By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent
 
FRANKENMUTH, Mich. — It’s too soon to tell if a request from the American Soybean Assoc. (ASA) calling for a federal investigation of the National Soybean Checkoff Program will impact Michigan.
Gail Frahm, executive director of the Michigan Soybean Assoc. (MSA) and the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee (MSPC), believes if the investigation moves forward it could have implications for the entire industry.

“I would like to wait and see what the findings are,” she said of the pending investigation. “Since we all operate under the same federal guidelines, we may all have to make some adjustments in what we are doing.”

A news release dated Dec. 10 outlined the ASA’s concerns including “serious allegations of abuse, wasteful spending and mismanagement” of soybean checkoff funds. It alleges violations of salary and administrative caps, such as putting employees on contractors’ books and misclassifying expenses to stay within allowed spending limits. Another allegation is that checkoff funds were used for prohibited purposes, namely to influence legislation or government action/policy.

“ASA firmly believes it is doing the right thing for the soybean farmers by asking the Inspector General to conduct a full investigation of the serious allegations of wrongdoing that have surfaced,” said ASA President John Hoffman.

“ASA believes the national soybean checkoff, as currently structured and operated, is no longer responsive and accountable to soybean farmers.”

In Michigan, Frahm said industry leaders are monitoring the situation. “First and foremost, this is obviously an issue between the two national organizations,” she said. “We’re certainly in tune with what’s happening. We’re very empathetic to both sides of the story.”

She said balancing work for both the policy side of the industry and the education and research arm can be challenging, and there are strict federal guidelines that govern how soybean checkoff money may be spent to fund these efforts.

“At the local level, we evaluate our programs continuously.
Financially, we are audited by a CPA every year,” Frahm said. “We regularly review our projects and at the end of the fiscal year, we look at our different program areas, what we initially planned to do, initial budget, why we spent what we did, what we did or didn’t do and consider any feedback we have received.”

As for the call for a federal investigation, she said since questions have been raised, it’s a good idea to take the situation seriously.
“I think it just got to the point that there were enough items of concern that ASA brought them forward,” Frahm said. “Certainly evaluating the programs and allegations that were made to clear the air is a fine thing.”

One of the allegations by the ASA is that too much money has been spent by the USB for self-promotion and self-preservation through producer communications and surveys. Frahm has mixed feelings about this, saying it’s the responsibility of organizations to communicate with their members.

“You do need to let the farmers know what’s going on with their dollars. You need to promote back to them,” she said.

Overall, Frahm said the soybean checkoff continues to be valuable for farmers as well as the industry as a whole. She said getting farmers more involved in the industry through the checkoff “has really helped them take ownership.”

Plus, the benefit of states working together to promote the soybean industry is priceless. “There’s a lot of value in the collaborative efforts that can take place, not only between organizations, but between states,” she said.

Through the North Central Soybean Research Program, 12 states are working together to collaboratively fund research activities. Frahm said this is good because it costs each organization less to conduct research that is beneficial to them all.

“There’s strength in numbers when it comes to those kinds of projects,” she said. “There are a lot of those collaborative things that happen as a result of having the USB.

“We had the largest exports ever last year for soybeans. That doesn’t happen by itself unless you have all the farmers working together toward that goal.”

December 31, 2008