www.agrimarketing.com/show_story.php?id=48242 -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 2/22/2008
Last Visited: 2/22/2008
For example, Ray Gaesser, immediate past president of the Iowa Soybean Association, told Brownfield the primary goal of the SOTF is to bring the entire U.S. soybean industry together to make the existing national organizations more effective.And he said the SOTF aims to start that process by bringing forward a resolution to ASA delegates next week at Commodity Classic.
"We're hoping that this resolution is inclusive, that it will include everyone, and that it will cause ASA and USB to coordinate their efforts better, to put together a task force that will look at ways that our national organizations can function better and just do a better job for farmers," Gaesser said.
...
But Gaesser countered that Peterson and other officials of state soybean associations that don't produce as many soybeans as Iowa, Illinois and Indiana have nothing to worry about.Gaesser pointed out half the current SOTF members, Kansas, North Carolina and Virginia, are hardly soybean production powerhouses.He added that all state and national soybean groups have an open invitation to joint the SOTF.And Gaesser dismissed claims the SOTF resolution to be introduced next week at Commodity Classic would cause a reopening of the Act and Order, saying he doesn't believe those claims "have merit."
Moreover, Gaesser pointed out the need to improve how ASA and USB function together has been longstanding and well recognized.He noted eight previous resolutions on the matter had been approved by ASA delegates at previous Commodity Classics but that little had actually changed.According to Gaesser, the SOTF isn't going to let that happen again.
"We've had lots of efforts in the past that either went unfunded or just never did happen," said Gaesser.