ISA announces new directors

URBANDALE, Iowa — The Iowa Soybean Assoc. (ISA) announced its new district directors, elected by the soybean growers of Iowa.

The newest district director is Bob Cole of Fayette, representing District 3 in northeastern Iowa. Cole and his wife, Ursula, grow corn and soybeans. He has served as president of the Fayette County Corn and Soybean Assoc. and is involved in several community organizations.

Cole replaces John Hoffman, current president of the American Soybean Association, who chose not to seek reelection to the ISA board.

Those reelected to three-year terms are Sheila Hebenstreit of Jefferson, representing District 4; A.J. Blair of Dayton, representing District 5; Ed Ulch of Solon, representing District 6; Ray Gaesser of Corning, representing District 7; Cliff Mulder of Pella, representing District 8; and Tom Oswald of Cleghorn, director at large.

Other board members include: District 1, Curt Sindergard of Rolfe and Brian Kemp of Sibley; District 2, Dan Beenken of Bancroft and Dean Coleman of Humboldt; District 3, Cindi Grover of Elma; District 4, Delbert Christensen of Audubon; District 5, Randy VanKooten of Lynnville; District 6, Ben Schmidt of Iowa City; District 7, John Schlorholtz of Percival; District 9, John Heisdorffer of Keota and Larry Marek of Riverside; and At-Large Directors Roy Arends of Alexander, Ron Heck of Perry and Jim Andrew of Jefferson.

The new directors will assume their seats on the ISA board on Sept. 6.

BOAH names dairy director

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Indiana State Veterinarian Bret D. Marsh, DVM, announced the appointment of Terry Philibeck as director of the Dairy Division of the Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH). Philibeck will assume the role on Sept. 10.

“We are excited to have Terry join our team,” Marsh said. “We’ve taken our time to find the right person for this position. We feel fortunate to have found someone with a wealth of knowledge and experience in managing a state dairy program, who also shows a passion for the job.”

Philibeck comes to BOAH from the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) Food and Dairy Division, where he has served as West Region Dairy Manager since 1997. His tenure with MDA began in the field as an inspector.

Prior to joining Michigan’s regulatory team, Philibeck was an area supervisor with the Michigan Milk Producers Association cooperative. He is a graduate of Michigan State University’s Dairy Science program.

Philibeck replaces Tom Ford, who has served as acting director for more than a year. Ford will continue his duties with BOAH as part of the Dairy Division leadership team.

Illinois farmer reelected president of Corn Growers

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The American Corn Growers Association (ACGA) board of directors unanimously reelected Keith Bolin, a Manlius, Ill., corn and hog producer, as its president.

ACGA also elected Troy Roush as its new vice president for the coming year. Roush farms with his father and two brothers around the town of Van Buren, Ind., producing corn, soybeans, wheat and popcorn, on land his family has farmed since 1828. Roush also produces tomatoes as co-owner of a business with two friends.

He has been active in state politics, and was instrumental in passage of the “Farmers Bill of Rights” in 2001. Roush has also been engaged in speaking throughout the U.S. and Germany on issues of concern to family farmers.

ACGA reelected Farm World-area corn farmers Charles Mattis of Danville, Ill., and Mark Kuhn of Charles City, Iowa, to serve on the ACGA board of directors.

Carter director of UK Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Craig Carter, a 26-year veteran in diagnostic veterinary medicine, is the new director of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture’s Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center.

Carter, who serves as epidemiology professor and section chief, took the helm Aug. 1, replacing Lenn Harrison, who retired after serving 16 years as director.

Since coming to the state two years ago, Carter has spearheaded the development of Kentucky’s first fully integrated animal health information and surveillance system which provides nearly real-time analysis of health events involving animals.

Before joining UK, Carter served in various capacities at Texas A & M University. He also was co-founder of Texas Medical Informatics, a company that developed and marketed medical information systems which aid in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases for veterinary and human medicine.

In 2005, LDDC had about 60,000 cases that included nearly 150,000 animals. The equine industry makes up about half of the center’s work.

Researchers appointed for Tennessee Biofuels Initiative

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The state’s funding of the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative has prompted the University of Tennessee to appoint two researchers to direct the $48.9 million endeavor.

Dr. Kelly Tiller, the agricultural economist who helped author the initiative’s business model, and Dr. Tim Rials, a polymer chemist who directs the Tennessee Forest Products Center, will oversee the initiative and associated Institute of Agriculture bioenergy efforts.

Tiller will serve as director of external operations. Her duties will include general oversight of the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative and managing development of the pilot biorefinery, as well as managing relationships with external partners interested in collaborative projects associated with the plant or working to develop a bioenergy industry in the state.

Rials will serve as director of research for bioenergy initiatives. He will oversee activities associated with refining the biomass conversion process and the development of co-products – valuable commercial products expected to result as part of the biomass-to-ethanol conversion process.

Rials will also continue in his role as director of the federally funded Sun Grant Southeastern Regional Center, which coordinates some $7 million in federal research allocations for alternative energy research throughout the region.

Both Tiller and Rials will retain their faculty appointments through the UT Agricultural Experiment Station. Dr. Tom Klindt, interim dean of the UT Agricultural Experiment Station, emphasized that the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory/UT-led bioenergy center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and other research grants represent a combined investment approaching $200 million.

Wright employees get training

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — Wright Implement Co., Inc. recently sent seven technicians from its John Deere dealerships in Williamsport, Crawfordsville and Rockville, Ind., to Plain City, Ohio, to attend advanced training in computer-based diagnostic systems.

Attending were Roy Purcell, Travis Frodge and Kayle Hutson, Williamsport; Kenny Riggs and Matt Donohue, Rockville, and Craig Runyon and Josh Carrell, Crawfordsville. Steve Semenick of Crawfordsville and Brad Craycraft of Rockville also recently attended a hay operations and adjustments training session in London, Ohio.