MCGA welcomes three new board members
The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) is welcoming three new members to its board of directors.
Clayton Johnson, Ellyn Oelfke, and Nick Peterson were elected to the board during MCGA’s annual meeting. President Richard Syverson said he looks forward to working with these new members.
“I’m excited to work with these farmers on issues affecting growers throughout the state,” he said in a statement. “I congratulate Clayton, Ellyn, and Nick on the positions and am eager for them to join the board.”
Clayton Johnson
Johnson will represent District 1, which includes nine southwestern Minnesota counties. He grows corn and soybeans, has a small cow/calf herd, custom feeds hogs, and is a territory sales manager for Pivot Bio. He’s also on the Pipestone County Corn & Soybean Growers Association Board of Directors. He lives with his wife and two kids.
Ellyn Oelfke
Oelfke will represent District 2, which includes 12 south-central Minnesota counties. She raises corn, soybeans, and beef cattle with her husband, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. They also sell seed corn for Wyffels Hybrids and help manage two hog barn sites for another local farmer. Oelfke and her sister-in-law also operate their own specialty-crop business, growing cut flowers and pumpkins.
Oelkfe is also a volunteer for CommonGround Minnesota, a Minnesota Corn-run program that educates non-farming women about agriculture through events, blogs, videos, and social media.
Nick Peterson
Peterson was elected in District 5, which includes 27 central and west-central Minnesota counties. He and his family raise corn, soybeans, edible beans, and cereal rye and finish about 300 head of Holsteins. They also sell seed corn for LG Seeds and Golden Harvest. Peterson is also on the board of directors of the St. Joseph Mutual Insurance Company and the Clear Lake Lions Club.
Reelections
Besides Johnson, Oelfke, and Peterson, MCGA also reelected four board members at MN Ag Expo. Todd Wentzel of Murdock was reelected in District 4, which covers 11 western Minnesota counties. Wes Beck of St. James, Bryan Biegler of Lake Wilson, and Angela Guentzel of Kasota were reelected to at-large seats.
First elected in 2020, Wentzel grows corn, soybeans, wheat, and edible beans. He is a member of the National Corn Growers Association’s Production Technology Access Action Team and the Swift County Corn Growers Association Board of Directors.
Beck, also elected for the first time in 2020, raises corn, soybeans, and hogs and is a member of the Watonwan County Corn & Soybean Growers Association Board of Directors. Biegler was appointed to an open at-large seat in late 2016 and was reelected twice. He and his wife, Lauren, grow corn and soybeans on their family farm in Lake Wilson. Guentzel farms in Kasota on a sixth-generation corn and soybean farm and was first elected in 2020. She and her husband, Andy, also own a seed company.
The MCGA Board of Directors is comprised of 18 grower-leaders from across Minnesota. Board members serve three-year terms. To learn more about the board, visit mncorn.org/contact.
About the Minnesota Corn Growers Association
Founded in 1978, MCGA is Minnesota’s grassroots organization for corn farmers. With more than 6,500 members, MCGA is one of the largest grassroots farm organizations in the U.S. In partnership with the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council, MCGA identifies opportunities for Minnesota’s 24,000 corn farmers while building connections with the public.
