Midwest Farmers Make Up New NAWG Leadership

The National Association of Wheat Growers announced their new leadership from the Commodity Classic in San Antonio Thursday.  David Schemm, a third generation wheat farmer from western Kansas was elected president of the Association.

“I originally started with the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers,” said Schemm. “I really found a passion for what we do; engaging growers and trying to work for the benefit of growers on the Hill, not only at the state level, but also at the national level.”

“We need to draw a bigger circle than just around ourselves, our family and our own operation. We need to have an influence outside of that.

“A couple of the clear priorities I have are making sure as commodities we are working together and we’re working for those commonalities that we can find. We’re all farmers. We can find so many commonalities between us and make sure that we get a good farm bill, a good risk management tool for our farmers out there, especially considering the challenging times we’re going through now.

“It’s not IF wheat will make an impact on the next farm bill,” Schemm emphasized. “Wheat WILL make an impact on the next farm bill. We will make sure that our voice is heard, and that we get the best tool we possibly can for wheat growers out there.”

As NAWG is setting priorities for the upcoming Farm Bill, they have been listening to the member-growers. “We’ve heard overwhelmingly that crop insurance is a top priority,” said Schemm. “Are there areas in crop insurance that need to be tweaked? Yeah, there are maybe some areas and that’s what we’re discussing. There’s got to be strong support going forward with that.

“The other area that we’re hearing is just some challenges that we’ve had with Title I and with the ARC and PLC programs. There’s been discrepancies in data, differences between counties that producers have found. So we’re exploring ways to try to find the right solutions.”

Jimmie Musick, a farmer from Southwest Oklahoma was elected Vice President.  Texan Ben Scholz moved up the ranks of leadership to Treasurer.  Gordon Stoner from Montana, will continue to serve on the executive committee in the role of Past President.  Dave Milligan from Cass City, Michigan, becomes the newest face in NAWG leadership with his election as Secretary.

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