Clarkfield farmer elected Chair of MN Corn Research & Promotion Council

Doug Albin, a corn, soybean, wheat and alfalfa farmer near Clarkfield in Yellow Medicine County, was recently elected to serve as Chair of the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council (MCR&PC).

The 11-member MCR&PC administers the efficient and effective investment of Minnesota’s corn check-off, which is a way for corn farmers to voluntarily invest in their own industry through a self-imposed fee paid at the first point of sale for every bushel of corn sold. Check-off funds are used to help corn farmers create new markets, increase productivity and profitability, improve water quality and environmental stewardship, and build a positive image for corn farming in Minnesota.

“We’re currently facing several challenges as Minnesota corn farmers,” said Albin, who will serve a 1-year term as Chair. “But there are also plenty of opportunities. The corn check-off is one way the MCR&PC helps corn farmers seize those opportunities and overcome the challenges in front of us.”

In 2013, Albin received the Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) “River Keeper” award for his efforts to protect water quality on his farm. On one of Albin’s 80-acre fields along the Yellow Medicine River, he installed a controlled tile outlet to manage flooding, a woodchip bioreactor to treat tile drainage, a large saturated buffer with an existing native buffer strip and a toe wood sod mat to protect the river from streambank erosion.

Albin served on the Minnesota Corn Growers Association board of directors from 2000-10. He was elected to the MCR&PC in 2011, where he has served as vice president before being elected Chair at the June council meeting.

Also elected at the June meeting were Chad Willis, Willmar, Vice Chair; Myron “Mickey” Peterson, Sacred Heart, Treasurer and Jerry Demmer, Clarks Grove, Secretary.