ILLINOIS SOYBEAN - Key Persons
A Certified Crop Adviser, Abigail Peterson earned a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy from Iowa State University in Ames, IA, where she also participated in a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Ambassador Program, Soil and Water Conservation Club, and an Agriculture Study Abroad Program.
In her former role as Field Manager for the Soil Health Partnership, funded by the National Corn Growers Association, Peterson developed soil health transition plans, guided agronomic decision-making with cover crop applications to conventional systems, enrolled participants in field trials, and coordinated with multiple state organizations. She has experience conducting field scouting, coordinating soil sampling processes, collecting economic information, and providing outreach to farmer and non-farmer audiences.
As Director of Agronomy at ISA, she helps guide ISA conservation efforts, and aids in the development and implementation of conservation agricultural research and outreach programs. She also helps lead the demonstration and adoption of conservation agriculture practices to Illinois' 43,000 soybean farmers.
Job Titles:
- Director of Market Development
Andrew Larson is the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) Director of Market Development. He works with the ISA director of public policy and regulatory affairs to initiate and manage ISA engagement in transportation, trade, Illinois and Federal governmental affairs, and biodiesel in addition to overseeing the Illinois Soybean Growers' (ISG) membership program.
Prior to joining ISA, Larson worked in governmental affairs with Illinois Farm Bureau and with the Illinois Republican State Senate Campaign Committee. He is a 2012 graduate of Illinois State University majoring in political science and history. He and his wife, Blair, have two children.
Betsey Emerick, from Vandalia, is an at-large director for the Illinois Soybean Association and a member of the Utilization Committee. She has an associate of science and arts degree from Rend Lake College and a bachelor of science in finance from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Emerick also is a member of the Illinois Ag Leadership Program Class of 2020. She farms with her mother, Patti, and brother, Matt.
Betsy Osman serves as Content Manager for Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). She earned a Bachelor's Degree in English with a journalism emphasis, and holds a certificate in strategic planning for nonprofit organizations. Betsy joins ISA after serving as University Writer and Assistant Director of Marketing for Millikin University, and as Director of Marketing for a large Central-Illinois real estate company. She is a former columnist for the Herald & Review, freelance journalist, blogger, and online contributor for Forbes Communication Council.
Betsy is a storyteller, literature-lover, defender of the Oxford Comma, and an eternal optimist. She, her husband, and their kids live in Decatur, Illinois.
Job Titles:
- District Director
- Government Relations Committee Chairman
Brad Daugherty, is a district director for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), serving on the ISA Government Relations Committee. He produces corn, soybeans, wheat, seed corn and green beans near West Union, Ill. Daugherty has a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois in ag economics and farm management. He is a past president of the Hutsonville School Board, and has volunteered in other leadership roles for the Clark County Farm Bureau, Mill Creek Park District, First Baptist Church of West Union and York Township Board. He was honored as a Master Farmer in 2003, and is an Agriculture Leaders of Tomorrow graduate. He also works as a hunter safety instructor. He and his wife, Debbie, have two children.
Brady farms corn, soybeans, and wheat around Augusta Illinois. Prior to working on the farm full time, he was a design engineer at an ag-technology company after graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. He is a member of the Utilization Committee.
Brian Atteberry is a soybean farmer from Carmi, Ill., and a district director for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). He serves on the ISA Market Development Committee.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operations Officer
Brian is the Chief Financial Officer for the Illinois Soybean Association. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). Brian has 30-plus years of accounting experience in public and private settings, with 18 years of experience dealing with commodity checkoffs. Additional professional certifications include ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) and AICPA Non-Profit certification.
With his brothers, Brian also farms their ground in Iroquois County which has been in the Hansen family for 120+ years.
Hansen is a graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in accountancy. Prior to college, he served six years in the United States Navy. During his time in service, Hansen was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS America CV66 and completed three overseas deployments.
He lives with his wife, Becky, and daughter Emma. His son Will serves in the United States Army and is a member of the 101st Airborne Division.
Brock Willard is soybean, corn, and hog farmer who operates with his grandfather and uncle in Pike County. He is an ISA District Director and member of the Government Relations Committee.
Bryan Severs lives with his wife and two sons in Vermillion County, where they raise corn, soybeans, and cattle. A third generation farmer, Severs graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in animal science, and has previously served as president of the local school board. Severs represents District 7 and is a member of the ISA Utilization Committee.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Member of ISA 's Government Relations Committee
Buck Hill is a district director and a member of ISA's Government Relations Committee. He grows corn, soybeans, and hay in LaSalle County, where he farms with his father and brothers.
