USSEC would like to congratulate the newly elected American Soybean Association (ASA) and United Soybean Board (USB) officers.
ASA held its annual winter board meeting in St. Louis on December 4 and 5 to elect new officers and to celebrate the retirements of its outgoing board members.  The ASA Board of Directors has confirmed Ray Gaesser of Corning, Iowa, as its new President; outgoing President Danny Murphy of Canton, Mississippi, will move to the position of Chairman.  Board members elected Wade Cowan of Brownfield, Texas, to serve as First Vice President, which places Mr. Cowan in line to be ASA’s president in 2015.
Mr. Gaesser stated, “There are so many issues that face the soybean industry today. . .as we work to see a farm bill enacted, and soybean-friendly policies in place within the trade, transportation, energy and technology arenas, we know that we’ll depend on the consistent involvement and cooperative work between all members of the soy family including our state affiliates, United Soybean Board, United States Soybean Export Council and our industry partners, to help fully realize the benefits of those victories.”
ASA’s nine-member executive committee will consist of Secretary Wyatt Whitford of Ernul, North Carolina, with Richard Wilkins from Greenwood, Delaware, serving as Treasurer.  Bob Worth of Lake Benton, Minnesota; Ron Moore of Roseville, Illinois; Bob Henry of Robinson, Kansas; and Kevin Hoyer of West Salem, Wisconsin, were elected to serve as the association’s four vice presidents.  Mr. Whitford, Mr. Moore and Mr. Hoyer are new elections to the Executive Committee, and Mr. Wilkins, Mr. Worth and Mr. Henry were reelected to their 2013 posts.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to celebrate the retirements of Randy Mann of Kentucky, Ron Kindred of Illinois, Rob Joslin of Ohio and Andy Welden of Michigan from the ASA Board.  New board members are Kentucky’s Gerry Hayden, Ron Moore of Illinois, Jerry Bambauer of Ohio and Michigan’s Matt Stutzman.  ASA’s Executive Committee will meet in Iowa this week to finalize plans for 2014 and name appointees to ASA’s various boards, task forces and committees.
USB also held its annual winter meeting in St. Louis on December 5 and 6.  For the first time, USB expanded its board to 70 members of volunteer farmer-leaders.  The expanded growth of soybean acres allowed USB to add a new director from Mississippi who was sworn in with 12 other new and 22 reappointed directors.  The new board then elected Jim Call, a soybean farmer from Madison, Minnesota as 2014 USB Chairman.  Mr. Call said, “The checkoff’s research to improve and grow demand and preference for U.S. soy really benefits all U.S. soybean farmers.”
The USB executive committee will be comprised of:  Vice Chairman Bob Haselwood of Berryton, Kansas; Secretary and Oil Action Team Chair Lewis Bainbridge of Ethan, South Dakota; Treasurer Jared Hagert of Emerado, North Dakota; Meal Action Team Chair Laura Foell of Schaller, Iowa; Freedom to Operate Action Team Chair Richard Fordyce of Bethany, Missouri; Customer Focus Action Team Chair John Motter of Jenera, Ohio; International Opportunities Target Area Coordinator Dwain Ford of Kinmundy, Illinois; Supply Target Area Coordinator Gregg Fujan of Weston, Nebraska; Communications Target Area Coordinator Jimmy Sneed of Hernando, Mississippi; Past Chairman Jim Stillman of Emmetsburg, Iowa; Domestic Opportunities Target Area Coordinator Jim Schriver of Blufton, Indiana; and David Hartke from Teutopolis, Illinois, will chair USB’s Audit and Evaluation committee.
USB farmer leaders also elected the Strategic Management Committee (SMC) to track the progress of checkoff-funded activities to ensure they remain consistent with USB’s long-range strategic plan.  Farmer-leaders who will serve on the SMC include:  Bob Haselwood; Todd Gibson of Norborne, Missouri; Nancy Kavazanjian of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin; Ron Ohlde of Palmer, Kansas; and Jim Stillman.
USSEC welcomes the new ASA and USB officers and looks forward to continuing its work with ASA and USB to further the mission of the U.S. soy family.