This column by MSGA President Darin Johnson first ran in the November-December 2025 issue of Soybean Business. Click here to read the digital version. 

If you’re like me, you’ve surely read an endless number of articles and headlines this year emphasizing the challenges that farmers, especially soybean producers, are currently facing regarding trade and tariffs. Heck, you’ve probably come across my name or those of my MSGA colleagues in those very news pieces! But rather than dwelling on the negatives too much, I want to point out that if you zoom out and look at the big picture, there are many aspects of our industry to remain positive about.

For starters, we enjoyed a pretty good growing season in Minnesota. Expectations heading into the fall harvest were pretty high. Overall, on our farm, we had an average-to-slightly-above. average soybean crop. I would venture to say a lot of growers across the state would say the same. Mother Nature treated us fairly, and I feel lucky to be able to harvest the crop we did.

Another positive we focus on heading into 2026 is biodiesel, which has come a long way over the past 20 years in creating domestic demand for our soybeans. I was still pretty wet behind the ears when the team at MSGA put in the legwork for the nation’s first-ever B2 mandate in 2005 – which is an incredible feat and team effort – and look how far we’ve come since then. We went from B2 blends to B5, B10 and now B20. Through doing so, we’ve increased the demand for our soybeans by double digits, created thousands of jobs, boosted the economy by billions – and we’re ahead of the curve in seeing the need to reduce emissions.

To cap an eventful 2025, MSGA President Darin Johnson is joining the American Soybean Association at ASA’s December board meeting.

What really excites me is what’s ahead for the biofuels industry. As a nation, we continue to steadily increase production, which during times like these can act as a kickstand to hold us up until our markets return. We use biodiesel on our farms and on the roads, but looking to 2026 and beyond, there is a great opportunity for biodiesel to make its way into the marine shipping industry. From a demand perspective, utilizing biodiesel in the marine industry, which consumes between 70-80 billion gallons of fuel per year worldwide, would be a game changer. Just imagine: Our soybeans being transported across the ocean in a vessel being powered by the very soybeans it’s transporting. How cool would that be?

Wow, I’ve written almost 400 words without addressing the elephant in the room: tariffs. I know a lot of farmers ran out of patience this fall, as the administration worked to secure lasting trade deals. I’ve maintained over the course of this year that the administration is working in good faith to get deals done that will be better in the long term for U.S. farms, and just as this issue went to press, we learned that China, our largest customer, is resuming purchases of U.S. soybeans. I know practicing patience hasn’t been easy, because we’ve been stuck in – as MSGA member Matt Schreurs put it – “a perfect storm of ugly” of high inputs and low prices. We’re pleased the administration heeded our warnings and placed soybeans as a top priority during these trade negotiations. As the dust settles on agreements with China and other trading partners, rest assured your nonpartisan MSGA membership dollars are hard at work exploring all avenues to protect our soybean farmers and keep our family farms on the land for generations to come.

Lastly, as we finish up our fall fieldwork and dust off our combines – I just want to thank you for supporting MSGA and I hope you and your farm had a safe and happy harvest and enjoy the holiday season!

Darin Johnson farms in Wells and is president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.