INVESTING CHECKOFF DOLLARS
PLANT BREEDING EXPERIENCE USEFUL IN CHECKOFF BOARD SERVICE
C
raig Converse retires this year from the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council Board. The Brookings farmer says the greatest reward has been meeting and serving with good, like-minded people. “Something that I’m going to cherish and take with me the rest of my life is just the great friends and connections of people that are working to better the farm economy in South Dakota and better our soybean production,” said Converse. “I just have truly enjoyed it.” Converse has a keen interest in research that was honed while earning his undergraduate degree in agronomy from South Dakota State University (SDSU) before his first job in that field. “I worked one year out of college for a seed company in Wisconsin doing small-plot corn breeding research,” said Converse, who then returned to SDSU for his master’s degree, after which he worked for a Minnesota-based seed company. He then returned to Wisconsin to manage a seed research facility. “That’s where my research background comes from.” Converse returned to the farm in 2008, searching for ways to be involved in a commodity organization. He entered and won his category in the South Dakota Soybean Yield Contest. “That kind of gave me the introduction into the organization, [and I] got to meet some of the people,” said Converse. “And then they said, ‘hey, you know, we have this Young Leader Program; would you be interested in trying this, learning a little bit more about the soybean industry through the DuPont Young Leader Program?’ I said, ‘yeah, let’s do that, that sounds like a great networking opportunity and involved my wife at the time, and you know it was a great opportunity for her too, to learn about farming and the industry. And so, I did that the first year.” Being part of that program, now known as the Corteva Young Leader Program, made Converse a member of the South Dakota Soybean Association Board. But armed with years of plant breeding experience and a master’s degree, Converse soon
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Summer Issue 2022
SDSL
