Indiana soybean farmers Koehne and Chalfant to lead STC board

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Soybean Alliance Board Directors Mike Koehne, a farmer from Greensburg, and C.J. Chalfant, a farmer from Hartford City, were elected to leadership positions with the Soy Transportation Coalition during the group’s meeting in Alabama on Nov. 21.

Established in 2007, the STC includes ISA, 13 additional state soybean boards, the American Soybean Association and the United Soybean Board.

The goal of the organization is to position the U.S. soybean industry to benefit from a transportation system that delivers cost-effective, reliable and competitive service.

STC Executive Director Mike Steenhoek said a healthy U.S. transportation infrastructure gives American soybean farmers a competitive advantage when seeking export markets.

He is pleased with the election of Koehne as chairman, Chalfant as secretary-treasurer and Kansas soybean farmer Raylen Phelon as vice chairman to lead the STC board in 2025.

“One of the key reasons the Soy Transportation Coalition is such a successful organization is due to the dedication, thoughtfulness and professionalism of our farmer leaders,” Steenhoek said.

“I look forward to working with Chairman Koehne, Vice Chairman Phelon and Secretary-Treasurer Chalfant in continuing to promote a transportation system that enables farmers to be successful.”

Koehne grows soybeans and corn on his farm in rural Decatur and Franklin counties. He is a past chair of ISA, and he has been a board member since 2016.

In addition, Koehne serves as an Indiana representative to ASA. He said good infrastructure is essential to American farmers.

“Our infrastructure is our competitive advantage here in the U.S., and it is important to maintain and improve it,” he said.

“As a farmer, I know we rely on the ports, inland waterways and road and rail systems in the U.S. to move grain. It is essential to our farms and our bottom line.

“I am very excited to work with other farmers around the U.S. to look for new improvements and to help keep American soybeans moving as efficiently as possible.”

Chalfant has been an ISA board member since 2017, where he also served in the positions of secretary and treasurer.

He grows both soybeans and corn in rural Blackford County, and he has a degree in farm management from Purdue University. He believes in STC’s mission to improve the U.S. transportation system to help farmers.

“Getting our crop from the field to the elevator is just the first step in a longer process,” he said. “The ability to move those crops by road or by rail or by the inland waterways to customers around the world improves the value of those crops.”

Douglas reappointed to USB

Flat Rock farmer Jim Douglas was reappointed to a second three-year term on the USB board by USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack on Nov. 18.

Douglas was a nine-year board member of ISA, and he also served as the board’s chair. In addition, he is USB’s representative to the U.S. Meat Export Federation’s board of directors.

“I’m very happy to represent Indiana farmers on the national soybean checkoff board,” he said. “I believe we do many things to improve the value of the U.S. soybean crop and to help farmers build more successful and sustainable businesses.”

Indiana has three additional members on the board of USB: Don Wyss of Fort Wayne, Tom Griffiths of Kendallville and Matthew Chapman of Springport.

Williams is vice chair of ASA’s WISHH

Craig Williams, a farmer from Oaktown, was elected as vice chair of ASA’s World Initiative for Soy in Human Health earlier this year.

Williams is a past ISA board member. He grows soybeans, corn and wheat on his farm in rural Knox and Sullivan counties.

“WISHH has a very unique mission,” he said. “This effort works to build a preference for U.S. soy in new and emerging markets around the world. We are there to help build up the people and economies from around the world, and we can show them how U.S. soybean products can help them do that. Indiana’s investment in this initiative brings value back home and to places around the world.”

ISA board member Kevin Kelley, a farmer from Brookston, is also on the WISHH board.