Being a farmer means more than outstanding yields. It’s about growing relationships that help grow the agriculture industry.

Gary Riedel joined the Missouri Soybean Association in 1970, four years after it formed and four years after he graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in field crops (now agronomy).

Several years later, he and then-MSA President the late Jim Hughes co-signed a bank note to finance the process of putting a Missouri checkoff in place. MSA incorporated the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council in 1980 during Riedel’s tenure.

In April, Riedel, of Centralia, was inducted into the Missouri Soybean Hall of Fame.

Greater service

During Riedel’s 1991-92 term as American Soybean Association president, the Soybean Promotion and Research Campaign went into effect because of the checkoff provision in the 1990 Farm Bill. Board members allocated many of the checkoff dollars to expand markets, including those in China, a major importer of U.S. soybean.

“I don’t know how much any of our efforts had to do with that, but I know it helped finance the process — getting people to think a little further ahead and getting people to understand what could be possible in the future,” Riedel says.

Bill Wiebold, director of the Missouri Soybean Center, says Riedel’s “levelheaded” approach helped the boards of the American Soybean Association and United Soybean Association come together. Riedel served as vice president of domestic marketing and vice president of international marketing during part of his 11 years on the ASA board.

Path forward

In 1992, U.S. soybean farmers grew 2 billion bushels of soybeans annually at an average price of $5 per bushel. As chairman of the Soybean Industry Vision Committee in 1993, Riedel and others set a goal for soybean producers to grow 3 billion bushels of soybeans per year with a price of $8 per bushel by the early 21st century.

By the next decade, farmers grew 3 billion bushels. Soybeans hit $8 per bushel in 2003, and in 2007, the average price was $8 for the year. Riedel says today soybean producers grow 4 billion bushels at an average of $8-plus per bushel even with the current tariffs.

Riedel also worked to open new markets for soybean oil as an original board member of Mid-America Biofuels of Mexico, Missouri. The company is a partnership of industry and farmers. He continues to serve on the board. He also serves on the advisory board of MU’s Bradford Research Center in Columbia, Mo.

He has served as a Centralia Special Road District Commissioner since 1981 and served six years on the R-VI School Board. He and his wife, Carol, are active in the Lutheran church and have three married daughters, Carrie, Paulette and Heidi, and eight grandchildren.

Learn more about the Missouri Soybean Center at soybeancenter.missouri.edu.

Geist writes from Monroe City, Mo.