The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) recognized members who reached milestone anniversaries of service to the organization at its 64th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting, held July 29-31 in Salt Lake City, UT. In addition to receiving a commemorative plaque marking their achievement, members also had the chance to speak with Global Update editors and have their experiences highlighted.
David Gibson is the executive director of Texas Corn Producers and has been a Council member for 25 years. He remembers arriving at his first Council meeting in 2000 and learning about the role and impact of farmers and checkoff organizations on developing international markets.
“Having our growers on Council Advisory Teams (A-Teams) and the Board of Directors has been beneficial to helping all U.S. farmers and Texas Corn,” Gibson said. “The work of the Council in growing and defending key markets like Mexico is vital to our growers in South Texas.”
Gibson has a cattle operation with his son and enjoys spending time with his 10 grandchildren, helping him keep an eye on the future of the agriculture industry and the need to continue expanding international markets.
“Seeing the development and growth of ethanol and distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) exports has been so important to the corn market,” Gibson said. “Without that growth, the increase in corn production that we’ve seen over the years would have far exceeded the market demand, thus the Council is key to corn farmers profitability and sustainability.”
Richard Cortese is a former state director for the Texas Farm Bureau and has served as a delegate to the Council for 15 years while farming corn, oats, wheat and cattle in Bell County, TX.
Cortese is politically active in his community and said he tries to use what he learns at Council meetings to help educate his fellow farmers back home.
“I am always interested in the speakers at our meetings that bring worldwide updates to us and I try to bring that back to our membership to guide policy issues,” Cortese said. “I try to tell people about the importance of their checkoff dollars and how they are used and how we use funds provided by legislation like the farm bill.”
Please join the Council in thanking David and Richard for their service to the organization!
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.