Claire Weinzierl joined the Illinois Soybean Association as Communications Manager in October 2020. In her role, Claire manages the content needs of ILSoyAdvisor, serves as a staff writer for ISA's publication, Illinois Field & Bean, handles any communications surrounding biodiesel, sustainability or conservation, in addition to focusing primarily on farmer-facing efforts.
Hailing from Stanford, IL, Claire earned her bachelor's degree from Illinois State University in 2018 where she double majored in Journalism and Agriculture Communications & Leadership. Claire went on to earn her Master's in Business Administration with a specialization in Business Analytics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2020.
Claire currently resides in Bloomington, IL where she enjoys binging true crime documentaries, listening to podcasts, baking, and spending time with her cat, Perkins.
Job Titles:
- State Legislative Director
David Kubik earned a Master of Public Administration from University of Illinois at Springfield, and a Bachelor of Science in Politics and Government from Illinois State University. In his former role as Communications Specialist for Illinois House of Representatives, Kubik managed communication and outreach plans for Illinois House of Representative members; prepared communications to convey the representatives' messages, positions, and viewpoints on a variety of topics; developed outreach events and legislative forums, and represented legislators at community events throughout their districts. Kubik also served as a campaign manager during 2016, 2018, and 2020 election cycles.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Secretary - Treasurer
- at Large Assistant Secretary - Treasurer
David Wessel, Chandlerville Ill., is the Assistant Secretary-Treasurer for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). He raises corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle and hay on his 100 percent no-till farm. He is an at-large director for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). He is a past Soy Ambassador and Cass County FSA Committee chairman and has been involved with the Clear Lake Drainage District, Cass Morgan Farm Bureau and Illinois Farm Bureau. He and wife, Tama, have two children.
Dustin Scott is the director of operations for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). In this role, he serves as the organization's compliance officer and corporate secretary. He is also responsible for office/property management, board governance, oversight of the Soy Ambassador Program, and heads all meeting and event planning. Scott previously served as the association's meeting and event manager.
Prior to ISA, Scott worked for Association Central, an association management company based in Springfield, Ill., where he oversaw the meetings department and worked for a variety of associations handling everything from board meetings to publications and events. He received the Illinois Society of Association Executives' Rising Star Award and was also inducted into the Illinois Meeting and Events Magazine Hall of Fame in 2013 after being named Best Meeting Professional. Scott earned the Convention Industry Council's Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) credential in 2014. He graduated from Indiana State University in 2006 with a degree in aerospace administration.
Dwayne Anderson, Treasurer and District 3 director for the Illinois Soybean Association, is from Lynn Center, and he serves on the Government Relations Committee. He is president and managing general partner for Anderson Grain Farms, Inc., and Anderson Family Farms, L.P. He is an elected board member for Henry County, and is active member and past president of the Illinois REALTORS Land Institute. Anderson is a past board member for Orion Community School District and Henry County Farm Bureau, and holds memberships in Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Corn Growers Association. He earned bachelor's degrees in accounting and business administration at Augustana College and has worked in banking, wealth management and real estate for many years. He also is an Accredited Land Consultant, Certified Public Accountant and Personal Financial Specialist. He and wife, Pam, have two adult children.
Ed Murphy, Farmersville, Ill., is a district director for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), serving on the ISA Utilization Committee. He also chairs the farmer profitability target area. He farms with his son raising soybeans, corn, alfalfa, hay and oats. He is a fourth-generation draft mule farmer. He holds an associate's degree in agribusiness from the Wabash Valley College. He and his wife, Diane, have three children.
Elliott Uphoff raises corn and soybeans as a fifth-generation farmer near Shelbyville Ill., with his wife, Hailey. He is a district director for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), sits on the ISA Marketing Committee and represents ISA on the Soy Transportation Coalition. He also is a seed salesman who holds a bachelor's degree in plant and soil sciences from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Uphoff participates in the Shelby County Farm Bureau Young Leaders program having served as secretary and is a basketball official.
Erin Bradshaw is the controller for the Illinois Soybean Association. She is responsible for the organization's financial statements and overseeing day-to-day accounting duties. She has 20 years of accounting experience in public and private settings, 12 years of experience doing tax returns and audits for farmers, grain elevators, insurance companies, and others and eight years in the commodity checkoff world.
Bradshaw is a graduate of Eastern Illinois University with a bachelor of science in accountancy. She enjoys spending time with her friends and family, watching football, cooking and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Utilization Committee Chairman
James Martin is a fifth-generation farmer from LaSalle County who resides in Pontiac, Ill., where he produces soybeans and corn. He is a district director and Chairman of the ISA Utilization Committee. He has a bachelor's degree in ag industries from the University of Illinois and also attended Illinois Valley Community College. Along with farming, he operates an independent insurance agency and income tax service and holds the Chartered Life Insurance Underwriter designation from the American College of Pennsylvania. He previously was an American Soybean Association DuPontYoung Leader and Illinois SoyLeader. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children.
