N.D. Corn Growers Association Cornvention Wednesday in Fargo

The North Dakota Corn Growers Association are holding their 2011 Annual CornVention on Wednesday at the Fargo Holiday Inn. The event speakers includes renowned forecast strategist Bob Treadway, Meterologist Leon Osborne and NDSU Crops Economist Frayne Olson.

Bob Treadway's work as a futurist, speaker, consultant, and strategy advisor began 24 years ago during his time in the broadcasting industry, when clients asked him to develop forecasts to present in advance of his strategic planning consultation and facilitation. Now, his work extends to multiple countries, several continents, dozens of industries, and several, hundred client organizations in a broad range of industries. Most of his practice is executive sessions with directors and top management in think tank, brainstorming, future visioning, decision-making, and strategic planning projects. As one executive put it recently, "Your workshop, in just one short hour, helped the audience with HOW to think about their own businesses in the future."

Leon Osborne Jr. is the president/CEO and co-founder of Meridian Environmental Technology, Inc. He has more than 30 years of atmospheric science experience in academia, research and industry. Osborne has served as a faculty member of the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, Department of Atmospheric Sciences since 1979, where he is a tenured faculty member, a Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, and Director of the UND Surface Transportation Weather Research Center. He was the 1995 recipient of the National Governor’s Association Award for Outstanding Service to State Government. In 1996, he was appointed by Governor Ed Schafer as North Dakota’s representative to the Science and Technology Council of the States.

Frayne Olson is the crop economist/marketing specialist with the NDSU Extension Service. He specializes in crop marketing and risk management, with joint work in agribusiness management and farm management. Olson earned his degrees in agricultural economics from North Dakota State University, Fargo, and his doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri. From 1987 until 2003, Frayne worked in the farm management and agribusiness management areas at NDSU during the winter months and farmed in Eastern North Dakota during the summer months. In 2003, Frayne transferred the farming operation to his brother. After graduating from the University of Missouri in 2006, he worked at Iowa State University for two years before returning to NDSU in the fall of 2008.

Bart Schott is the president of the National Corn Growers Association. A Kulm, N.D., native, Bart and his family are third- and fourth-generation owner/operators raising no-till corn, soybeans and wheat. Schott also runs a seed business including both sales and small grain seed for the North Dakota Seed Department. He has served as chairman and vice chairman of the North Dakota Corn Council. Schott was previously a member of the NCGA Biotechnology Working Group, chairman of NCGA’s Bylaws Committee and a member of the Research and Development Business Action Team. He and his wife, Linsey, have three children: Peter, Andrew and Micah.

Rick Tolman serves as CEO of the National Corn Growers Association where he has been since September 2000. Tolman has served as marketing planning manager for the Advanced Harvesting Systems Group at International Harvester Company, market research analyst for the Gehl Company and a graduate research assistant at Purdue University.

Tolman serves on the Board of the Waterways Council, Inc., and recently finished a term on the Executive Committee of the Field to Market Sustainability Group. In addition, he chaired the temporary steering committee that formed the new U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance, has served on the USDA Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee for grains and oilseeds and as Chairman for the Midwest Area River Coalition. Tolman is a member of the Society of Industrial Leaders and is an expert on agriculture for the Gerson Lehrman Group Councils. He also has served as a guest researcher with the Japan Science and Technology Agency. Tolman was recognized as the 2008 Agribusiness Leader of the Year by the National Agri-Marketing Association.

Tolman is a graduate of Brigham Young University and received his master's degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University. He and his wife, Linda, have five children and reside in Ballwin, Mo.

The event also includes a trade show and lunch. Registration for the event will take place at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 16.

Founded in 1957, the National Corn Growers Association represents approximately 35,000 dues-paying corn growers and the interests of more than 300,000 farmers who contribute through corn checkoff programs in their states. NCGA and its 48 affiliated state associations and checkoff organizations work together to help protect and advance corn growers’ interests.

The North Dakota Corn Growers Association was founded in 1987 and serves as the activity arm of the North Dakota Corn Council.

Tags: agriculture, news, updates, corn, farming, nd