TAMPA, FLORIDA, U.S. — Idaho wheat producer Wayne Hurst was elected and installed as president of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) at the organization’s board of directors meeting on March 5.
Hurst is from the Burley, Idaho, U.S., area, where he has operated a diversified crop farm since 1980, including cultivation of wheat, sugar beets, potatoes, dry beans and forage crops.
As an officer for the Idaho Grain Producers Association and on the NAWG board, Hurst has been deeply involved in wheat policy issues for more than a decade. He has served on various NAWG policy committees and the NAWG Budget Committee and was chair of the NAWG/U.S. Wheat Associates/WETEC consolidation committee in 2006.
Like most NAWG officers, he has participated in two leadership training programs sponsored by the NAWG Foundation for incoming wheat leaders, WOLF and WILOT.
Hurst attended Brigham Young University and Idaho State University. He is fluent in Spanish, having served two years on a church mission in Concepcion, Chile. He is also an accomplished musician and has held numerous leadership positions in community organizations and at church.
Hurst and his wife, Sherrie, have five children and four grandchildren.
Other members of the 2011 NAWG officer corps elected at the meeting include:
- Erik Younggren, Hallock, Minnesota, U.S., first vice-president;
- Bing Von Bergen, Moccasin, Montana, U.S., second vice-president;
- Paul Penner, Hillsboro, Kansas, U.S., secretary-treasurer; and
- Jerry McReynolds, Woodston, Kansas, U.S., immediate past president.
NAWG officers typically “run the chairs” for five years after being selected as secretary-treasurer, though they all must be interviewed and recommended by the NAWG Nominating Committee and approved by the NAWG board of directors on an annual basis.
