Soybean success: Lumpe brings decades of experience to ISA CEO post

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — There’s a Lumpe family photo of then-3-year-old John sitting on a tractor at a farm near Bowling Green, Ohio.

That was pretty much the extent of John’s farm experience through his childhood, but the Columbus, Ohio, native would later find a career path paved with soybeans.

Lumpe was named as the new Illinois Soybean Association CEO Feb. 4. He replaces Craig Ratajczyk, who stepped down last summer after serving as CEO since 2010.

Mark Albertson, ISA strategic market development director, was interim CEO.

“John Lumpe will be a tremendous asset to the organization. We are excited about his vision for propelling Illinois soybean farmers to even greater heights,” said ISA Chairman Doug Schroeder, Mahomet.

“Lumpe will be an advocate for the farmer and coupled with his impressive resume of experience and passion for the work. We are very excited about this next chapter in the history of ISA. We are looking forward to the future under Lumpe’s leadership.”

Lumpe will be responsible for leading the state’s soybean checkoff programs. He will continue ISA’s commitment to achieving maximum profitability and global competitive positioning of soy from Illinois.

On the policy front, Lumpe also will lead activities for Illinois Soybean Growers and non-checkoff programs.

Lumpe’s résumé includes more than 30 years of experience in association management, public relations, strategic thinking, communications and market development. Lumpe and his wife, Lisa, have two sons.

The Walsh College graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism took time to speak of his journey to the ISA CEO post Feb. 18 with AgriNews.

What was your first job after graduating from college?

“I did public relations for the Department of Natural Resources and the state park system in Ohio. I went from there to doing PR work for an agriculture show called AmeriFlora ‘92. It was agriculture, floriculture, and it all kind of parlayed itself.

“Then I went to work for the PR firm that had the Ohio Soybean Council account and the council was my first client. When the council had an opening on staff my client at the time said, ‘Well, I’ve paid to train you and now I’m going to bring you on staff.’ I’ve been with soybean organizations ever since.”

Lumpe eventually worked his way up the ladder to become Ohio Soybean Association executive director.

“We had two separate boards, unlike Illinois that has one board. We had two separate organizations (Ohio Soybean Association and Ohio Soybean Council), shared staff, and I was with that organization for almost 15 years.

“I literally worked my way up. I held every position and ended up being the executive director.

“Everything I’ve learned has really been on-the-job training. I knew corn and soybeans grew along the side of the freeway, that was the extent of my knowledge, but what I’ve been able to do over the years has really been on-the-job training.

“I can tell you today what sclerotinia is, what phytophthora is, what transesterification is. I have a communications/journalism degree and I’ve just learned over the years that you have to study and you have to not only be able to take it in, but also speak it out.”

Lumpe left the Ohio Soybean Council in 2010 to help create FLM Harvest. The “L” is for Lumpe. As senior vice president of FLM Harvest, he provided strategic leadership to the organization and specifically checkoff and association clients and trade associations.

“There were four of us back in 2010. We sold the firm about 5 1/2 years into it, and we had just under 60 team members, five offices across the United States. All of our clients were agriculture.

“One of our clients really liked the work that we did, and they ended up making us an offer. It wasn’t in our long-term business plan, but they made us an offer, and we couldn’t turn it down. We then became employees and slowly transitioned out of the company.

“Then this opportunity came about, and actually the Illinois Soybean Association was one of my clients, as were a lot of the checkoffs, especially in soybeans.

“So, I was able to take the knowledge and continue to transfer it up through not only from the Soybean Council, but into FLM Harvest and now into Illinois Soybean Association my knowledge and believability in the product.”

Do you have any personal goals for the ISA organizations at this point?

“I committed to the search committee a first 100-day plan, and that was to get out and meet everybody. I need to get out to the board members’ farms.

“I need to meet with industry folks. Get to know the staff. Now, I knew a lot of them prior to this, but I need to know it from a staff perspective versus a contractor perspective.

“I want to really understand then what changes, if any, need to be made. Do we have the right program area mix? Do we have the right contractor mix? Really just kind of looking under the hood and making new connections, reaffirming old connections.

“We had a breakfast meeting (Feb. 17) with Illinois Corn and met with Rodney Weinzierl (executive director) and two of his leadership along with two of my leadership and just had a great introductory planning meeting, just talking about what we can do together, and how we can be more aligned. That’s what I really want to go out and meet with the allied groups.

“Like I told the board, I work for them. We all understand the hierarchy but I really want to work with them in further developing the organization. I’m a collaborator. I love to work together. There’s plenty of room for success and when you have success with others to me it’s more fruitful.”

What are your thoughts on the current challenges in the soybean industry?

“There’s a large market for new use opportunities. With the organization that we have in place, they are very willing to bring in new ideas. So, as we look to these new markets, new opportunities and new ideas, it’s very encouraging.

“I like finding things. I like looking under the rocks. There’s a lot of opportunity for new partnerships out there.

“We were with the trade ambassador last night. He was talking about the Phase 1 deal with China and what he kept driving home was you have to read the 27 pages of implementations that are in there. He said it’s line by line that within five days we have to do this, etc. So, I think there are a lot of opportunities even within that document and how it affects soybeans.

“Exports are key. We have to continue that, but we also can’t rely on it as we have found out this past year when the tariffs were put in place. That was hard. It’s like putting your eggs all in one basket. So, I think some diversification is necessary at this point. To find those new markets is key.

“I did a lot of true new-use research back at Ohio. We developed plasticizers and a lot of industrial type products. There is more and more interest in that, and I think it would be worthwhile for the organization to take a look into some of those areas.”

Looking into the future, what do you see for the soybean industry going forward?

“I think we’re going to see a lot more opportunity. The industry is going to continue to grow. There’s going to be new markets, new opportunities. There’s going to be consolidation. There always is.

“But I think as we look at what we can do for the growers in this state, make them better, give them those skill sets through like ILSoyAdvisor, and how can we help them be better soybean producers, because we’re going to have to grow more crop per acre.

“The organization has a strategic plan that they visit every other year and they’re very flexible in terms of market opportunities. They’re very nimble and that’s what I’ve appreciated about this organization all along is they’re ready to react to market conditions and market opportunities.”

Do you have any final thoughts about your new position?

“I’m a big collaborator. I want farmers to come up and talk to me. I’m going to be at a lot of events. I want to hear from farmers — where do they think we should be looking, what are some market opportunities, what are they seeing on the farm.

“I understand hierarchies and I know I work for the board but there’s a team element involved here. I told the board I understand I work for you, but I want to work with you.

“That’s what I want to say the 43,000 soybean farmers. I want to work with them. We are representing their checkoff interests and I want to be a good steward of that and so does our board. I truly want to work with farmers.”