In the ninth statewide election since the Texas Corn Producers Board (TCPB) became a statewide entity in 1990, five board members were elected or re-elected in the organization’s biennial elections held in January. Each person elected will serve a six year term, or until the year 2016.

Mark Howard of Farwell, Max Swinburn of Dimmitt, and Jimmy Wedel of Muleshoe were re-elected to their seats in Voting Region two, which encompasses the South Plains into northern central Texas. Bruce Wetzel of Sherman was re-elected to his seat in Voting Region three, which reaches from northeast Texas to El Paso. Wesley Valerius of Harlingen was elected to serve his first term as a TCPB director from Voting Region five, which covers the South Texas corn-producing area.

Prior to the elections, TCPB had divided the state into five separate voting regionsv so board members would more closely represent the corn interests of a particular region of the state. Likewise, all Texas corn producers would have representation on the board. As there are 15 board seats on TCPB, the voting regions are designed for each seat to represent 1/15th of the total corn production in Texas as reported by the Texas Crop Reporting Service.

The Texas Department of Agriculture approved the voting region plan.

The five new board members will be sworn in on April 7, 2010 during TCPB's quarterly board meeting in Houston by Lance Williams, Texas Department of Agriculture.

Press releases and legal notices on the election were sent to all major newspapers in the state where elections were to occur. The voting period was from Jan. 9, 2010 to Jan. 23, 2010.

The next election will be in the spring of 2012 with five seats up for election.

For a complete listing of the counties included in each voting region, go to www.texascorn.org.