Leeds: Information Overload

[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignleft" width="257" caption="Chief Executive Officer, Iowa Soybean Association"][/caption]

When is the last time you heard someone say, “I just wish I had something more to read?”

We live in an age of information overload.  Between the magazines and newsletters in the mail box, Web sites, e-mails, phone calls, text messages, Facebook, Twitter and a host of other emerging social media, a much more common concern is how to sort through all of the noise and chatter.

So it may seem that the Iowa Soybean Association is paddling against the current as we aggressively seek to provide additional information to Iowa’s soybean farmers. But in reality, what we are trying to do is to sort through the information overload and provide you the information that you need in a timely, concise and focused way.  And to do so at a price point that recognizes that you have already invested through the soybean checkoff program.

Earlier this year, we announced that ISA was partnering with Agri-Pulse to provide soybean farmers in Iowa the opportunity to receive an electronic copy of this weekly newsletter that provides current information on national policy issues.  Information you need to stay abreast of important development in Washington, D.C. and across the country.

We also rolled out a weekly newsletter from China to help Iowa producers stay current on issues from the most important export market in the world - a country that imports more soybeans than Iowa’s total annual production.  Our goal with this newsletter is not just to report on current events in China, but more importantly, try to help farmers understand the impact that these events will have on their farm.

And we will soon be announcing a new partnership with DTN and a company called CropSpotters to provide timely news and analysis from South America, our number one competitor for soybean production.  We understand that farmers already have access to a lot of information from Brazil and Argentina.  Our task with this electronic newsletter is to provide insights, not just regurgitate press releases and wire stories.

All of these services are available at no additional cost to soybean farmers in Iowa who pay the soybean checkoff.  If you pay the checkoff, all you need to do is sign up to become an ISA member (at no additional cost) and tell us which one of these products you want to receive.  They are all part of ISA’s new approach – “Your ISA. Your Way.”

-Kirk Leeds

To join ISA and to sign up for any of these newsletters, just log on our web site at www.iasoybeans.com or give us a call at 800/383-1423.  And after you do, please let me know what you think.  We need your input in order to make sure these new products are meeting your needs.