The Illinois Soybean Association elected its 2012-13 leadership and filled open district and at-large director positions.  Bill Wykes, Yorkville, was elected to serve as chairman for the new year.

Wykes was ISA vice chairman last year, and has been on the ISA board in various leadership positions for eight years.  He farms with his family, and is a graduate of Illinois State University.  He is a member of the Illinois Farm Bureau and Illinois Corn Growers Association.  He has represented ISA on the National Biodiesel Board, Soy Transportation Coalition and World Initiative for Soy in Human Health.

BOARD REPORT: ISA's executive board was announced last week.

"This has been a challenging year with the drought for many of us on our farms," Wykes says.  "I look forward to moving ahead with our mission, and working through these challenges and also opportunities with the many new members of the board." 

Former chairman Matt Hughes, Shirley, was appointed by the board to serve in an advisory capacity as a non-voting member of the ISA Executive Committee.

Also elected to the executive committee were Bill Raben, Ridgway, as vice chairman; Rob Shaffer, El Paso, as treasurer; Dan Farney, Morton, as secretary; and Mike Marron, Fithian, as assistant secretary-treasurer.  The board elected Rowen Ziegler, LaHarpe, as Production Committee chair and Ron Kindred, Atlanta, as Marketing Committee chair.

BOARD REPORT: ISA's executive board was announced last week.

Raben operates a farm with his brother, and has been an active member of the Illinois Farm Bureau, Gallatin County Economic Task Force, Gallatin County Soil & Water Conservation District and Wabash Valley Service Company.  He has a bachelor's degree in agronomy from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.  He had served as ISA assistant secretary-treasurer.

Shaffer is part of a fourth generation family operation with his brother.  He previously was ISA secretary.  He raises corn and soybeans and has an Angus cow-calf herd.  He is active in Woodford County Farm Bureau and the Beta Delta Alumni Corporation Board of Alpha Gamma Rho.  He earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois State University.

Farney served as chair of the ISA Production Committee during FY12.  He raises no-till soybeans and corn.  He has been active in Farm Bureau and WISHH and was an Illinois Soy Leader.  In 2010, he attended a U.S. State Department award ceremony on behalf of ISA to recognize Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her efforts to curtail world hunger.

Marron is a graduate of Murray State University and previous ISA Soy Ambassador.  He serves as legislative affairs committee chair for the Vermilion County Farm Bureau and is on the farm policy task force for Illinois Farm Bureau.  He is supervisor for Pilot township, president of the Illinois Haflinger Horse Association and Vermilion County Fair draft horse superintendent.

Ziegler raises corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, cattle and hogs with his father and brother-in-law.  He has served on committees addressing seed purity issues, soybean rust, the Chinese Soybean Germplasm Consortium and Council for Best Management Practices.  He is a past president of Warren-Henderson County Farm Bureau and Foundation and has served as Terre Haute town supervisor.  He has a degree in agricultural economics from Western Illinois University.

Kindred was born and raised on his family's farm, and has been farming full time since 1980.  He attended Illinois State University, and previously worked for a local fertilizer company.  Kindred has been active with the Logan County Farm Bureau board, East Lincoln Farmers Grain Company board, served as an Atlanta Township trustee and been involved with the Illinois Corn Growers Association and Illinois Department of Agriculture Farm Bill Task Force

In other elections, several new directors joined the ISA board:

Paul Rasmussen, Jr., Genoa, Ill., was elected to serve as District 1 director in the position resigned by Bob Colwell from Franklin Grove, Ill.  

Duane Dahlman moves from at-large director to District 2 director, replacing retiring director Pat Dumoulin of Hampshire, Ill.  Dahlman farms near Marengo, Ill.

Jered Hooker from Clinton, Ill., is the new District 10 director, taking the place of Dale Crawford of Sullivan, Ill.

Wendel Lutz was re-elected as the District 11 director.  Lutz, from Dewey, Ill., raises corn and soybeans on his Champaign County farm. 

Donald Guinnip was re-elected as the District 14 representative.  He is from Marshall, Ill., and raises corn and soybeans. 

Tim Scates returns to the board from Carmi, Ill.  He is the District 16 director replacing Doug Winter from Mill Shoals, Ill. 

David Droste from Nashville, Ill., is the District 17 director taking the place of Dean Campbell, Coulterville, Ill. 

C.W. Gaffner returns to the board as an at-large director.  He is from Greenville, Ill., and has produced soybeans for more than 60 years. 

John Hagenbuch from Utica, Ill., is the other new at-large director.  He raises soybeans and hogs and is a precision farming specialist. 

The ISA board also approved funding for new projects within its priority target areas for FY13.