Following ASA's board meeting this week, soy growers met with congressional leaders to discuss prospective progress on soybean issues. From left to right: ASA Vice President John Heisdorffer; ASA Chairman Richard Wilkins; ASA Washington Representative Bev Paul; ASA Director Charles Atkinson; Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts; ASA President Ron Moore; former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole; ASA CEO Steve Censky and ASA Washington Representative John Gordley.

Members of the American Soybean Association (ASA) Board of Directors met in Washington with lawmakers and their staff, as well as officials within the Trump Administration, to advance soybean issue priorities during this week's brief meeting and fly-in in the nation's capital.

During a meeting of the board earlier in the week, Craig Thorn, former U.S. Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA-FAS) official and current principal at DTB Associates, discussed the outlook for trade in the Trump Administration, and specifically with regard to the NAFTA.

ASA Director and tax accountant Bill Gordon gave the board a quick look at the changes in tax policy that the association is advocating on Capitol Hill. Additionally, ASA's Washington staff briefed attendees on the current state of affairs on a range of federal policy issues including trade, farm bill, biotechnology and transportation.

Following Tuesday afternoon's meeting, each of ASA's 26 state and regional affiliate teams took to Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with the congressional delegations from each of the 30 soy-growing states and discuss prospective progress on soybean issues in the 115th Congress. The members of the ASA Governing Committee finished the week Thursday with a meeting at the White House with Ray Starling, special assistant to the President for agriculture, trade and food assistance.

This week's meeting is one of three annual meetings of the ASA Board, which will gather next in Washington in July.