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Michigan native hired to lead ASA after Censky’s departure


 

By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN

ST. LOUIS, MO. — Ryan Findlay joined the American Soybean Assoc. (ASA) Feb. 12 as its new CEO; he replaces Stephen Censky, who left in October 2017 after confirmation by the Senate as USDA deputy secretary.

“I am honored to be selected to lead a premier policy organization that I have worked with and admired for years,” Findlay said. “I look forward to building on Steve Censky's strong legacy as ASA and its state affiliates continue to lead the public debate on key policy issues including farm risk management, international trade and rural infrastructure.”

He has extensive experience in agriculture. He is a native of Caro, Mich., where he grew up on a cash crop farm. He earned a political science degree from Western Michigan University and an MBA from Northwood University.

For the last four years, Findlay worked for Syngenta, focusing on freedom-to-operate issues impacting farmers. Prior to that, he worked for seven years with Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB), during which time he served as a lobbyist working on two farm bills, international trade, climate change and regulatory issues.

Findlay said his experience with MFB and Syngenta “really gave me two unique perspectives. One was the lens of a farmer, and always advocating for farmers on farm policy. The other one was that of the business world of agriculture and being able to understand through the lens of a business what we have to do in the commodity space to be successful. That means success for the business, and it also means success for the farmer.”

For ASA, he will do a little bit of everything, including working with industry partners on issues that are important to both parties, on strategic focus and where the organization is heading and with the organization’s lobbying team on ag policy needs.

“Really the core of the association, which I am passionate about, is agricultural policy. At that national level, we’ll focus on how ASA works with our affiliate associations at the state level to drive federal policy that’s going to create the environment that’s best for soybean farmers across the country,” he said.

To start, Findlay said he plans to take a couple of months to observe the organization in action and get to know people. “It’s really important from an association standpoint that I take a step back and absorb what staff does on a day-to-day basis, how we operate and what everyone does functionally.

“As we go into meeting season, it will be a lot of introductions. It will be me introducing myself to other associations we work with, our membership in the countryside and stakeholders that we would partner with from time to time.”

First priorities include looking at how the ASA operates and determining “how do we become a little bit better with everything that we do?”

In ASA’s 98th year, Findlay said, “Clearly, we have a foundation and a base that has worked. It has worked for this long, but how do we improve that and how do we make sure that we're going to be focused and prepared for engaging with farmer members, engaging with legislators and engaging with the general public as we move forward?”

He said he expects to build on the ASA's current five-year plan to continue to drive it forward.

“Policy is our big issue. It’s what we do and it’s why we exist as an association. We have a host of issues that we focus on, and all of them are important,” he said. “I really think focusing on farm policy, trade and infrastructure is going to be critical to us over the next few months.

“If we can talk about the farm bill in a capacity that helps farmers, consumers and elected officials understand it, that will be helpful. Trade is a really big deal for agriculture in general, especially for soybeans, with the amount that we export. A third issue that we want to talk about, which kind of parlays off of the farm bill, is infrastructure.”

The ASA has a 50-plus-member board of directors, which brings tremendous diversity and expertise to the organization.

Findlay said another goal is “figuring out how to capture some of this expertise and really push it into the association to drive us forward.

“If I’ve learned one big thing over the last 15 years of working in agriculture, it’s that all of these policy associations are successful because of the farmer members, and those farmer members are all about wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves,” he said.

“ASA is extremely pleased to have found someone of Ryan's caliber and experience to lead us into our next chapter as a first-class U.S. commodity organization,” said ASA President John Heisdorffer, a farmer from Keota, Iowa. “Ryan's background growing up on a farm and working for Michigan Farm Bureau and for Syngenta give him the right combination of life and work experience that will serve ASA well in the coming years.”

3/14/2018