News Release

January 17, 2008

Contact:
Mary Geiger
Communications Director
Kansas Department of Agriculture
(785) 296-2653 phone
Mary.Geiger@kda.ks.gov

Grain commodity commission ballots are in the mail

TOPEKA -- The Kansas Department of Agriculture today announced that ballots to elect commissioners to the state's five commodity commissions - corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat - have been mailed to registered voters in districts four, five and six in the central third of the state.

Districts Covered

District four includes Clay, Cloud, Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Ottawa, Phillips, Republic, Rooks, Smith and Washington counties.

District five includes Barton, Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth, Lincoln, McPherson, Marion, Rice, Rush, Russell and Saline counties.

District six includes Barber, Comanche, Edwards, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Kiowa, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Sedgwick, Stafford and Sumner counties.

Candidates for the Kansas Corn Commission

District four - Mike Brzon, who grows corn, soybeans, sorghum and wheat in Republic County. He currently serves on the Kansas Corn Commission and is a director on the U.S. Grains Council and Farmway Cooperative Inc. Brzon also is active in water issues in the Republican River basin in Kansas and Nebraska.

District five - Terry Vinduska, who grows corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa on a family farm in Marion County. He currently serves on the Kansas Corn Commission and is a member of the U.S. Grains Council, Kansas Farmers Union and Kansas Farm Bureau. Vinduska has a bachelor's degree in agricultural technology from Kansas State University.

District six - Kent Moore, who grows corn, wheat and soybeans in Pratt County. He is a member of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, and he is on the board of directors for the Pratt County 4-H Foundation. Moore has a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Kansas State University.

Candidates for the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission

District four - William Greving, who grows corn, sorghum, wheat and hay in Phillips County. He currently is secretary-treasurer of the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, serves on the board of the National Sorghum Producers and is a member of the Kansas Livestock Association, the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and the Kansas Corn Growers Association. Greving has a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Fort Hays State University.

District five - Clayton Short, who grows corn, sorghum, wheat and soybeans in Saline County. He currently serves on the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission and is a member of the Kansas Grain Sorghum Association and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers. Short has a bachelors degree in agriculture from Kansas State University.

District six - Dennis Siefkes, who grows corn, grain sorghum, soybeans and wheat in Stafford County. He is a member of the Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association, the Stafford County Farm Bureau and the Great Bend Cooperative Association, and a past member of the Kansas Corn Commission. Siefkes has a bachelor's degree in agriculture mechanization from Kansas State University.

District six - Jay Zimmerman, who grows grain sorghum and wheat in Sumner County. He currently serves on the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission and is a member of the Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, U.S. Grains Council, National Sorghum Producers and the Lower Arkansas River Basin Advisory Board. Zimmerman has engineering degrees from Kansas State University and the University of Kansas.

Candidates for the Kansas Soybean Commission

District four - Steve Clanton, who grows corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat in Ottawa County. He currently serves on the Kansas Soybean Commission. He has been involved in many organizations, including the local extension and soil conservation board and the Kansas Soybean Association. He is a past president of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers. Clanton has a bachelor's degree in engineering from Kansas State University.

District five - Harold Kraus, who grows corn, grain sorghum, soybeans and wheat in Ellis County. He has served on the Kansas Soybean Commission since 1999, is a member of Kansas Farm Bureau and is a voting member of the National Biodiesel Board. Kraus has a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Kansas.

District six - Jerry Wyse, who grows wheat, corn, grain sorghum and soybeans in Reno County. He currently serves on the Kansas Soybean Commission and is past president and CEO of Kauffman Seeds Inc. Wyse has an associate's degree in liberal arts from Hesston College.

Candidates for the Kansas Sunflower Commission

No candidates are running for the commissioner position to represent Districts 4, 5 or 6.

Candidates for the Kansas Wheat Commission

District four - Steve Clanton, who grows corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat in Ottawa County. He currently serves on the Kansas Soybean Commission. He has been involved in many organizations, including the local extension and soil conservation board and the Kansas Soybean Association. He is a past president of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers. Clanton has a bachelor's degree in engineering from Kansas State University.

District five - Dean Stoskopf, who grows wheat, grain sorghum and alfalfa, and has a cow-calf herd in Barton County. He currently is finishing his second term on the Kansas Wheat Commission, he is a past president of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and is a current member of Kansas Farm Bureau. Stoskopf has a degree in agriculture from Kansas State University.

Distict six - Scott Van Allen, who grows sorghum and wheat in Sumner County. He is a past-president and current member of the Sumner County Farm Bureau. Van Allen has also been on Kansas Farm Bureau's wheat advisory board for the past two years. Van Allen is a graduate of Clearwater High School.

Voter Eligibility

Eligible voters who registered before December 31, 2007, or who voted in the 2005 commission election, will receive a ballot. Eligible voters are Kansas residents who reached age 18 before the election, have grown corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers or wheat during the last three years, and who have properly registered to vote.

Votes must be cast or postmarked by March 1. The names of candidates-elect will be announced in mid-March and the elected will take office April 1. Elected commissioners serve three-year terms.

More information is available from the Kansas Corn Commission at (785) 448-2626 or www.ksgrains.com/kcc/; the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission at (913) 294-4314; the Kansas Soybean Commission at (785) 271-1030 or www.kansassoybeans.com/; the Kansas Sunflower Commission at (785) 868-3831 or www.kssunflower.com/; the Kansas Wheat Commission at (785) 539-0255 or www.kswheat.com; or, the Kansas Department of Agriculture at (785) 296-3556 or www.ksda.gov/kansas_agriculture/content/152.