recognizes the benefits of genetically modified crops. Maintaining uninterrupted trade is of utmost importance to the U.S. Grains Council and we
remain focused on this area of trade with Mexico.”
To close out the mission, representatives from across the major grain utilization industry representing roughly 30 percent of U.S. imported grain demand celebrated the 30th anniversary of ANFACA. USGC acknowledged its partnership with ANFACA during the past three decades and committed to continued and future collaboration. Missions like this allow the Council’s elected leadership to experience firsthand the work staff on the ground are conducting daily to promote U.S. grains and coproducts globally.
In June, Miller was joined by LeGrand and Council Vice President Cary Sifferath on a journey to London to attend the International Grains Council’s (IGC’s) Grains Conference as part of London Grains Week.
IGC’s annual international conference acts as a platform for dialogue between policymakers, organizations and operators throughout the grain value chain. The conference revolved around seven sessions, including actions to overcome a food security crisis together; improving productivity and sustainability in the grains sector; and a regional snapshot of East Africa, among others.
The second day of the conference offered a deeper look at specific commodities, including corn, wheat, soybeans and rice. To round out the event, participants received an update on the grains production outlook, which evaluated the swings in 2023-24 output.
“I’m always thrilled and honored to be able to represent the Council on its overseas missions, including gathering crucial market data and meeting other industry leaders on our recent trip to London,” Miller said. “Business doesn’t work without a solid foundation of trust, and that’s what the Council seeks to do day in and day out.”
Who’s the No. 1 protein source in chicken feed? YOU are. That’s right. You’re winning.
Moving
FOR WE LIVE BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT.
II CORINTHIANS 5 : 7
