New president elected to NDFU A new president has taken over the reins of North Dakota Farmers Union. Mark Watne of Jamestown was elected to the position by the membership during the state convention November 22-23. He takes over from Elwood “Woody” Barth who served NDFU since 2011. Upon the announcement, Watne commented, “I am truly honored to be in this position. It was a long campaign and I’m looking forward to working with the membership, staff and board to make NDFU the best farm organization in the state.” Watne is no stranger to NDFU. His background includes working at the state office as the staff executive director, agricultural strategist and development specialist for 15 years. He served
on the board of directors for six years beginning in 1990 including serving as state treasurer. Watne volunteered as a board chairman for the Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives at North Dakota State University and is currently a board
Delegates elected to the national convention DISTRICT 1 DELEGATES: Keith Smith Alex Bata ALTERNATES Beau Locken Aaron Nord DISTRICT 2 DELEGATES: Loren Johnson Tim Ostrem ALTERNATES Myron Blumhagen Mindy Heinz DISTRICT 3 DELEGATES: Devin Jacobson Lisa Aufforth Ben Ethen ALTERNATES Steven Keith Allie Sagness DISTRICT 4 DELEGATES Libby Gravning Dean Baar Jeri Bakken
Union Farmer • www.ndfu.org
ALTERNATES Dave Witte Kim Klose DISTRICT 5 DELEGATES: Jim Hansen Adam Vetter ALTERNATES Roger Branning LeAna Hug DISTRICT 6 DELEGATES: Nancy Buckeye Mike Huebner ALTERNATES Josh Heinrich Shelly Ziesch DISTRICT 7 DELEGATES: Ronda Throener Daniel Spiekermeier ALTERNATES Arlo Anderson Danielle Lentz
member for First Community Credit Union of Jamestown. He is a self-employed farmer in the Velva, N.D. area but resides in Jamestown with his wife, Michelle, and son, Nick. His other son, Eric, just graduated from the University of North Dakota and is employed at Cavendish Farms in Jamestown. Daughter Meghan is a medical student at the University of North Dakota. In other election news, Ronda Throener of Cogswell, N.D. was named to the Board of Directors representing District 7, replacing Ben Vig. Bob Kuylen was re-elected as the vice president. Other board members re-elected included Terry Borstad, District 1; Dennis Stromme, District 3; and Wes Niederman, District 5. A total of 734 people registered for the state convention and were welcomed by Enerbase General Manager Tony Bernhardt who gave some economic facts about the area, handed out gas saving coupons and encouraged everyone to support their local cooperatives. Annual reports from Farmers Union Mutual Insurance and North Dakota Farmers Union were reviewed as well as financial information and bylaws for the organization. The convention offered delegates and members the opportunity to debate issues confronting family farmers and determine 2014 policy for the organization. Youth leaders were recognized for years of service and a Founding Farmers restaurant chef gave a live cooking demonstration in an effort to promote a new cookbook. Other breakout sessions included information on precision agriculture presented by John Nowatzki and the state’s infrastructure with Darcy Rosendahl. Entertainment was provided by the Deuces Wild Dueling Piano show and Porta Party D.J. and photo booth.s 3