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How the soy checkoff is impactful to farmers

The director of public policy at the Ohio Soybean Association says the soy checkoff program is increasing value opportunities for farmers.

Brandon Kern says it’s all about expanding export markets. 

“We’re kind of in this place right now where we’ve relied on China as an export market for a number of years and now they’re not buying that many beans,” he says. “What the checkoff is doing has been shifting focus to other new emerging markets for soybeans and places like Africa and Europe.”

He tells Brownfield creating new uses for soy also benefits farmers.

“For example, Stanley, Black and Decker, DeWalt are all creating several new products, and their lines are all based on the work that Ohio Soybean Council did with them through Variable Research Lab, giving that technical expertise to develop new products,” he says.

The Ohio Soybean Council checkoff program’s primary goal is to improve soybean profitability by targeting research and development, education and promotion projects through the investment of farmer-contributed funds.

AUDIO: Brandon Kerr, Ohio Soybean Association