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South Dakota Soybean Checkoff seeks board candidates

The South Dakota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (SDSRPC) has three board seats up for election this year. A director will be selected to represent districts Five, Six and Nine. Becoming a board member is a commitment to oversee checkoff spending on behalf of fellow growers, according to Matt Bainbridge, a former director.

“You’ll be expected to represent South Dakota soybean farmers,” said Bainbridge, describing what the commitment entails. “You’ll have quarterly meetings for sure and then probably be asked to serve on some other boards too to represent our state and national and regional boards.”

The farmer led SDSRPC invests and leverages checkoff dollars on behalf of South Dakota soybean farmers. Bainbridge, who farms with his family at Ethan, South Dakota, is grateful for the experience.

“I really enjoyed working on all the projects, just kind of seeing how the checkoff is invested and what’s coming up in the future, what the problems from different areas of the state and country are that people are dealing with,” said Bainbridge, “I guess just working with the other farmers trying to find solutions and make the investments we can.”

For the last year, board meetings have been conducted virtually because of the pandemic, but in more typical times, Bainbridge’s board service gave him the opportunity to see other parts of the world.

“I’ve had a chance to travel to Southeast Asia quite a few times and even to Central and South America, I guess, so I’ve had some really great travel opportunities,” he said, adding that there are responsibilities that rest on board members selected for international travel.

“It’s not really a vacation, you know, you’re there to work and to learn and to meet people,” he said, “but it was a lot of fun to get to see some different places too and meet some of your customers in different countries and see how they’re utilizing your soybean products.”

Eligible candidates are South Dakota residents who plant, raise, and harvest soybeans from more than ten acres and are residents of the district they wish to represent.

District Five consists of Beadle, Bennett, Buffalo, Custer, Fall River, Gregory, Haakon, Hand, Hughes, Hyde, Jackson, Jerauld, Jones, Lyman, Mellette, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, Todd, and Tripp counties.

District Six is Codington, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, and Kingsbury counties.

District Nine includes Butte, Dewey, Faulk, Lawrence, Meade, Potter, Spink, Stanley, Sully, Walworth, and Ziebach counties.

Matt’s takeaway from having served on the state checkoff board is the satisfaction of having served with people he considers to be very conscientious.

“The board members and staff are really committed to doing the best that they can,” said Bainbridge. “We’re going through every single line item to make sure that there’s no wasteful spending, to make sure that everything is done perfectly and to maximize the checkoff dollars, make sure that the investment is maximized.”

Those interested in serving should contact Becky Cypher at the South Dakota Soybean office for a petition, which must be completed and returned by April 18.