March 26, 2009
Contact:
Lisa Taylor
Director of Communications
Kansas Department of Agriculture
(785) 296-2653
lisa.taylor@kda.ks.gov
Kansas grain commodity growers elect commissioners
TOPEKA - The Kansas Department of Agriculture today announced the names of farmers from the western third of the state who were elected to the state's five commodity commissions - corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat.
District one includes Cheyenne, Decatur, Graham, Norton, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman and Thomas counties. District two includes Gove, Greeley, Lane, Logan, Ness, Scott, Trego, Wallace and Wichita counties. District three includes Clark, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Meade, Morton, Seward, Stanton and Stevens counties.
Ballots were cast between January 15 and March 1 and were counted at the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The newly elected commissioners will take office April 1 and will serve for three years.
Commissioners-elect for the Kansas Corn Commission
District one - Brian Baalman, who grows corn, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat in Sheridan County. Baalman currently serves as president of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and on on the Kansas Corn Commission.
District two - Harvey Heier, who grows corn and wheat and raises cattle in Gove County. He currently serves on the Kansas Corn Commission, is a member of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas Farm Bureau, and has served nine years on his local co-op board.
No candidate is running for commissioner in District 3, so a commissioner will be appointed by the Kansas Corn Commission.
Commissioners-elect for the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission
District one - Richard Calliham, who grows corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat in Thomas County. He has a degree from Fort Hays State University and is a member of the Kansas Grain Sorghum Producers Association and Kansas Farm Bureau, and he currently serves on the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission.
District two - Greg Graff, who grows grain sorghum, corn and wheat on a family farm in Wichita County. He currently serves on the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission. He is a graduate of Kansas State University.
No candidate is running for commissioner in District 3. Commissioner will be appointed by the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission.
Commissioner-elect for the Kansas Soybean Commission
District one, two and three - Kurt Maurath, who grows soybeans, corn, sorghum, wheat and sunflowers near Oakley in Logan County. He has represented the western third of the state on the Kansas Soybean Commission for the past six years. He also is a member of the Logan
County Farm Bureau board.
Commissioners-elect for the Kansas Sunflower Commission
There were no commissioner candidates in districts one, two or three. Commissioners will be appointed by the Kansas Sunflower Commission.
Commissioners-elect for the Kansas Wheat Commission
District one - Brian Linin, who grows wheat in Sherman County. He is a graduate of Kansas State University and is a member of the Goodland Area Chamber of Commerce.
District two - Ron Suppes, who grows wheat, corn and grain sorghum in Lane County. He is Fort Hays State graduate, and he currently serves on the Kansas Wheat Commission. He is a past chairman of US Wheat Associates.
District three - Matt Overturf, who grows wheat and sorghum and raises livestock in Stanton County. He is a member of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers and is involved in his local chamber of commerce and 4-H extension council
2010 election will cover eastern third of state
Corn, grain sorghum, soybean, sunflower and wheat growers in the eastern third of the state can expect to receive information by mail this fall outlining the 2010 election procedure.
Affected by the 2010 election will be districts seven, eight and nine. District seven includes Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Marshall, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Riley and Wyandotte counties. District eight includes Anderson, Chase Coffey, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Johnson, Linn, Lyon, Miami, Morris, Osage, Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties. District nine includes Allen, Bourbon, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cowley, Crawford, Elk, Greenwood, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson counties.
Grain growers who plan to campaign for a seat on one of the commissions must collect on an official petition form 20 signatures from eligible voters to be included on the 2010 ballot. Official petition forms will be available through the Kansas Department of Agriculture or one of the grain commodity commissions.
No more than five signatures from any one county will be used to qualify a candidate. Eligible voters are Kansas residents who will reach age 18 before the election and have been growing corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers or wheat during the last three years. The filing deadline for candidates is November 30, 2009.