Soybeans set scene for music debut

March 16, 2026 | Bethany Baratta

Soybeans dance in a Virginia field—the canopy shifting from green to a gold-bronze hue. In the middle of the field, 17-year-old Ana Sofia Johnson strums her guitar.

A song rooted in the field

She could have picked anywhere to record this music video for the release of her first song, “The World.” But the family’s farm in the Northern Neck of Virginia made sense to Ana Sofia. It took an outside perspective to see the specific beauty of the soybean field, however.

“Our videographer, who is not an agriculture guy, saw the colors of the field in October and how the sunset accentuated the texture, and thought it was a perfect setting for the video,” she explains.

The serene setting helps connect “The World” to its roots in agriculture.

“Agricultural values represent what the song is about—being there for each other,” she says.

Her connection to agriculture comes from being around agriculture and this farm. Undoubtedly, her father’s presence in the soybean and agriculture industries also inspired her adjacent involvement. Her father, Allen Johnson, was the CEO of the Iowa Soybean Association in the 1980s. He would later serve as the chief agricultural negotiator in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for the George W. Bush administration.

“We see agriculture as natural and beautiful and as a vocation that feeds people around the world,” Ana Sofia says.

In a sneak peak of the lyrics, Ana Sofia writes:

“I know you're busy this time of year with all those calls. So, thanks for letting me not fall. And just to make that clear, I know you need help. So, call me when you want to yell. But when my mind's a mess, you keep me on the ground. And you know it wanders around.”

Ana Sofia, a student at Virginia Tech, hopes “The World” helps people find connection. And if a soybean field helps visualize that deeper connection, all the better, she says.

Attendees at the American Soybean Association awards banquet at Commodity Classic were the first to see the video and hear the song, which makes its official debut on March 20. The song’s music video is set to debut on March 27. Her first album, filled with songs she’s written, will launch this summer.

From music room to debut album

After two years working with her team to produce her upcoming album and subsequent videos, Ana Sofia says she’s ready for her music to go from demo to debut—albeit a bit nervous.

“Writing and performing your own songs creates a certain vulnerability, especially in such a public, permanent, and quick way that streaming and social media do today,” she says. “At a certain point in many things, including music, you have to trust in God that it’s time to move ahead. Hank Williams, one of the greatest songwriters of all time, was asked how he wrote his songs and he answered something to the effect of, ‘I just held the pen. God wrote the songs.’ I feel blessed to be part of this but don’t pretend it’s all just about me. I know it’s a gift that must be shared, as scary as that may be. If it helps or means anything to anyone, it’s worth it.”

But first, her music began at home, with a room dedicated to music—it was a space to create, to play, to listen and to sing freely.

“She has been singing since she could walk,” says Allen, who grew up in Long Grove, Iowa. “Since she started school, she’d come home every day and, as a reward, go into our music room, which was just off the living room, and sing and play instruments. I’d mute the TV and enjoy listening to her.”

Post-Thanksgiving dinner performances for family and friends turned into writing and playing the ukulele at 9—creating “Let’s Go to the Moon,” a song her elementary music teacher adapted for students to sing and strum on ukuleles for their music concert. That original song—and several others she has written—will appear on Ana Sofia’s first album, which is set to be released this summer.

A full-circle moment with soybeans

Soybeans have been in Allen’s orbit since he grew up working on farms in Scott County. Now, soy is sharing the spotlight in his daughter’s first music video. And while it wasn’t necessarily on purpose, it’s a perfect circle, Allen says.

“I love that this is sort of starting with the soybean industry as I’ve been involved and around this industry all my life,” Allen says. “It has a sort of coming home feeling for me while being a beginning for her.”

Follow Ana Sofia’s music journey here: https://linktr.ee/anasofiaofficial

Written by Bethany Baratta.

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