News Release

January 13, 2012

Contact:
Chelsea Good
Communications Director
Kansas Department of Agriculture
(785) 296-2653 phone
(913) 735-9065 cell
Chelsea.Good@kda.ks.gov

Commodity commission ballots mailed to producers

The Kansas Department of Agriculture today announced that ballots to elect commissioners to the state’s five grain commodity commissions – corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat – have been mailed to registered voters in districts One, Two and Three in the western third of the state.

District One includes Cheyenne, Decatur, Graham, Norton, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman, and Thomas. 

District Two includes Gove, Greeley, Lane, Logan, Ness, Scott, Trego, Wallace, and Wichita.

District Three includes Clark, Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, Hamilton, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Meade, Morton, Seward, Stanton, and Stevens.

Candidates for the Kansas Corn Commission

District One – Brian Baalman is from Sheridan County.  He is the past president of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and current Kansas Corn commissioner. He also serves on the U.S. Meat Federation.

District Three – Steve Rome is from Stevens County. He has served the Kansas Corn Growers Association and Kansas State University Agronomy Advisory Board. Rome earned a bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State University.

District Three – Marianne Reed-Tyler in from Gray County and farms with her family. Currently she is the owner of RT Farms, LLC and Annie’s Country Gardens. Reed-Tyler graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Human Ecology.

No candidates are running for commissioner in district 2. The Kansas Corn Commission will appoint this position.

Candidates for the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission

No candidates are running for commissioner in districts One, Two, or Three. The Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission will appoint these positions.

Candidates for the Kansas Soybean Commission

District One, Two, and Three – Kurt Maurath is from Logan County. He has served on the Soybean Commission for the past 8 years, representing the western third of the state. Maurath graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Mechanization.

Candidates for the Kansas Sunflower Commission

No candidates are running for commissioner in districts One, Two, and Three. The Kansas Sunflower Commission will appoint these positions.

Candidates for the Kansas Wheat Commission

District One – Brian Linin is from Sherman County. He currently serves on the Kansas Wheat Commission and is the CFO for Frontier Ag, Inc. Linin earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University and is currently working on his MBA from Oklahoma State University.

District Two – Ronald Suppes is from Lane County. He currently serves on the Kansas Wheat Commission and has been a participant of the Kansas Agriculture Rural Leadership (KARL) program. Suppes earned a bachelor’s degree from Fort Hays State University.

District Three – Jason Ochs is from Hamilton County. He currently serves on the Kansas Wheat Commission, as board president for the Hamilton County Historical Society, and as director for the Southwest Kansas Federal Land Bank.

Eligible voters who registered before December 31, 2011, or who voted in the 2009 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 commissioners will take office April 1. Commissioners serve three-year terms.

More information is available from the following organizations:

• Kansas Corn Commission at (785) 448-2626 or www.ksgrains.com/kcc/

• Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission at (785) 341-6433 or www.ksgrainsorghum.org/

• Kansas Soybean Commission at (785) 271-1030 or www.kansassoybeans.com/KSChome.html

• Kansas Sunflower Commission at (785) 565-3908 or www.kssunflower.com/

• Kansas Wheat Commission at (785) 539-0255 or www.kswheat.com

• Kansas Department of Agriculture at (785) 296-3556 or http://www.ksda.gov/kansas_agriculture/content/152