Growing Together: Conversation with Steve Censky, Chief Executive Officer, American Soybean Association

Stephen Censky, ASA’s Chief Executive Officer, returned to ASA after serving as Deputy Secretary for the USDA from October 2017 to November 2020. Before his USDA appointment, he served as ASA CEO for 21 years. 

Steve began his career working as a legislative assistant for Sen. Jim Abdnor (R-SD).  He served in both the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations at USDA, eventually serving as Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service. 

Censky received his B.S. in agriculture from South Dakota State University and his postgraduate diploma in agriculture science from the University of Melbourne, Australia.  

How did your educational experiences at South Dakota State University impact your path to leadership?

Both the academic training I received at SDSU and the extracurricular activities in which I participated had huge impacts on my career. At SDSU I was active in Collegiate 4-H, Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, and student government where I served as vice president of the student association. These experiences helped prepare me for my future leadership roles. Academically, the learning and coursework guided by SDSU’s professors built the knowledge foundation I’ve utilized throughout my career in agricultural policy. Importantly, I owe my first job in agricultural policy—working as a legislative assistant for agriculture for former U.S. Sen. Jim Abdnor of South Dakota—to the strong recommendation given to him by SDSU’s then-Dean of the College of Agriculture, Del Dearborn.

How do your organization’s key priorities align with or benefit from land-grant universities’ research, education, and/or Cooperative Extension programs? 

ASA represents U.S. soybean farmers through policy advocacy and international market development. Our goal is to ensure that soy growers can farm safely, sustainably and successfully while remaining competitive in global markets. One of our priorities is promoting a regulatory system that facilitates innovation for biotechnology, gene editing and pesticidal tools; and protecting against legislative, regulatory and litigation threats to pesticides. Another is advocating for investments in research for innovation and competitiveness, including biobased products, input management, sustainable farming practices and new seed varieties benefitting soybean growers and the entire value chain. 

The work of land-grand universities supports these priorities through research that helps develop innovative practices, genetics, and products that improve soy’s efficiency and sustainability. This aids in increasing the competitiveness of U.S. soybean growers and ensuring they retain access to the best tools and information for their farms. There’s also an educational component that allows us to partner real farmer voices with scientific data.  

How have colleges of agriculture and natural resources at land-grant universities helped ASA strengthen its impact and serve your stakeholders? 

Advocacy relies on stories and real-world data to provide the foundation for policy. Our farmers have experiences they can share, but universities often house the best data available for demonstrating the impacts of growing practices. Because land-grant universities understand agriculture, they often produce the best research, analysis, and data that ASA uses every day to advocate on behalf of U.S. farmers.

Research: If you could ask agricultural researchers for help with one critical issue, what would it be?

It’s so difficult to pick just one, so I’d like to list two—development of new uses and genetic improvement. Regarding new uses, farmers always need new sources of demand as production efficiency improves and production outside the United States increases. Agricultural researchers play an instrumental role in developing new uses and helping to create new demand for commodities—whether it be biofuels, biocosmetics, sustainable building materials, or other industrial uses.  

Regarding genetic improvement, farming is one of the few industries that is completely dependent on the weather. As farmers deal with changing weather and climate patterns—hotter growing seasons, longer droughts, and larger volume rain events—they rely on more resilient crops and farming practices. Improvements to underlying genetics, whether through traditional plant breeding, gene-editing, or biotechnology, are all key to engineering plants that are more resilient. And that can only be done by talented ag researchers sustained by robust investments in agricultural research. 

Education: What kinds of student experiences (e.g., academics, internships, projects) are important to prepare students for the agricultural workforce?

Academics are always a foundation, as they provide a knowledge base employers desire. Internships are a great way to “test drive” a career field and/or company. Extracurricular activities open social, networking, and leadership training experiences that benefit the student throughout her or his career. All three are important and are key parts of the university experience and preparation.

What advice would you give to today’s college students?

My advice is to get excited about the diverse career opportunities in the food and agriculture industry. Whether your passion is biology, computer science, engineering, robotics, marketing, economics, or nearly anything else, you will find rewarding opportunities. Go to job fairs to explore the possibilities and seek out companies whose values you share.

Cooperative Extension: How can Extension provide the most value to your stakeholders in local communities across the U.S?

University Extension offices are vital for providing on-the-ground support to growers. Frequently, when a producer has questions or wants to strengthen their on-farm practices, they will go to their university Extension as a trusted source.

What are strong opportunities for increased collaboration between ASA and land-grant universities partners?

ASA strives to increase public awareness of our growers’ stewardship and commitment to sustainability. Together with land-grant universities, we can educate the public about a host of issues, including biotechnology, food safety, and renewable fuels. We continue to lean on each other to advocate on behalf of agricultural research.

“Growing Together: Conversations with CEOs” showcases Presidents and CEOs of national agricultural associations, commodity groups, and other organizations and explores their powerful synergies with land-grant universities. Through conversations with leaders, this new interview series examines how organizations strengthened their impact in partnerships with Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ research, education, and Cooperative Extension. These interviews also highlight emerging opportunities to leverage collaboration, drive innovation, and serve all Americans.