Former South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Lucas Lentsch stepped into the CEO job for the United Soybean Board earlier this month (Jan. 2023).
Lentsch says USB handles the national soybean checkoff dollars.
Lentsch says his past job experience made moving to USB a natural transition.
He says there are links between the dairy and soybean sectors of agriculture.
Lentsch mentions some of the topics on the United Soybean Board’s radar this year.
As people’s incomes rise, they tend to want to eat more protein. Lentsch says soy helps fill that need through its uses in human food products, as well as animal feed and fish food.
Lentsch was the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture from 2013 to 2016.
Hear more from Lentsch in a recent DRG Beyond the Mic Agriculture In-depth podcast. It’s available for free through the various podcast platforms. You can also listen via webstream by using a link in this story on the News page at www.DRGnews.com.
DECEMBER 7, 2023:
The United Soybean Board has chosen Lucas Lentsch to serve as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer starting January 1, 2024.
USB’s board of farmer-leaders, representing more than 30 states, ratified the decision at its board meeting this week (Dec. 3-7, 2023).
The former South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture currently serves on the Dairy Management Inc. leadership team, which manages the national dairy checkoff.
Meagan Kaiser, outgoing chair of the United Soybean Board and CEO Selection Committee Chair, says Lentsch is the right leader, at the right time, to continue the meaningful work of the soy checkoff. She says Lentsch has deep agricultural roots, and comprehensive experience across the farm-to-food value chain.
As an Executive Vice President at DMI, Lentsch liaised between national and local checkoff organizations, nationwide. He previously served as CEO at Midwest Dairy, a 10-state region. Lentsch was the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture from 2013 to 2016 and is a proud Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving as a Commanding Officer with the Army National Guard.
Lentsch is the proud father of four grown children and will relocate to the United Soybean Board’s headquarters in Chesterfield, Missouri.
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