Meet the president

December 11, 2024 | Bethany Baratta

Study the course, apply your training. Study your fields, work the plan.

Turns out there are some similarities between the triathlons Brent Swart competes in and the acres of crops he and his brother tend in northern Iowa.

However, you won’t hear Swart talk about his efforts in triathlon training while visiting his farm near Spencer. Instead, he’s focused on the soybean producers in Iowa and the association he’s been elected to serve as president.

“It’s the profitability of the Iowa soybean farmer,” says Swart, of the top priority of the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) Board of Directors. “I’ve given that same answer when soybeans were $15 and when soybeans were $9, because it’s truly that. It’s always that,” he says.

After all, the Swart family farm wouldn’t have been able to succeed five generations without the focus and discipline to make them profitable.

Technology boosts productivity

After graduating from Terril High School, Swart earned his bachelor’s in agronomy and master’s in crop production and physiology from Iowa State University. He then began a 16-year career with Pioneer.

Perhaps the biggest change from riding in the tractor as a young boy with his father and grandfather to driving the tractor as an adult has been the advances in technology along the way.

“I was just coming on to the farm when technology was taking off — yield monitors, auto steer, those sorts of things were being implemented,” Swart says. It was met with some trepidation from his late father Bill.

“That was new and exciting to me, and it was new and scary to him,” Swart says.

Swart worked for one year in Indiana as a Pioneer production agronomist, then moved home to begin farming with his family and to take over a local Pioneer seed dealership.

The integration of various technologies has delivered valuable insights into every acre, helping Brent and his brother Steve farm the family’s acres since his father’s passing in July 2008.

“My brother and I, I think, have helped to grow and preserve the family farm by implementing technology and equipment, but utilizing that in a fashion with soil conservation practices, nutrient management, timing and placement of nutrients, cover crops, no-till and strip-till, things that my dad would have said, ‘Absolutely not. You guys have lost your mind. Go find something else to do. This is a terrible idea.’ ”

Participating in ISA research trials has also allowed the brothers to learn more about the best products and practices for their acres. This has helped them avoid major product purchases that wouldn’t be useful.

Leading farmers

In northwest Iowa, Brent, Steve and business partner Mike Koenecke co-own Cotton Grave Farm Management, specializing in farm management and farm real estate sales. But it’s more than just guiding transactions. They actively help landowners and farmers understand how adopting various practices can improve productivity and help meet their conservation goals.

“It’s neat to help educate both the landowners and the farmers, and then help the farmers along to make it as seamless as possible to avoid hiccups in their production or their profitability,” Swart says.

He looks to ISA for the resources to help neighboring farmers understand the advantages of oxbows or participate in a trial to understand and capitalize on the optimal seeding rate for their specific farm.

He takes the conversations he has with farmers to heart as he advocates on behalf of them in Des Moines or in Washington, D.C. as ISA’s president. Having the opportunity to visit with farmers in the state and others around the world who rely on Iowa-grown soybeans has broadened his perspective.

The next generation

Recently returning from India on a trade mission with the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Swart says building relationships with future partners is key.

“China India, Taiwan, the Philippines — name your country — that’s a potential buyer or a current buyer and they still want to talk to the farmer,” he says. “Even though you listen to the markets, and you hear transactional news items, that touch point is incredibly important.”

It’s miles away from his wife Mandy and his daughters, Emersyn, 5, and Quinn, 9, to ensure that the livelihood that he’s grown to love continues to the sixth generation.

“I think over time Dad would have understood and would be proud of what we’ve done here,” Swart says. “It’s something that Steve and I have put extra emphasis on because we want to leave it better than we found it. We can instill in the next generation that these efforts are not only preserving resources or our asset in farmland, but also helping us improve our soil health, yield and profitability.

Even though there have been some struggles along the way, the legacy we want to leave is in conservation. We’re helping our own farmers while also becoming more efficient and productive along the way.”

Contact Bethany Baratta at bbaratta@iasoybeans.com.

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