United Soybean Board unveils new strategic plan, goals for checkoff

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2015 – The United Soybean Board will focus its efforts on nine new goals for the next several years, hoping to make improvements in supply, demand and marketplace value.

The goals are part of a long-range strategic plan approved by the board in July that will go into effect Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year. On a call with reporters Thursday morning, USB Chairman Jared Hagert said the plan will focus on issues important to soybean producers.

“We challenged ourselves to start with a blank sheet of paper,” he said. “We’re looking at the issues we’re facing through the prism of the value chain.”

The nine goals break down into three major categories: two goals for supply, two goals for marketplace value, and five goals for demand.

USB’s supply goals push for sustainable production through improved seed varieties and the latest production techniques as well as the use of technological improvements to better utilize data and maximize producer profitability.

The marketplace value initiatives center on improved transportation infrastructure and improving the soy value chain to make sure added value makes its way back to farmers.

Demand carries the heftiest load of the strategic plan, with goals focused on:

• Increasing demand for soybean meal in animal and aquaculture production.
• Helping end-users recognize the value in both conventional and high oleic soybean oil.
• Increasing the use of soybean oil in industrial purposes and soybean meal as a feedstock ingredient.
• Helping buyers and other end-users see soybean production as a “sustainable and responsible choice for food, feed, and industrial applications.”
• Targeting food manufacturers in export markets with a preference for U.S. soy. 

The plan runs through FY 2021.

The changes accompany organizational shifts at the American Soybean Association, which earlier this week approved an overhaul in a strategic plan that also runs through 2021. The plan is designed to allow ASA to focus on policy work and trade expansion through restructuring of its board of directors and delegate body as well as adding staff to ASA’s Washington, D.C., office.

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