Hoosier soybean farmers in District 3 must cast votes for the 2020 Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) annual election by June 30. ISA distributed ballots to Indiana soybean farmers in District 3 by mail earlier this month. District 3 includes the counties of Clay, Daviess, Dubois, Fountain, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Martin, Montgomery, Owen, Parke, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Spencer, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Warren and Warrick.
Farmers in District 3 who did not received a ballot, may request one by calling 317-644-2791. Uncontested races in Districts 1, 2 and 4 will not have a formal election process.
The top two of the three candidates in District 3 will be elected. The candidates include incumbent Mark Legan of Coatesville, Ind., incumbent Derika Lynam-Spaetti of Rockport, Ind. and challenger Eric Schwenke of Rockville, Ind.
In District 1, incumbent Denise Scarborough of LaCrosse, Ind. will serve another three-year term on the board. District 1 includes Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Elkhart, Fulton, Howard, Jasper, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Lake, Marshall, Miami, Newton, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, Tipton, Wabash and White counties.
Newcomer Steve Phares of Albion, Ind. will join incumbent C.J. Chalfant of Hartford City, Ind. as District 2 representatives on the board. The counties in District 2 include Adams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Delaware, Grant, Henry, Huntington, Jay, LaGrange, Madison, Noble, Randolph, Steuben, Wayne, Wells and Whitley.
In District 4, incumbent board members Jim Douglas of Flat Rock, Ind. and Anngie Steinbarger of Edinburgh, Ind. will return to serve three-year terms. District 4 counties include Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Lawrence, Marion, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Orange, Perry, Ripley, Rush, Scott, Shelby, Switzerland, Union and Washington.
ISA focuses on seven program areas, such as grain marketing, sustainability programs, livestock, aquaculture, production research, consumer education and new uses for soybeans. Farmers who vote in the election must have grown a soybean crop within the past two years, must vote in the county they reside, and may vote once per farm entity.
Farmers elected to the ISA board will start serving in December. Each will serve a three-year term. For more information, visit www.indianasoybean.com/elections or call 317-347-3620.