EVENTS

Sara Wyant - Agri-Pulse Communications Inc.,

2020 will hopefully be a much better year than 2019, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a few challenges ahead. We’ll look at some of the top issues and opportunities you will face in 2020 and how you can be prepared.

Sara Wyant is President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., a communications firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Sacramento and Camdenton, Missouri. As a veteran farm policy reporter, she is recognized on Capitol Hill, as well as with farm and commodity associations across the country. The newsletter and website she founded, Agri-Pulse, publishes the latest updates on farm policy, commodity and conservation programs, trade, food safety, rural development and environmental and regulatory programs.

David Powell - GROWMARK, Inc.

When trying to obtain high-yielding soybeans, most growers have determined it’s not one single thing they did, it was the full system that produced high-yield results. This is no different in weed management. To have quality season long control of weeds it’s important to evaluate and implement a systems approach, and a system without residual herbicides is not much of a program.

David Powell is the Sr. Agronomy Services Manager for GROWMARK, Inc, where he leads the Agronomy Services team as well as supports member companies in the technical area of weed science. David grew up on his family farm in Medora, Illinois where they produce corn and soybeans.

Doug Tinnes - BASF

Seed treatments have become increasingly popular and important as growers strive to increase yields and return on investments while reducing economic risk. In this presentation we will dive into soybean seed treatments and understanding the types of active ingredients used. We will look at standards, understanding how treatment impacts investment and can reduce financial risk and how soybeans are treated.

Doug Tinnes is a regional account manager for seed treatment solutions at BASF. A CCA for over 20 years, Tinnes has worked in the seed industry in a variety of capacities with prior experience at Syngenta and Bayer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from LaSalle University.

John Pike - Pike Ag, LLC

This session will address management options created by an early planted soybean system to develop a cover crop strategy that can further increase yields, improve overall nutrient management and water quality factors necessary to meeting the goals of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.

John Pike lives in Marion, IL and operates Pike Ag, LLC, providing agronomic consulting and contract research services for the ag industry. He is also a Certified Crop Adviser and the Southern Illinois coordinator for NREC nitrogen management research conducted by the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association and involved in cover crop research and education efforts.

Dawn Odenthal - Conservis Corporation

What are some of the advantages of investing in technology when profits are tight? 2019 brought many challenges to the farm gate. The tendency following financially tough years is to only invest in “necessary” inputs, such as seed and chemicals, and not explore options for implementing technology on farms. However, this is often the most important time to find something new or make a change as technology may unlock some savings or increase revenue – even small improvements acre-by-acre can add up to impressive value.

Dawn Odenthal is a businesswoman with more than 25 years of experience. From her early days as an accountant to management of various business groups, she has always balanced an eye on the bottom line with growth of the business.

Roger Price - GSI/AGCO Corporation
Paul Card - GrainViz

This presentation will help you better understand factors critical to soybean storage success such as grain quality, equipment and a focus on profit. We will also discuss the latest advances made by GrainViz technology. As an outcome of this session, producers will also learn how to focus on value, expense, return, and risk when using data and automated grain management.

Brooke Starks - Meyer Capel
Frank Dhom - Peoples State Bank
Kent Leesman - Illinois Farm Business Farm Management

Challenges ranging from barriers to entry experienced by young and new producers to the difficult decisions when exiting full-time production make succession and transition planning a necessary tool for your operation. Join our expert panel as they discuss methods and opportunities to preserve your operation through multiple generations.

Matt Bennett - Channel Seed

A myriad of events has led to the current climate in recent years of challenging soybean markets. This presentation will look at the best way to lock in profit for 2020. As producers have seen tight margins for five years straight, capturing optimum marketing opportunities has become increasingly important. The speaker will also discuss setting up a marketing plan tailored to your individual farm’s needs.

Matt Bennett is a Windsor, Illinois, farmer and former grain elevator owner. He is Channel Seed’s grain marketing consultant and holds a Series 3 brokerage license doing business through AgMarket.Net, Farm Division of JSA. Bennett brings the producer perspective to the table, enriched with his extensive grain marketing background.

Dale Lattz - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

When thinking about factors of row crop production, land is not only the most vital asset but also the costliest. Margins have been thin over the past several years, which makes understanding your cost to operate key to success in today’s market. This discussion will provide insight about past, present and projected costs associated with producer’s most vital asset: land.

Dale Lattz works at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a farmdoc research associate. He worked in the mid-1980s in the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) field staff.

Keynote Session 1: The Best Agronomic Decisions are Homegrown

John McGillicuddy, McGillicuddy Corrigan Agronomics, presents this keynote session on how to increase your soybean yield by gathering on-farm information. In this presentation, McGillicuddy will present information on what to look for, what measurements to take, and how to let your local information be the driving force to making your agronomic decisions.

1 CEU in Crop Management

Keynote Session 2: Top Five Issues for Growers to Consider in 2020

Presented by Sara Wyant, President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., this session will look at some of the top issues and opportunities soybean farmers will face in 2020. Wyant will also dive into how producers can be prepared to overcome these challenges.

Attendees can gather information on the latest products and services from sponsors and exhibitors at the Soybean Summit trade show.

Interested in being an exhibitor at next year's trade show? Contact the ISA Meeting and Events Planning Team at 888-826-4011 or events@ilsoy.org to learn more.