Tampa, Florida
March 2, 2007
No one knows what the future holds
in store, but thanks to a partnership between the soybean
checkoff and other leading groups and businesses throughout the
soybean value chain, the soybean industry will be prepared to
continue to thrive in the future. The group came together to
drive the success of the soybean industry despite whatever
challenges the future may hold.
"Soy 2020 is a visioning process created to ensure a successful
future for all of us in the soybean industry, no matter what
opportunities or challenges lie ahead," says
United Soybean Board
(USB) Chairman Eric Niemann, a soybean farmer from Nortonville,
Kan.
The Soy 2020 Challenge
In March 2006, Monsanto approached USB to undergo a major
visioning process that would ultimately bring together all
facets of the U.S. soybean industry. The objective was to create
a vision for the future of U.S. soybeans that would be a
complete collaboration and that would ultimately drive success
for soybeans despite what the future may hold. USB quickly
brought on additional financial sponsorships with a contribution
of its own, as well as support pledged from Monsanto, Deere and
Company, the National Oilseed Processors Association and Farm
Credit Council.
Soy 2020 is a unique endeavor, as it taps into the entire
soybean value chain to study what is happening in the industry
today, and what could possibly happen down the line. A steering
committee representing national and state soybean associations
and checkoff boards, farm equipment companies, seed companies,
processors, food manufacturers, agricultural lenders, USDA,
academics and agricultural media was assembled to tackle this
daunting task.
The overall process was focused on four key stages: a
comprehensive environmental scan that identified key areas of
emphasis; scenario analysis of the future of the soybean
industry; development of the actual vision and supporting
strategies; and now, the actual launch of the Soy 2020 Vision.
"Soy 2020 is a great example of the different players in the
soybean industry coming together for a common goal," says
Ernesto Fajardo, vice president of U.S. crop business for
Monsanto. "The established vision of Soy 2020 will allow a
proactive, nimble approach to optimizing the U.S. soybean
industry in the future."
The Soy 2020 Vision
By the year 2020, the world population will most likely exceed 8
billion people, with 93 percent of growth taking place in
developing countries. Continued population growth, combined with
an increasing economic status in developing countries, will
require a global effort to feed a hungry world and provide the
energy required to sustain global economic growth. These kinds
of statistics make efforts like Soy 2020 all the more vital.
"The continued population growth and growing economic status
will provide many challenges and opportunities in the future,"
says Don Borgman, director of Agricultural Industry Relations
for John Deere's North American operation. "The U.S. soybean
industry can take a leadership role in feeding a hungry world
and providing energy to sustain global economic growth."
Soy 2020 is driven by a vision that the U.S. soybean industry
should be the global marketplace leader first and foremost. Soy
2020 is not about predicting the future, but rather is an
attempt to envision several plausible scenarios and make
recommendations as to how the U.S. soybean value-chain as a
whole may be successful in each of these environments. The
vision will be realized through the following:
- Strive for economic
sustainability and a global leadership position through the
innovation, adoption and delivery of soy production and
trait technologies.
- Create a wide variety of
output choices for food, feed, fuel and other output and
increase demand for soy by promoting benefits.
- Take an environmentally
responsible leadership role to ensure a secure, safe,
sustainable and abundant global food supply to feed a hungry
world.
- Enable success of all
soybean sectors and prepare to work in a coordinated
leadership capacity through any situation the future may
hold for U.S. soy.
In addition to the vision,
indicators that will help identify which scenario is at play and
the recommended strategies for success have also been developed.
Plans are underway now to monitor these indicators to allow time
to accurately respond with the appropriate strategies that
should be employed. As the Soy 2020 launch continues, farm
organizations, agribusiness and others will be tapped to
incorporate the overall vision into their own strategic planning
efforts.
Strategies for All Scenarios
In addition to strategies that are to be employed in specific
scenarios, Soy 2020 offers common strategies that should be
implemented regardless of the specific scenario that may
develop. These strategies may require different levels of the
soybean value chain to plan and pursue implementation activities
specific to that level.
One of the key strategies for the U.S. soybean industry will be
to anticipate what the future may hold. The soybean industry
should look for ways to improve the way things are done in the
soybean industry and ensure improvements are adopted by
providing incentives industry-wide, via networks, relationships
and integration. In addition, the soybean value chain should
collaborate across the industry to understand and prioritize
customer wants and needs. Finally, the U.S. soybean industry
should lead global soy improvements by focusing research and
development expenditures to improve yield, quality and
functionality of U.S. soy in food, feed, fuel and other end-user
markets.
Collaboration will also be vital, as the soybean industry
promotes mutually beneficial relationships and efforts to
address environmental, regulatory, trade and other policy
issues. The soybean value chain must work with related
agricultural and complementary non-agricultural industries to
improve infrastructure and logistics systems and develop global
markets.
Finally, the players in the U.S. soybean industry need to act to
ensure policy framework that supports innovation, minimizes
disruptive regulatory policies and promotes producers' adoption
of new technologies through early adopter incentives that will
improve U.S. soy's competitiveness. The industry strives to
encourage an infrastructure that enables all components of the
U.S. soybean stakeholders to remain successful, and to continue
to improve soy quality and processing systems. The soybean value
chain should promote soy health and nutrition benefits,
environmental sustainability and technology safety to global
consumers of food, fuel and feed, as well as support the
viability and growth of animal agriculture, renewable energy and
other soy-consuming industries. It's important to note that
these policy frameworks will not be undertaken by the United
Soybean Board, but rather other affiliate organizations such as
the American Soybean Association.
Living Soy 2020
Following Commodity Classic, a phased rollout will begin,
targeting specific audiences within the soybean value chain.
Details of the rollout and the actual Soy 2020 vision can be
found at www.soy2020vision.com.
"It's important for everyone to understand that this is an
absolutely inclusive vision," says Niemann. "It's not meant to
single out just soybean farmers or just seed companies or just
our end users. Everyone will have their role in making this a
reality."
USB is made up of 64 farmer-directors who oversee the
investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S.
soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of
animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization,
industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in
the Soybean Promotion, Research and Customer Information Act,
USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight
responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff. |
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