Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission Re-Elects Officers; Reviews Budgets; District Elections coming up

The Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission (Commission) met for its 2024 summer board meeting July 16-17 in Garden City. The Commission meets quarterly to discuss funding opportunities, program development and strategy for advancing domestic and international sorghum markets.

These public meetings allow attendees to hear updates from state and national staff members, as well as industry leaders including Norma Ritz-Johnson, executive director of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program; Dr. Raj Khosla, head of the Agronomy Department at Kansas State University; and others, including Guy Allen, senior economist for the International Grains Program Institute at K-State; Ellen Zimmerman, industry relations director for the U.S. Grains Council; Kansas Department of Agriculture Ex-Officio Russell Plashcka; Matt Unruh, assistant director for the Kansas Water Office; and many others.

The Commission also considered leadership re-organization and re-elected its current slate of officers for the upcoming year:
● Chairman: Brant Peterson, Johnson (District 3 Southwest)
● Vice Chairman: Kevin Kniebel, White City (District 7 East Central)
● Secretary-Treasurer: Kevin Harris, Abilene (District 5 Central)

“The past year has been challenging and rewarding for Team Sorghum. Planted acres are down, but hopefully, the yield and price will improve upon harvest and as we look towards 2025. Nonetheless, I am very proud of Kansas Sorghum and the industry we represent,” said Peterson. “It is an exciting time for the sorghum industry in many ways, with water and resource management included in most discussions.”
Peterson continued: “I have also begun my journey representing the Commission on one of the U.S. Grains Council’s Advisory A-Teams. Seeing how the Council works to promote U.S. agriculture, and being a part of that discussion is an advantage I hope to bring to Kansas farmers. I thank the Commission for their continued support.”

Chairman Peterson begins his second term as Chairman of the Commission for Fiscal Year 2025,
which begins on October 1, 2024. “The Commission benefits greatly from having a strong leadership team in these officers and we sincerely appreciate the time and service all commissioners lend to steward and invest checkoff dollars in our state on behalf of growers and for growers,” said Adam York, administrator to the Commission. “I am excited for the continued focus on the organization’s ongoing pursuit of
excellence with the current Executive Committee as elected by their peers returning for a
second year in their officer roles.”

The Commission will next hold its annual budget meeting for Fiscal Year 2025 on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, in Manhattan, Kansas, to consider funding allocations in research, education, outreach and more. Additionally, the process for growers to be eligible for election to all Kansas commodity commissions in USDA Crop Reporting Districts 7, 8, and 9 in Eastern Kansas begins with petitions to be on the ballot due to the Kansas Department of Agriculture by November 30, 2024. For more information, contact the Kansas Grain Sorghum office at www.ksgrainsorghum.org.