URBANDALE, Iowa - It was a historic moment for Iowa’s soybean farmers last Friday when Governor Tom Vilsack signed House File 700 – a bill that officially unified the Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board into one board. The Iowa Soybean Association, the name of the new entity, will begin operating as one organization on July 1 of this year.

“This is an exciting time for us,” said Curt Sindergard, president of ISA and a grower from Rolfe, Iowa. “This change will help us better serve the state’s soybean growers by creating one organization with clearly defined goals and objectives. A unified group of farmer leaders will make all investment and strategic decisions concerning both checkoff and non-checkoff funds.

“The new board will be a more streamlined and integrated structure that can act more strategically than two separate boards. It will be better equipped to respond quickly to the complex issues facing soybean growers in today’s fast-paced global marketplace. The sky is the limit when you consider what this unified board can accomplish.”

Sindergard added that the new board would help create more transparency in operations by empowering one set of farmers to make all the investment decisions.

There will be some cost savings to the soybean organization as well. It is estimated that the overall board expenses will be reduced by about $45,000 a year by moving from two boards of 17 directors each to one board of 21 directors. Directors will continue to be elected by all soybean producers who pay the checkoff.

There is some precedent for this kind of unification in the soybean and commodity group community. The North Carolina Soybean Association has operated as a unified board since its beginning more than 40 years ago. Many other state commodity organizations operate under this structure today.

“We are enthused and optimistic about what the future holds for the new Iowa Soybean Association,” Sindergard said. “This would not have been possible without the bipartisan support we received from both the Iowa House of Representatives and Iowa Senate.”

The original sponsors of the bill included Jack Drake, R-Lewis; Dolores Mertz, D-Ottosen; Sandy Greiner, R-Keota; Betty De Boef, R-What Cheer; Mark Kuhn, D-Charles City; and John Whitaker, D-Hillsboro. Rep. David Lalk, R-Westgate, and Sen. Thurman Gaskill, R-Corwith, floor managed the bill in their respective chambers. The bill passed the House on March 16 with a 98-0 vote and passed the Senate on April 11 with a 49-0 vote. Gov. Vilsack signed the bill on April 29.

For more information about the Iowa Soybean Association and its checkoff and non-checkoff funded programs, please go to ISA’s Web site at www.iasoybeans.com.