Dan Root

Delegates to the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) annual meeting on Jan. 28 in Mankato elected Dan Root, Hayfield, and Zach Fore, Mentor, to serve on the organization’s state board of directors.

Root farms near Byron in southeastern Minnesota and also works as an ag lender for Bremer Bank in Kasson. He previously served as a county executive director for the Farm Service Agency for 25 years.

“We need a good, strong voice for agriculture. Serving on the MCGA board is a great way to be a part of that voice,” said Root, who has a degree in ag business and farm management from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. “I’ve been involved locally with MCGA for a long time, and I’m looking forward to using my diverse background in agriculture to help the organization continue to carry out its mission from the state level.”

Fore grew up on a family farm in Red Lake County in Northwest Minnesota and has worked as a field agronomist for DuPont-Pioneer for the last 10 years. Fore has also worked as an experimental herbicide researcher for FMC Corporation, an agronomist for Cenex/Land O’ Lakes Agronomy Company and as a cropping systems specialist for the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

“The northwest part of the state is a significant growth area for corn production,” said Fore, who has a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from the University of Minnesota-St. Paul and a masters from

Zach Fore

North Dakota State University. “There’s great opportunity for sustainable and profitable corn production in this area. I look forward to representing corn farmers in this region as it continues to become a more important area for Minnesota corn farmers.”

Root replaces longtime MCGA board member and Belgrade farmer John Mages, who retired after serving nine years. Fore replaces Gary Purath, a farmer in Red Lake County, who retired after serving on the board in an interim capacity.

MCGA has over 7,100 members and works closely with the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council to represent the interests of Minnesota’s 25,000 corn farmers. The shared mission of both organizations is to identify and promote opportunities for corn farmers, while building better connections with the non-farming public.

To learn more about MCGA and MCR&PC, visit www.mncorn.org and follow @mncorn on Twitter.