MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA – Alan Tiemann, a farmer from Nebraska,U.S.,  was elected July 29 as U.S. Grains Council (USGC) chairman during the organization’s 55th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

“Markets don’t just happen, we have to work to make them happen,” Tiemann said in his first speech to USGC delegates as chairman. “The council has been successfully doing that for more than 55 years and has developed a level of excellence in its work that I want to focus on this year.

“That is why our theme this year is excellence in exports. I have found the council displays excellence in its membership, its global staff team, the relationships it fosters, the collaboration it has with its partners and its dedication to export markets,” he said. “All these areas have been key in making the council the successful organization it is today.”

Tiemann farms in Seward, Nebraska, U.S. and has spent more than 35 years in production agriculture.
An at-large director and past chairman for the Nebraska Corn Board, Tiemann has been a delegate from that board to the council since 2005. Prior to that, Tiemann served as a delegate to the council from the Nebraska Grain Sorghum Board for a number of years.

At the Montreal meeting, the board of delegates also elected the council’s 2015-16 board of directors. The board now includes:
• Alan Tiemann, chairman, Nebraska Corn Board
• Chip Councell, vice-chairman, Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board
• Deb Keller, secretary/treasurer, Iowa Corn Promotion Board
• Ron Gray, past chairman, Illinois Corn Marketing Board
• Thomas Sleight, president and CEO, U.S. Grains Council
• Steve Brody, agribusiness sector director, DuPont Pioneer
• Mark Seastrand, barley sector director, North Dakota Barley Council
• Dick Gallagher, corn sector director, Iowa Corn Promotion Board
• Bill Kubecka, sorghum sector director, United Sorghum Checkoff Program
• Craig Floss, state checkoff sector director, Iowa Corn Promotion Board
• Jim Tobin, at-large director, Monsanto Company
• Jim Stuever, at-large director, Missouri Corn Merchandising Council
• Charles Ring, at-large director, Texas Corn Producers Board
• Jim Raben, at-large director, Illinois Corn Marketing Board
The new board was seated July 29 and will serve until July 2016.