The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) board of directors unanimously elected wheat grower Darrell Davis, Ipswich, SD, as Secretary-Treasurer at its winter board meeting in Washington, DC., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010. The board elected Davis in a slate including Vice Chairman Don Schieber of Ponca City, OK, who will become Chairman, Secretary-Treasurer Randy Suess, of Colfax, WA, who will become Vice Chairman, and Chair Janice Mattson of Chester, MT, who will move to Past Chairman. The new USW officers officially begin their one-year terms at the organization’s annual meeting, July 12, 2010, in Bozeman, MT.
Davis operates a fifth-generation family grain and cattle operation with his wife Sylvia and their sons Justin and Nathan. A state wheat commissioner since 2005, Davis has represented the South Dakota Wheat Commission for two years on the USW Board. He is a member of the USW/National Association of Wheat Growers Joint Biotechnology Committee.
"I've actively worked for producers' interests on a local basis," Davis said. "My experience on the USW board has shown me just how important overseas wheat markets are, so I wanted to step up and get more involved at this level, too."
Davis is a member of South Dakota Wheat Inc., South Dakota Soybean Association, South Dakota Corn Growers Association, and the South Dakota Cattleman’s Association. Davis is a past president of North Central Farms Elevator (NCFE) where gross grain sales volume increased from $25 million to more than $300 million under his leadership. He continues as an NCFE board member. He is an alumnus of the South Dakota Agriculture and Rural Leadership, a program dedicated to advancing leadership in the state’s agricultural and rural communities.
Davis served on the Rosette Township board as a supervisor for 30 years and has twice served on the Church Council at St. James Lutheran Church in Ipswich.
Schieber operates Schieber Farms, which includes a seed wheat cleaning business. He is a charter member of Oklahoma Genetics, Inc., which markets new hard red winter wheat varieties developed and released by Oklahoma State University. Schieber is also a high school football official in Oklahoma, a “hobby” he started 41 years ago, the same year he married his wife Cecelia.
Suess manages a farm in eastern Washington’s Palouse region, growing soft white winter, spring, and club wheat in rotation with peas. His leadership positions with the Washington Association of Wheat Growers and the Washington Grain Commission preceded his election to the USW officer track. He taught junior high and served as principal, superintendent, and coach for nine years at Steptoe Elementary School. Suess and his wife Laurie have two adult children.
Mattson is the first woman to serve as USW Chairman. She manages her own dryland grain farm, growing hard red winter wheat and some spring wheat. Her husband Carl Mattson and their son Vince operate separate farms in the area. Carl is also a Conservation and Farm Programs Associate with the Montana Grain Growers Association.
U.S. Wheat Associates is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries on behalf of America's wheat producers. The activities of U.S. Wheat Associates are made possible by producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and through cost-share funding provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
