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The Soybean Pod

The Soybean Pod

Written by: SD Soybean
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 On The South Dakota Soybean Pod, we’re discussing the incredible soybean, the people who grow it, and why that crop is so important. Brought to you by South Dakota soybean farmers and their checkoff & hosted by Tom Steever.All rights reserved
Episodes
  • The Next Chapter: Kevin Scott Joins SD Soybean Leadership

    The Next Chapter: Kevin Scott Joins SD Soybean Leadership
    Jan 20 2026
    The guard is changing in more ways than one. Kevin Scott is the new assistant executive director for the South Dakota Soybean Association and the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council. Scott, a farmer from Valley Springs, South Dakota, was brought aboard in anticipation of the retirement later this year of current executive director Jerry Schmitz. Kevin Scott’s leadership experience runs deep. In this edition of The Soybean Pod, he talks about preparing for the position during the last quarter-century without even knowing it. He also brings up life-change opportunities presented by having accepted this position.
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    16 mins
  • Keeping the family on the farm

    Keeping the family on the farm
    Jan 20 2026
    It is increasingly difficult to successfully pass a farm to the next generation. South Dakota State University Extension is addressing what it takes to navigate this succession with a series of Sustaining the Legacy conferences on what it takes to plan for passing the farm down. From estate planning to retirement to long-term care, on this edition of The Soybean Pod, we talk to Heather Gessner, South Dakota State University Extension’s interim Agriculture and Natural Resources program director and SDSU’s Livestock Business Management Field Specialist. Gessner discusses farmers’ need to plan for when they’re no longer in charge of that next crop. Planning on that passage can seem daunting, and it often requires help from professionals.
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    17 mins
  • Hopeful signs following China trade breakthrough announcement

    Hopeful signs following China trade breakthrough announcement
    Jan 20 2026
    A late-October 2025 agreement between President Trump and Chinese President Xi was that China would resume importing soybeans from the U.S. after they suspended U.S. soybean buys this past spring. Two-and-a-half weeks after the announced agreement, agricultural cooperative Wheaton Dumont Coop, which serves farmers in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota, said it would move at least four unit trains of soybeans destined for China, Mexico and St. Louis in late December and early January. In this edition of the Soybean Pod, Mount Vernon farmer and South Dakota Soybean Association President Kevin Deinert reacts with “a sigh of relief” to the original long-awaited deal between the two trade superpowers.
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    12 mins
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