St, Louis, Missouri, USA
March 8, 2010

Soy 2020, an industry-wide effort to ensure continued competitiveness of U.S. soy in the global marketplace, has launched a newly redesigned, multimedia Web site at www.soy2020vision.com.  This new Web site also provides an electronic learning tool crafted to inform U.S. soybean farmers and other stakeholders on the long-term approach Soy 2020 has created to determine what factors influence where the U.S. soybean industry may be headed.

“Having a business model proves essential to any business,” says John Becherer, Chief Executive Officer of the United Soybean Board (USB) and member of the Soy 2020 planning committee. “With the e-learning tool provided on the redesigned Soy 2020 Web site, we are now able to share this model with our stakeholders in the U.S. soybean industry. For the first time, we have the ability to give them in-depth insight on the importance of scenario planning for the future and the results achieved to date.”

As a result of a commitment from the farmer-funded soybean checkoff through USB, among others, Soy 2020 brings together all segments of the U.S. soybean value chain, including farmers, processors, researchers and representatives of the food, feed and fuel industries. These U.S. soy industry professionals helped establish the tools that will track industry progress.

Soy 2020 predicts that by the year 2020, the world will experience tremendous changes. The world population will most likely exceed 8 billion people, with more than 93 percent of growth taking place in developing countries. Many other factors will influence the world we live in and could impact U.S. soybean production. The Soy 2020 Vision, developed through an industry-wide effort four years ago, states that the U.S. soybean industry will be the global marketplace leader. The Soy 2020 process has established strategies to optimize the U.S. soybean value chain regardless of what future world unfolds.

The e-learning tool takes visitors through four different scenarios possible for U.S. soybean farmers and the U.S. soy industry based on the relative innovation advantages for soy versus other crops. According to the latest Soy 2020 indicator tracking, the U.S. soybean industry’s outlook remains in the “Shared Success” scenario for both the short- and long-term outlooks. This scenario assumes the U.S. soybean industry will make advancements in sustainable technology; however, so will the other major crops. In addition, benefits realized by the other crops could challenge soy’s competitiveness. Therefore, for the U.S. soybean value chain to maintain or improve profitability opportunities, it must continue seeking new ways to drive improvements and increase demand for U.S. soy.

“For Soy 2020 to tell people where we think the U.S. soybean industry is headed and what scenario we might face in the future is meaningless unless they understand the factors and the approach that went into determining it,” says USB’s Becherer. “The goal of the e-learning course on the Soy 2020 Web site is to arm visitors with the information they need to understand how to move their farm, organization or company toward a path that will benefit the U.S. industry as a whole.”

The Soy 2020 leadership does more than just scenario planning. They also explore opportunities presented by having such a varied group of leaders in the U.S. soy value chain together. Currently, the group plans to look at the potential market impact on improving U.S. soybean protein and oil, with plans to initiate an industry-wide discussion about the economic impact of U.S. soy with better-quality protein and oil. U.S. farmers and others who are interested can look for further developments by visiting www.soy2020vision.com and signing up to receive e-mail updates.
USB is made up of 68 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 Consumer Information Act, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.

Website: http://www.unitedsoybean.com

Published: March 8, 2010