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Jun 13, 2013
Jim Hershey, Executive Director of the ASA’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH) program, was in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday to give an update on the WISHH program to the Ohio Soybean Council.
WISHH was founded in 2001 by eight Qualified State Soybean Boards (QSSBs), including Ohio,with a $1 million annual budget. Today the program has grown to an annual budget of over $10 million, mostly with non-checkoff funds. Soybean checkoff funding from QSSBs still makes up approximately $1 million of the budget. The QSSB funding helps leverage matching funds programs from a variety of other sources including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development and other international development organizations.
WISHH works on long-term market development and demand building for U.S. soy.
"It’s great to see our checkoff dollars pull in outside funding at about a 10 to 1 rate!" said Brett Davis, an ASA Board member from Ohio and member of the WISHH Committee.
