Two respected leaders within the soy family took the stage at Commodity Classic last week to celebrate a strong year for the soybean industry and look ahead to the work to come in 2017 at the annual ASA Awards Banquet in San Antonio.

United Soybean Board Chairman John Motter spoke about the impact that advancing technology has had on the industry and about the work that USB is doing to help farmers integrate that technology in their operations.

“The availability of and our adoption of these technologies proves our sustainability and has the potential to add value to our crop,” said Motter. “At USB we’re focusing on efforts to increase adoption of new technologies to increase the value of U.S. soybeans… We want U.S. soybean farmers to understand how using technology on their farms can improve profitability at the farm gate.”

In his comments, Moore spoke of the challenges ahead for soybean farmers in 2017 and to the essential work of ASA in advancing the mission of farmer profitability.

“We are in a time of success, but we can see storm clouds on the horizon. The farm economy is experiencing a downturn, and prices aren’t what they were when we gathered last year. Land prices are up, as are inputs, and the markets are down. It’s harder for farmers to get credit than it’s been in recent memory,” Moore said. “But we take heart, as we all know agriculture is a cyclical industry.”

“While so many soybean farmers struggle with the uncertainties of agriculture,” added Moore, “… our national organization presses on in Washington, representing soybean farmers in the all-important conversations on trade, on transportation and supply chain policy, on our risk management framework and on so many other issues that have a direct and tangible impact on our bottom lines.”