-Submitted photo by Joclyn Kuboushek, Iowa Soybean Association
Chuck White has been named the 2025 Advocate for Iowa Agriculture, an award given annually by the Iowa Soybean Association.

SPENCER — Chuck White, past member of the Iowa Soybean Association, was named “2025 Advocate for Iowa Agriculture,” an award given annually by the ISA and sponsored by Bayer.

“Chuck is a relentless advocate for agriculture, the state of Iowa, and the soybean industry. Chuck’s promotion of all things agriculture extends well beyond his many years of service on the ISA board.

“He is always showing up and telling the farmer’s story wherever he goes,” said Brent Swart, Spencer-area farmer and immediate past ISA president. “Chuck understands that advocacy is not a spectator sport and is always present for agriculture and the needs of the Iowa farmers.”

As ISA president, Swart presented White with the award at the ISA Leadership Awards Luncheon last December, but the award was not announced to the public until this fall.

“I’m really honored to receive this award,” said White. “I thought I was just doing my job, participating as much as I could. I’m sure there have been a lot more people ahead of me that have been a lot more influential than I was, but it was a great honor.”

-Submitted photo by Joclyn Kuboushek, Iowa Soybean Association
Samantha Davis from Bayer, left, and Brent Swart, past president of the Iowa Soybean Association, right, present Chuck White with the 2025 Advocate for Iowa Agriculture Award.

He served as District 1 director of ISA from 2014 to 2023, completing three three-year terms, but he’s still involved in promoting Iowa soybeans and agriculture in general.

White, 68, was involved in a number of the association’s initiatives, including the Research Center for Farming Innovation — a group that performs on-farm research for soybeans and corn, including nitrogen, population, and fungus trials, etc., to help producers find more ways to be profitable on their farms. He was involved with that organization even before becoming a member of ISA.

White was part of the Iowa Soybean Research Center, which was Iowa State University and the soybean industry working together to fund research for soybeans. With more than a dozen sponsors now, this group of people looks at upcoming soybean research projects and chooses the ones they wish to fund.

“That research looks at anything that will enhance the yield on soybeans,” said White.

White also served on the Soy Aquaculture Alliance, a group of various state soybean associations that promote the use of soybean meal in fish diets.

The “Front 40” is a group of leaders in conservation, and White was one of its founding members. Their emphasis is conservation, no-till, the use of cover crops and working toward maintaining the quality and sustainability of soil.

White also was active with ISA at the Clay County Fair, setting up activities and educating fairgoers about agriculture in various ways — from teaching about soybeans, to equipment and strategies used in precision farming. He also brought ISA members there to explain to farmers the policies (both in Iowa and nationally) held by the group to let them have a voice in legislation.

“I’m always trying to tell the story of agriculture to farmers — the things I’m doing on my farm, and to consumers about the things the industry is doing — to make sure everybody understands where we’re going. My motto is just to do things better on the farm … not the same way, but better,” he said.

Travels

Some of White’s ISA travels took him around the world, including to Europe, China and Mexico. He said it’s interesting to see how the Europeans have to farm.

“It’s not a sustainable system,” he said. “They do heavy tillage and their weed control is marginal. I don’t see how it will be sustainable for the long-term.”

White added that some European farmers agreed that U.S. farmers are lucky because they don’t have so many regulations.

“They are regulated to the ultimate,” White said.

White spoke at the Crush Conference in Latin America a couple of years ago, a conference where soybean buyers from Latin American and a few South American countries gather to discuss a topic each year. That year they spoke about sustainability of soybean production in their own industries and on their farms, and of high oleic oil — an oil that is healthy for human consumption and can also be used in industry.

“They were really excited about high oleic soybean oil,” he said.

Personal field trials

White has run his own field trials on his farm to experiment with soil sustainability, and has concluded that cover crops are necessary to protect and maximize soil health.

“We can’t let it erode because we need this soil for the next thousand or more years,” he said. “When I was a kid we were just getting into the basics of phosphates, potassium and soil pH, and as time went on we looked at micronutrients — zinc and sulphur. But now we’re starting to study what’s in that soil other than those nutrients, and it’s the microbiology. I never said I’d buy bugs in a bottle, but they’re here now,” he said, adding that manure application is paramount.

His own field trials at home included nitrogen tests to see how much is actually needed; he did soybean cyst nematode tests, doing some of the first Ilevo trials, which showed that that trait helped; and soybean population trials, which resulted in the knowledge that lower populations work.

“We used to plant at the 160,000 level and now we’re at 125,000, and some trials went down to 100,000 without seeing any yield reduction. That saves a lot of money in seed,” said White. He said planting too high a population can result in soybeans lodging and reduced yields.

Adding value

He said the trade issues with China have been precarious, and that we need as many exports as possible. But he said the good news is that the U.S. is crushing more and more of its own soybeans now.

White said domestic demand for soybeans is as high as ever, with two more crush plants coming online in early November. He said those plants are value-added, and that ISA and farmers need to continue adding value to and for their ag products for their own good.

“The demand for soybean oil is so high, not only because of human consumption, but for industrial uses — sustainable aviation fuels and biofuels — we’re crushing all these soybeans domestically and now we will have excess soybean meal, which will be a plus for livestock producers,” said White.

White said of his travels to China and meeting with buyers and farmers there, that they support American agriculture practices.

“They said they love American food because they know it’s safe,” said White. “We have the USDA and the FDA making sure our food is grown and produced safely.”

White said he has spent much of his farming career making sure the farmers’ voices are heard and that they have a chance to influence what’s happening in agriculture.

“We’re out here on the ground floor, and it’s satisfying to help be the voice and carry our message to make sure we’re all heard,” he said.

November brought White to Anaheim, California, as part of a group called Northwest Iowa Agriculture Stewardship Alliance, where he presented at an ag summit and continued to promote soil health and sustainability.

White grew up on a grain and livestock farm near Peterson in Clay County. Today he farms and owns AgriLand Farm Management Realty located in Spencer, a firm which helps manage farms and their accounting. His son and daughter-in-law, Patrick and Gina White, are involved in that work as well.

White says he plans to continue his field trials at home and stay active in groups that promote conservation.

“We have to keep studying and continuing to learn,” said White. “It’s the only way we can improve on how we do things on the farm.”