“Membership in the Iowa Soybean Association just got easier,” says ISA President Delbert Christensen, a soybean grower from near Audubon, Iowa. “We believe that, by paying the soybean checkoff, Iowa soybean growers have earned the right to be members without paying additional dues. As a farmer-led organization, ISA has always been very focused on doing the right things to serve soybean growers. By engaging with them at higher levels, ISA will better serve Iowa growers’ needs well into the future.”
ISA is calling the new membership approach “Your ISA. Your Way.” Realizing that farming is not one-size-fits-all, the association’s goal is to customize the services it provides in order to better serve soybean growers and expand the number of producers who are engaged with the organization.
ISA CEO Kirk Leeds explains, “ISA has always had a lot to offer. We have invested in the research that has helped soybean farmers grow healthier, higher yielding soybeans, and we have developed tools to help their operations be more environmentally sound. We will continue to offer these programs and more.”
In the next few days, Iowa soybean growers will receive information that outlines ISA’s new membership approach. Filling out and returning an enclosed form or completing an online form at www.iasoybeans.com is all that’s required to become a member of the association and to begin accessing all that ISA has to offer.
In coming months, ISA will be announcing several new opportunities for members. The first of these is an offer to receive a free e-mail subscription to the Agri-Pulse newsletter. This highly respected weekly news source, edited by Sara Wyant, provides the latest farm policy news and information, and its impact on agriculture.
Later this month, ISA will also roll out a new e-newsletter focused on news about trade with China, the number one export market for U.S. soybeans.
In addition, ISA will provide up-to-date news about the soybean industry through its weekly electronic newsletter, the eGold Standard, and for members without e-mail access, a monthly print version, The Gold Standard. All soybean farmers will continue to receive The Iowa Soybean Review magazine and have access to ISA’s Web site, www.iasoybeans.com.
While ISA now extends membership to all soybean growers, federal and state law requires that checkoff dollars cannot be used to support ISA’s policy priorities. As battles heat up on issues such as climate change legislation, the renewable fuels standard, indirect land use, and more, ISA continues to need support for its policy efforts, and farmers can provide support by becoming policy members.
For $55 for one year or $135 for three years, which also includes membership in the American Soybean Association (ASA), farmers can add their voice to others across Iowa and the U.S. regarding the many issues that directly affect their livelihood. Policy members play a key role in ISA’s policy development process.
“As a policy member, a producer takes an extra step to help ISA make sure the interests of Iowa soybean farmers are protected and enhanced,” Christensen says.
Funded by the soybean checkoff