Job Titles:
- Director
- at Large Director
Jeff O'Connor earned a bachelor's degree in Ag Economics from the University of Illinois, is a Certified Crop Advisor, and has recently earned a Sustainability Specialist certification. In addition, O'Connor has spent 25 years serving Kankakee County as a Director with the Soil and Water Conservation District. He routinely opens his farm to Legislators, overseas grain buyers, college students and the urban community in order to share the story of modern agriculture. O'Connor is an at-large director and serves on the Utilization Committee.
Jeff Parker is District 15 director for the Illinois Soybean Association and a member of the Utilization Committee. He raises corn and soybeans near Belleville. He and wife, Teresa, have five children and four grandsons.
As Agronomy Manager for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), Jennifer Jones works on behalf of Illinois soybean farmers in the development and the implementation of conservation agricultural research and outreach programs. She supports research efforts and helps communicate both in-field and edge-of-field research and validation studies to ISA's farmer audiences; leads demonstration of conservation agriculture practices; and raises awareness of best management and continuous improvement practices for conservation agriculture in Illinois.
Jones earned a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master of Science in Agronomy degree from Purdue University. In her former role as Watershed Outreach Associate for the University of Illinois Extension, Jones developed working relationships with local partners within the watershed, such as farmers, Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Illinois Farm Bureau to motivate and educate farmers and landowners to voluntarily adopt conservation practices to improve water quality and soil health.
As Senior Accountant, Jessica is responsible for the oversight of all checkoff and non-checkoff disbursement processes. She works closely with ISA vendors to ensure the accuracy of program expenditures and their adherence to compliance standards established by the United Soybean Board and USDA. Jessica also maintains ISA's contractual procedures/encumbrances and reports on the financial status of each program throughout the year.
Prior to ISA, Scott worked for Country Financial as an audit intern, where she performed financial and operational internal audits on behalf of external auditor, Ernst & Young. Scott also worked for a CPA firm in Bloomington while attending Illinois State University, where she graduated with her bachelor's and master's degrees in professional accountancy in 2017. Jessica is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and Illinois CPA Society.
In her free time, Jessica enjoys traveling with her husband, Colton, gardening and spoiling her cat. On any given summer afternoon, you'll hear the Chicago Cubs game playing from her office.
Jill Parrent is the Communications Manager for the Illinois Soybean Association.
Parrent is a graduate from Iowa State University with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Agricultural Communications with minors in Food and Society and Leadership Studies. Parrent has been heavily involved with professional organizations throughout her collegiate career including serving as Chair of the College of Agricultural and Life Science Ambassadors at Iowa State University, Sigma Alpha Professional Sorority, and the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. She has dedicated much of her time to the 4-H program serving on the local, state, and national levels providing guidance and knowledge to youth.
She is originally from central Illinois and currently resides in Normal.
John Lumpe joined the Illinois Soybean Association as Chief Executive Officer in February 2020, bringing with him more than 30 years of experience in association management, public relations, strategic thinking, communication and market development.
Lumpe previously was senior vice president of FLM Harvest where he provided strategic leadership to the organization and specifically checkoff/association clients and trade associations. Prior to that, he held the position of executive director of the Ohio Soybean Association, Ohio Soybean Council and the Ohio Soybean Council Foundation.
Lumpe is a graduate of Walsh College with a bachelor's in communications and journalism.
He is married to Lisa, and they have two sons.
Kati Owen is one of the Illinois Soybean Association's Staff Accountants. She is responsible for the organization's accounts receivables, primarily the collection and distribution of state soybean checkoff receipts.
Owen is an alumnus of Illinois State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Financial Accounting. She has over 20 years of accounting experience in various industries.
She hails from the small town of Minier, IL. Alongside her husband, she produces beef cattle and operates a privately-owned excavating company. In her free time, she enjoys riding horses with her daughters.
Job Titles:
- Director of Ag Innovations
As director of ag innovations for the Illinois Soybean Association, Kull directs team efforts establishing new programs and networks for Illinois agriculture that focus on the soybean value chain, soybean quality and value for customers, farm profitability and business management, new and emerging ag technologies, new uses, and farmer-facing activities and events.
Prior to joining ISA, Kull was senior research director for the National Soybean Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois where she managed local and national multidisciplinary agricultural research programs. She also taught botany, microbiology, and general biology classes at Eastern Illinois University.
