As an Ohio soybean farmer, Bill Bayliss knows that about 2/3 of his soybeans are exported. He’s proud to farm in the Midwest – “the bread basket of the world” – and he takes pride in not only supplying soy for global feed, but also for human consumption to buyers in Asian and Southeast Asian countries. “These countries have been very important to us because they utilize a lot of food-grade soybeans,” he says.
Bill Bayliss
U.S. Soybean Farmer
Ohio
Bill Bayliss and his wife JoAnn live near West Mansfield, Ohio. Bill farms with his youngest daughter and son-in-law, Jana and David Caudill. Together they raise soybeans, food-grade soybeans, corn, wheat, hay and beef cattle. During the first 30 years of Bill’s 50-year farming career, he worked off the farm, including 20 years as a county-level director for the Farm Service Agency. In 2005, he left that role to farm full-time. Their oldest daughter her husband work in ministry, and their middle son is a long-haul semitruck driver. Bill and JoAnn also enjoy their six grandchildren.
