Commodities groups decide to combine efforts

Two of Iowa’s largest commodities groups are launching a joint venture. TheIowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Soybean Association are formingwhat they call a membership alliance. Kyle Phillips of Knoxville, the CornGrowers president, says it will help members and both organizations.Phillips says most farmers in Iowa grow both corn and soybeans and many arealready members of both associations. Now, they’ll save money with onemembership fee that’ll put them in both groups.Denny Friest (FREE-ist) of Radcliffe is president of the Iowa SoybeanAssociation. He says this membership alliance has been in the planningstages for a long time and did NOT come about as result of the current lowprices on commodities. Friest the venture will save money by not duplicatingresearch and other activities of the two groups.A one-year membership in the Corn Growers is 40 dollars, while it costs 50to join the Soybean Association. The new combined membership is 75 dollarsand will be available starting in November.