Kull earned bachelor's and master's degrees in botany and plant physiology from Eastern Illinois University and completed a Ph.D. at the University of Illinois in plant pathology and crop sciences. Kull holds certificates for strategic management, communication diplomacy, leadership excellence, and behavioral decision making from DePaul University, AMA, Illinois State University, and Harvard Business School, respectively. She grew up in southern Illinois and raised three children on a small corn and soybean farm in central Illinois. She and her husband have five children and seven grandchildren and live in the country near Windsor, Illinois.
As Agronomy Manager for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA), Megan Miller works on behalf of Illinois soybean farmers in the development and the implementation of conservation agricultural research and outreach programs. She supports research efforts and helps communicate both in-field and edge-of-field research and validation studies to ISA's farmer audiences; leads demonstration of conservation agriculture practices; and raises awareness of best management and continuous improvement practices for conservation agriculture in Illinois.
Miller earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental biology with a minor in Chemistry from Eastern Illinois University, and a Master of Science degree in Plant Pathology from North Carolina State University-Raleigh. In her former role as Business Development Manager for Moore & Warner Ag Group, Miller developed a curriculum outlining basic row crop production principals for technologists, investors, and business professionals to be delivered in an online platform. She also evaluated and recommended conservation programs for the farm management team based on landowner client goals, and created a framework for comparing, contrasting, and evaluating carbon market program options.
Prior to joining ISA, Kennedy worked 20 years at Illinois Farm Bureau as an Administrative Assistant.
She and her husband, Jason, have three children, and live in Le Roy, IL.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Government Affairs
Mike Levin is the Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). He directs the organization's policies and objectives involving local, state, and federal government affairs. He leads analysis of proposed legislative actions, determines potential impact on ISA and develops appropriate responses. He is responsible for membership and non-checkoff development and issues-based analysis.
Prior to working for ISA, Levin was acting as chief of staff to Illinois State Senator William Brady. In this capacity, he was a key member of the Senator's executive staff, responsible for central coordination of activities and operations. Levin has worked as a lobbyist and manager within association management and government both in Illinois and Nevada. He was director of government affairs for the Nevada Association of Realtors, directing public policy for state and local realtor associations. He also worked under the Illinois Speaker of the House as an issues development staff member. He and his wife, Jenny, have four children.
Nick Harre raises corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa and dairy on his family farm. He and his wife, Andrea, reside in Nashville, Ill. He also is an adjunct research scientist at Purdue University, having studied plant and soil science at Southern Illinois University before earning his Ph.D. in weed science from Purdue. He is a district director for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) and a member of the ISA Utilization Committee. Harre represents soybean producer interests as a member of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) State Technical Committee and by serving on the Ag Advisory Committee for U.S. Congressman John Shimkus.
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications
Rachel Peabody is the Director of Communications for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). She leads internal and external communications efforts for the association and serves as Editor-in-Chief of ISA's publication, Illinois Field & Bean. She started with the association in 2018. Peabody is a graduate of the University of Illinois with a bachelor's degree in ag communications. She has a master's from Illinois in strategic brand communications.
Prior to joining ISA, Peabody worked in public relations, agency account management and internal communications for a Fortune 50 company. She is an active member of the National Agri-Marketing Association, president of the Heartland NAMA group, and American Ag Editors' Association, serving as co-chair of the association communicators special interest group.
She and her husband, Sam, have twin girls, and live in Taylorville, IL. They enjoy flipping and remodeling properties, and spending time on the lake in summer.
Rick Rubenacker farms corn, wheat and soybeans near McLeansboro, Ill. He is a district director for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA). He is currently Chairman of the Market Development Committee. He holds a bachelor's degree in agricultural and biological engineering from the University of Illinois. Rubenacker is an active participant in the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District board and Wayne White Electric Cooperative. He is a past Soy Ambassador, and a farm equipment dealer with an interest in drones. His wife's name is Emily.
Ron Kindred from Atlanta, Illinois, represents District 9 as a director for the Illinois Soybean Association and is Vice-Chairman. He farms with his wife, Jayne, and son Jay, raising soybeans and corn. Kindred is a previous ISA director, having served the association for 13 years, including time as vice president, secretary and legislative chairman and participation in a number of committees. He is current chairman of Illinois Soybean Growers (ISG) SoyPac and a Soy Advocate for ISG's Voice for Soy program. Kindred also represented Illinois on the American Soybean Association board and was both vice president and secretary for that group. He is active with Illinois Farm Bureau and has worked with East Lincoln Farmers Grain and as an Atlanta township trustee.
Job Titles:
- Market Development Committee Chairman