Bloomington, Ill. – March 2, 2026 – The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) is developing budgets and accepting proposals for FY27, which strategically align with the organization’s focus areas: market development, soybean production and marketing communications. The fiscal year runs from Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2027.

Proposals will be assessed on their ability to provide a return on ISA’s mission to uphold the interests of Illinois soybean producers through promotion, advocacy, research and education. They will also be evaluated on their effectiveness in addressing the needs of Illinois soybean producers and overall alignment with ISA’s strategic plan.

ISA’s strategic plan also helps set association priorities, boost operations and ensures that all farmer Directors, employees and stakeholders work toward common objectives and targets. The following objectives from the ISA committee areas open for RFPs are:

Market Development

The Market Development Committee promotes Illinois soy as the preferred choice for U.S. and global customers, and supports advancements in infrastructure. Market Development’s fundamental areas of focus are:

• Building the reputation of U.S. and Illinois-grown soy (protein/oil) among international buyers with market growth potential.
• Growing domestic markets for Illinois soy in the feed, food, fiber and fuel industries.
• Promoting the Illinois competitive advantage in infrastructure to stakeholders across the value chain and supporting programs and policies to maintain and improve that advantage.
• Communicating the benefits of soy as a healthy source of protein and fat in food and feed products.
• Identifying and prioritizing the development and promotion of high-value, soy-based individual products.
• Working with strategic partners to increase soy-based fuel usage in major markets, including diesel fleets, equipment, marine and aviation.

Soybean Production

The Soybean Production Committee is cross-functional in agronomic research, education and outreach, creating opportunities for Illinois soybean farmers to increase on-farm profitability and manage crop production risks. The Soybean Production Committee is committed to the following:

• Building partnerships with public and private entities to augment ISA’s agronomic research and education programs.
• Establishing basic and applied research priorities that address regionally specific production opportunities, challenges, and economic factors.
• Demonstrating soybean system agronomics focused on soil and water quality, agricultural resource resiliency and land stewardship.
• Continuing to expand the ISA agronomic network by raising awareness and establishing trust among farmers through ongoing outreach and research education.

Marketing Communications

The Marketing Communications team is dedicated to telling the story of Illinois soybean farmers by delivering strategic, timely communications that support and align with the goals of ISA’s Government Relations, Market Development and Soybean Production departments. Marketing Communications is focused on the following:

• Supporting the work of ISA focus areas, including Soybean Production, Market Development and Government Relations.
• Employing tools and resources to equip ISA’s in-house Marketing Communications staff to create impactful messaging to amplify and multiply the voice of Illinois soybean farmers and build trust, create value, and address critical issues with our target audience on behalf of Illinois’ 43,000 soybean farmers.
• Securing ISA as an authority on behalf of IL farmers with accurate, relevant, and timely content and grow ISA’s influence with audiences across multiple message platforms on and offline.
• Ensuring success is measurable through meaningful key performance indicators, identifiable units of measure, or specific outcomes.
• Engaging feedback and reactions from grower audiences to best understand the mindset of Illinois soybean farmers, their level of understanding and awareness of general ISA support, and the most up-to-date demographics.

Completed proposals should be submitted no later than May 1, 2026.

More details on the ISA proposal process can be viewed HERE.  All inquiries regarding the FY27 Project Proposal process should be directed to rfp@ilsoy.org.

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The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff and membership programs represent more than 43,000 soybean farmers in Illinois. The checkoff funds market development, soybean production and government relations efforts, while the membership program, Illinois Soybean Growers (ISG) and the Illinois Soybean Growers PAC actively advocates for positive and impactful legislation for farmers at local, state and national levels. ISA upholds the interests of Illinois soybean farmers through promotion, advocacy, research and education with the vision of becoming a trusted partner of Illinois soybean farmers to ensure their profitability now and for future generations. For more information, visit the website www.ilsoy.org and www.ilsoygrowers.com.

MEDIA CONTACT 
Betsy Osman
Illinois Soybean Association
betsy.osman@ilsoy.org