Note to Editors: Adapted from the Kansas Profile radio series, this column profiles a different Kansan, Kansas community or Kansas-based company every Wednesday, as a regular feature of the K-State Research and Extension News  lineup. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at  http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm.

Released: January 30, 2008

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

Let’s go halfway around the globe to Malaysia, to the International Oilseed Producers Dialogue. Leading producers of soybeans, palm oil, rapeseed and other commodities are in attendance, including a soybean farmer from northeast Kansas. How did this Kansas farmer get to Malaysia? He is here in his capacity as chairman of the United Soybean Board in the U.S. It’s another in our series on national agricultural leaders from rural Kansas.

Eric Niemann is the chairman of the United Soybean Board. Unlike the other organizations in our series on national ag leaders, the United Soybean Board is not an association.  Instead, it is a nationwide board of people with the responsibility to allocate dollars from the national soybean checkoff. Eric Niemann is the elected chair of that board.

Eric comes from a farm near the rural community of Nortonville, Kansas, population 613 people. Now, that’s rural. Eric grew up in Topeka because his father served in the legislature, but they came back to the farm at Nortonville in 1968.

Currently, Eric and his wife Lois farm 1,200 acres. He also cleans and sells certified wheat. In 1998, Eric was appointed to the United Soybean Board by then Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman. He was reappointed by subsequent secretaries on a bipartisan basis to serve the maximum time allowed by law. In December 2006, he began a one year term as chairman of the national board.

Eric says, “It’s been very rewarding. What I’ve taken away most is an appreciation for the dedication of all the people involved.”

Eric is proud of agriculture, and especially the soybean industry. He says, “We have the safest, most affordable, abundant food source in the world. In the next 20 years, food demand will double, through increased population and a better economy. That’s why we’re working on biotech improvement of our soybean crops, both for improved production as well as for health benefits for the public.”

For example, he foresees that the next five to 10 years will bring biotech crops with many new traits, such as beneficial omega III oils, low saturated fat, eliminated trans fat, and drought and rust tolerance.

Eric says, “It’s a great time to be involved.” The soybean board has upgraded its technology and done a great deal of strategic planning.

Eric is pleased with the progress of the soybean industry.

“We launched an animal agriculture initiative to help poultry, swine, and dairy producers with their environmental issues,” he says. “Those species consume almost all the soybean meal and their environmental issues are very important.”

The soybean board has also invested in biofuels research. Eric says, “We’ve worked on soy biodiesel fuel which helps lubricity and burns cleaner in the engine.” Of course, unlike crude oil, soy comes from a renewable source.

Then there are other uses for soy products, such as soy ink and backing for carpet. Soy oil can replace petroleum-based products in polyurethane. For example, the 2008 Ford Mustang features a seat cover made of soy polyurethane, and Eric would like to see more of that.

He noted that a neighbor’s electric pole and transformer were toppled by the ice storm of December 2007, and when the transformer fell, it broke open and all the oil spilled out. The soybean board is currently working with Cargill to develop a soy oil to go in such transformers.

This oil would be fire resistant and without environmental problems.

“The soybean industry is working well, partly as a result of the checkoff,” Eric says.  “Producers need to continue to invest in research, market development, and promotion.” 

Eric has seen the benefit of such market promotion world wide, as he has worked with soybean customers from Spain to China.

It’s time to leave this meeting of the International Oilseed Producers Dialogue in Malaysia, where a Kansas farmer represents U.S. soybean producers. We commend Eric Niemann for making a difference through his role as chairman of the United Soybean Board.  He’s helping soybeans to succeed.

And there’s more. We’ll learn about another national ag leader from rural Kansas in our next column.

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The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus in Manhattan.

For more information:
The Huck Boyd Institute is at 785-532-7690 or rwilson@ksu.edu

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