2020 Images of Review
December 18, 2020
This story was originally published in the December 2020 issue of the Iowa Soybean Review.
A lingering trade war with China, a broken levee system along the Missouri River and uncertain EPA rules impacting biodiesel and renewable fuels shaped the 2020 landscape in January and February. That is until COVID-19 exploded into a global pandemic forcing farmers, distributors and the food industry to rethink the supply chain and how they do business.
Many farmers had to deal with drought conditions and a devastating derecho. The year has dealt blows to Iowa soybean farmers, but there have also been glimmers of hope. China purchased $25 billion of $36.6 billion of the phase one agreement and there was a bounce in commodity markets to name two.
Through it all Iowa soybean farmers remained resilient and committed to growing sustainable protein that truly feeds the world.
The following photos offer a glimpse of the year that was. Click a photo to read more.
April Hemmes fills her planter with soybeans during the first day of the 2020 planting season.
ISA held a trade mission to Bangladesh and Pakistan to explore export opportunities. (Photo: Aaron Putze/Iowa Soybean Association)
Soybeans emerge from a field in western Iowa.
Jeff Jorgenson harvests soybeans from a field that was flooded by the Missouri River nine months earlier.
James Hepp watches as soybeans are loaded into a trailer at his Rockwell City farm.
John Hoffman examines soybeans at his home near Waterloo.
Lowell Garrett, Adel, climbs into his combine during soybean harvest.
Rosemary Seward of New Virginia holds her Sapphire Gem layer chicken at the Warren County Fair.
Grain bins damaged by the Aug. 10 derecho at ADM Grain in Keystone.
The sun sets orange over an Iowa farmstead.
A full moon hangs over a soybean field at dusk.
Randy Miller pilots his combine as the sun dips towards the horizon. Smoke from wildfires in California accentuated the sunrises and sunsets in Iowa for several weeks.
Jeff Jorgenson feeds cattle at his Fremont County Fair. Jorgenson took the reigns of the Iowa Soybean Association as president in October.
A worker fills a tank with renewable biodiesel during a tank cleaning event.
The Iowa Theater in Winterset is closed during the early stages of the pandemic.
Randy Miller picks soybeans south of Lacona as day turns to night.
The Winterset town square shows the impact of the pandemic on a Saturday morning.
Crops flourish on the rolling hills of Guthrie County
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