FROM THE BOARDROOM CHAIRMAN Steve Pitstick, Maple Park District 2 VICE CHAIRMAN Ron Kindred, Atlanta District 9 SECRETARY Elliott Uphoff, Shelbyville District 10 TREASURER Dwayne Anderson, Lynn Center District 3 ASSISTANT SECRETARY-TREASURER David Wessel, Chandlerville At-Large Director GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR Brad Daugherty, West Union District 14 MARKET DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR Scott Gaffner, Greenville At-Large Director UTILIZATION COMMITTEE CHAIR James Martin, Pontiac District 6 DIRECTORS Ryan Frieders, Waterman | District 1 Buck Hill, Grand Ridge | District 4 Mark Read, Putnam | District 5 Bryan Severs, Potomac | District 7 David Niekamp, Coatsburg | District 8 Matt Murray, Paxton | District 11 Brock Willard, Pittsfield | District 12 Ed Murphy, Farmersville | District 13 Jeff Parker, Belleville | District 15 Brian Atteberry, Carmi | District 16 Nick Harre, Nashville | District 17 Rick Rubenacker, McLeansboro | District 18 AT-LARGE DIRECTORS Betsey Emerick, Vandalia Brady Holst, Plymouth Jeff O'Connor, Kankakee Tim Scates, Carmi UNITED SOYBEAN BOARD (USB) Gary Berg, St. Elmo Dan Farney, Morton, USB Chairman Lynn Rohrscheib, Fairmount Doug Winter, Mill Shoals AMERICAN SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION (ASA) Stan Born, Mahomet, ASA Treasurer Daryl Cates, Columbia, ASA Secretary David Droste, Nashville Jered Hooker, Clinton Ron Moore, Roseville Bill Raben, Ridgway Rob Shaffer, El Paso Bill Wykes, Yorkville Farm-to- Feed Trough BROCK WILLARD | District 12 Director | Illinois Soybean Board Illinois soybean farmers like me are feeding the livestock that grow our economy. Particularly in my case, I can rest easy knowing I’m feeding my hogs with the highest quality protein source available. We currently have about 4,800 head of finishing space on our family’s wean-to-finish hog operation in Pike County, and we typically turn those spaces over twice a year. Soybean meal provides our hogs the high-quality protein they need to grow strong and healthy. Because it has such a well-balanced amino acid profile combined with competitive cost, soy- STAFF CREDITS Editor | Rachel Peabody, Illinois Soybean Association Assistant Editor | Betsy Osman, Illinois Soybean Association Staff Writer | Claire Weinzierl, Illinois Soybean Association Staff Writer & Advertising Coordinator | Jill Parrent, Illinois Soybean Association Staff Writer | Brynna Sentel, Illinois Soybean Association Digital Edition & Circulation Manager | Heather Atkinson, Illinois Soybean Association Staff Photographer | Stephen Sostaric, Illinois Soybean Association OTHER ISA STAFF Chief Executive Officer | John Lumpe Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer | Brian Hansen Senior Director of Government Affairs | Mike Levin Director of Ag Innovation | Linda Kull Director of Operations | Dustin Scott Director of Market Development | Andrew Larson Director of Agronomy | Abigail Peterson The Illinois Soybean Growers is owner of Illinois Field & Bean, a publication for Illinois soybean farmers, designed and written to provide timely and useful industry information. Illinois Field & Bean is published by the Illinois Soybean Association, 1605 Commerce Parkway, Bloomington, IL 61704. For address corrections, contact Illinois Field & Bean at 1605 Commerce Parkway, Bloomington, IL 61704. Phone 309-663-7692. Web address: www.ilsoy.org. Email: [email protected]. Comments and statewide news articles should be sent to the above address. Advertising space reservations must be made by the first of the month preceding publication. In consideration of the acceptance of advertisement, the agency and the advertiser must, in respect of the contents of the advertisement, indemnify and save the publisher harmless against any expense arising from claims or actions against the publisher because of the publication of the content of the advertisement. FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION Rachel Peabody Director of Communications Phone: (217) 825-7654 Email: [email protected] 4 November 2021 bean meal is the main source of protein we use in the feed ration. The amount of soybean meal included in swine diets is roughly 200 pounds per ton, on average, and is increasing due to its improved digestibility when compared with synthetic amino acids. The protein that is fed to the animal is of critical importance, and it’s imperative for soybean farmers to produce high-quality soybeans to make sure we are maintaining and hopefully growing our share of the feed ration. According to the United Soybean Board, hogs consume 7 million metric tons of soybean meal annually, which counts for the meal from 324 million bushels of soybeans. Many synthetic products such as synthetic amino acids have come out on the market and are competing with soybean meal for the protein piece of the feed ration. As soybean farmers, this should concern us and drive us to grow the highest quality soybean possible. Why? Be- cause livestock producers are our number one customer. Soybeans are one of many choices we have available to meet a range of needs for protein, as well as fats and oils. Soybeans are primarily comprised of 80 percent meal and 20 percent oil. Of the 80 percent soybean meal, 97 percent of that is used to feed poultry and livestock. Pigs alone consume more than three-fourths of the soybean meal fed in Illinois. The health benefits that soybeans provide are extremely important to me as a pork produc- er to ensure that my operation continues to be healthy and disease-free. The better the feed ration, the healthier the animal. That’s where the higher quality protein comes into play. It’s critical that the soybean industry maintains good relationships with our friends in the livestock industry, especially when it comes to hog production. This is due to two reasons, the first being that we’re selling them a lot of beans. There are many farmers out there, like me, that work in both industries – and I don’t know many hog farmers who aren’t somewhat involved in row crops – so there’s an overlap in membership that increases the importance of keeping those good relationships. Without the support between our partners in agriculture, we wouldn’t have facilities such as processors right here in the state — and worst-case scenario, they may be moved elsewhere. This would cause us to lose a significant portion of our customer base and jobs that go along with it. In my county especially, I’d hate to see what it would be like without the hog industry. Between all the people working on the hog farms, truck drivers hauling feed and pigs, veteri- narians, feed mill employees, and more, we all have an investment to keep this industry going. There’s a big economic impact involved beyond just being able to sell our soybeans to livestock producers. In reality, animal agriculture is one of our biggest customers as soybean farmers, so main- taining domestic production is extremely important for soybean farmers and pork producers like me.