Soybean Economics 2021: Production, Pricing & Planning
Date & Time:
December 16, 2020 | 12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Location:
Zoom Webinar
Scroll to the bottom of the page to register.
Will interest rates climb? Will Brazil’s soybean crop get smaller? Will China keep buying U.S. soybeans? Will global soybean stocks remain tight? Will U.S. acres planted to soybeans set a record next year?
Industry leaders with keen insights into trade, farm economics and global soy supplies and production will answer these questions — plus others on the minds of soybean farmers. The webinar will be hosted by Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) President Jeff Jorgenson of Sidney.
“Previous experiences help prepare for future opportunities. I’m looking forward to the former ambassador shedding light on the global marketing situation in China and what we might expect in the year to come.. As we prepare for 2021, this is one meeting farmers won’t want to miss.” — ISA President Jeff Jorgenson
Webinar Speakers
Terry Branstad
U.S. Ambassador to China (2017-2020); Longest serving governor in U.S. history
Terry E. Branstad is the former U.S. Ambassador to China and the longest serving governor in American history.
A native of Leland, Iowa, Branstad was elected three times to the Iowa House of Representatives, as Iowa’s lieutenant governor in 1978, and as Iowa’s youngest governor in 1983. As the state’s chief executive and longest serving governor from 1983 to 1999, Governor Branstad weathered some of Iowa’s worst economic turmoil during the farm crisis of the 1980s, while helping lead the state’s resurgence to a booming economy in the 1990s.
At the end of his tenure, Iowa enjoyed record employment, an unprecedented $900 million budget surplus, and the enactment of historic government overhauls that led to greater efficiencies in state government. As a result of Governor Branstad’s hands-on, round-theclock approach to economic development, Iowa’s unemployment rate went from 8.5 percent when he took office to a record low 2.5 percent when he left office in 1999.
Following his four terms as governor, Branstad served as president of Des Moines University (DMU). During his 6-year tenure, he was able to grow the university into a world-class educational facility and send its graduates to offer health care in all 50 U.S. sates while also becoming the first college in the U.S. to receive the Platinum Level of Recognition
from the Wellness Council of America.
In October of 2009, sensing a need for change in the way state government operates and wanting to “lead Iowa’s comeback,” Branstad retired from DMU and was re-elected governor in 2010.
During his second tenure as Iowa governor from 2010 to 2017, Governor Branstad signed historic investments in Iowa’s infrastructure into law, including Iowa’s roads and bridges, as well as the innovative Connect Every Acre Plan that expanded high-speed broadband internet to Iowa’s agriculture industry, schools, businesses and homes.
On December 7, 2016, Governor Branstad announced that he had accepted the nomination from President-elect Donald Trump to serve as Ambassador of the United States to the People’s Republic of China. He was sworn in as Ambassador on May 24, 2017. Ambassador Branstad served as U.S. Ambassador to China during one of the most challenging periods in recent U.S.-China history since the two countries re-established diplomatic relations in 1979. Under his leadership during unprecedented crises including the COVID-19 outbreak and the Chinese government’s closure of the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu, Ambassador Branstad led the largest drawdown of a single diplomatic mission in U.S. State Department history while evacuating over 1,300 staff members from China. He also created the Personal Protective Equipment for America Taskforce, which delivered 5,000 tons of urgently needed medical supplies to the U.S. to combat COVID-19.
During his tenure, Ambassador Branstad’s two greatest achievements were the signing of the historic Phase One Trade Agreement between the U.S. and China in January of 2020 and successfully lobbying the Chinese government to stem the flow of fentanyl into America. The Phase One Trade deal secured $200 billion in Chinese commitments to purchase U.S. goods and services in the agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and other sectors, achieved stricter enforcement of Intellectual Property protections, and opened up China’s restrictive financial sector to U.S. banks and other financial services companies. Moreover, the Chinese government’s decision to schedule fentanyl as a controlled substance in May of 2019 virtually stopped fentanyl shipments into the U.S., saving thousands of American lives.
In addition to serving as U.S. Ambassador, Branstad has also served as the Co-Chair of the Council of Governors appointed by President Barack Obama, as Commissioner and Chairman respectively of the White House Fellows Program and Commission for Excellence in Special Education appointed by President George W. Bush, and as Trustee of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
Branstad received a B.A. from The University of Iowa and a J.D. from Drake University Law School. Of the many factors behind his continued success in politics, academia, and the nonprofit and corporate board worlds, Ambassador Branstad has always stuck to one personal mantra he often repeats, “Tough times never last, but tough people do."
Jim Knuth
Sr. Vice President, Farm Credit Services of America
Jim has over 36 years of commercial and agricultural lending experience and leads Farm Credit Services of America’s Iowa retail financial services division. The financial services division includes all agricultural lending activities and the largest crop insurance agency in the state of Iowa. Farm Credit Services of America serves over 22,000 Iowa producers and includes over $9.7 billion in loan assets. Jim grew up on a beef cattle ranch, is an Iowa State University graduate, is married, the father of four children and two grandchildren.
Matt Campbell
Risk Management Consultant, StoneX Financial Inc. – FCM Division
Matt Campbell has over twenty years of risk management experience in the grain industry. His clients consist of commercial hedgers, ranging from large cooperative grain elevators to livestock feeders; from growers to ethanol plants. Matt’s customer base merchandises, produces, or consumes over 500 million bushels of grain annually. Matt’s consulting programs and execution services minimize commodity risks and maximize margin potential. He has been a featured guest speaker at a number of renewable fuels conferences, grower meetings, and radio programs. Matt earned a degree in Agricultural Business from Iowa State University in 1998. He is based in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Registration closes Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. — don't wait!
Filling out the webinar registration form below will activate your no-cost farmer membership if you are not currently a member (it will validate your membership information if you are already a member).
Once your registration is approved by ISA staff, you will receive an email from Zoom (no-reply@zoom.us) with your unique URL to join the webinar. You can also submit your questions before the event to ensure they are answered. Email them to our Producer Services team.
Back