The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has elected a new slate of corn grower leaders as the organization as it represents corn growers on key agricultural issues. Elections were held Friday, July 21, at NCGA's Corn Congress in Washington, D.C. These directors will officially assume office on Oct. 1, 2000, the beginning of NCGA's 2000- 2001 fiscal year.

Moving to the helm as NCGA President is Leland Klein. He and who with his wife Sharon raise corn, soybeans, rye, alfalfa and hay in Battle Creek, Neb. Klein also manages a cow/calf operation, and has held many leadership positions in various state and local organizations.
Lynn Jensen, who with his wife Jodi grows corn, soybeans, edibles and alfalfa in Lake Preston, S.D. will become chairman of the board. A farmer for 20 years, Jensen has been active in his state and national corn grower associations for more than eight years.

Newly elected corn growers to the NCGA Corn Board are:

Charles Alexander, Stonewall, N.C. -- Charles and his wife Lois farm 2,200 acres of corn, wheat and soybeans. Charles has served as past president of the North Carolina Small Grain Association and is a member of the North Carolina Corn Growers Associations. Most recently, he served as a member of the NCGA Production & Stewardship Action Team.

Jim Czub, Schaghticoke, N.Y. -- Jim and Jackie Czub partner with Jim's brother, farming 2,000 acres of corn, soybeans and hay. Their farm operation also includes custom farming and grain processing, along with a mining and excavation business. Jim has held several leadership positions in New York and within the NCGA, including service as a Corn Board member. In that capacity, he has also served as a member of the EPA's Tolerance Reassessment Advisory Committee, responsible for implementation of the Food Quality Preservation Act.

John Tibbits, Minneapolis, Kan. -- John and Rosalee Tibbits operate a family farm in north-central Kansas with both dryland and irrigated crops. They also operate a cattle operation. John has served NCGA and the Kansas Corn Growers Association in many leadership positions. He currently serves as a Corn Board member and as a member of the NCGA Finance Committee. He also serves as the NCGA representative to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Dee Vaughan, Dumas, Tex. -- Dee and Terri Vaughan farm 6,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle, raising corn, seed sorghum, commercial sorghum, soybeans, wheat and seed sunflowers. They use center pivot irrigation, and are adopting precision farming techniques. Dee has served in several leadership positions with the Lone Star Corn Growers Association and the Texas Corn Producers Checkoff Board. He currently serves as a member of the NCGA Public Policy Action Team.

Ron Woollen, Wilcox, Neb. -- Ron and Sue Woollen operate a family corporation, raising irrigated corn, soybeans and sorghum, and dryland corn, soybeans, sorghum, wheat, sunflowers and alfalfa. Ron has held several leadership positions for the South Central Corn Growers, the Nebraska Corn Growers Association and NCGA. He is currently chairman of the NCGA Grower Services Action Team. 

NCGA news release
N2859