Randy Miller is one of three Iowa soybean farmer representatives serving on the ISRC’s Industry Advisory Council. The council serves to identify research needs in the areas of soybean production and protection for the center. Farmer representatives serve three-year terms on the council and provide input on what research topics are of importance from the soybean farmer perspective.

Miller currently serves as president-elect on the Iowa Soybean Association Board of Directors and farms with his family near Lacona, Iowa.

A farmer for nearly 30 years, Miller credits his journey into farming to several people. Growing up as a “city kid” in Pleasantville, he remembers his grandfather farming and when he got older, a close friend got him involved in FFA. He said his experience with FFA and having had a great FFA/ag instructor led him to pursue a major in agriculture studies with a minor in extension at Iowa State University. Following graduation, he worked for a farmer near Milo, and then rented a farm near Lacona, which he eventually bought and still farms today.

The Millers grow soybeans, corn, cattle and hogs and are strong proponents of implementing conservation measures such as cover crops, reduced tillage, terraces, waterways and nitrogen modeling. He credits his success in farming and his ability to take on his additional roles with the Iowa Soybean Association and the ISRC to his wife Sheila, son Kaleb and daughter Kaylee. “I couldn’t do this without them,” said Miller.

Of his time on the ISRC’s Industry Advisory Council, Miller said, “It’s great to be part of something the Iowa Soybean Association has funded and to see the amount of funding and collaboration the ISRC has been able to leverage on topics that are important to industry and farmers. It’s exciting to be a part of the process and to see how the number of research proposals are whittled down to those with the most potential to payback from the checkoff dollars invested.”