Omaha, Nebraska – (December 20, 2011) Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) stockholders elected five Midwest producers to its Board effective January 1, 2012 - Jim Ehlers, Newell, IA, Jon Van Beek, Primghar, IA, Randy Peters, McCook, NE, Jennifer Zessin, Madison, NE and Cris Miller, Spearfish, SD. The FCSAmerica Board also re-appoints Nick Vande Weerd, Brookings, SD to the Board effective January 1, 2012.
Ehlers has a farming operation raising corn and soybeans, a farrow-to-finish hog operation and a feeder-to-finish cattle operation. He holds a degree from Iowa State University. Ehlers joined the Board on January 1, 2009 and his new three-year term will end on December 31, 2014.
Van Beek has a family farm operation raising corn and soybean seed. They also raise hogs and contract feed pigs. He attended Northwestern College. Van Beek has served on the FCSAmerica Board since 2009 and has prior experience on the Board for a total of nine years of service. He will begin a new four-year term on January 1, 2012 which will end December 31, 2015.
Peters has a family farm and ranch operation raising wheat, corn, soybeans and sunflowers. They raise and sell certified seed wheat and have a Black Angus and a Red Angus cow-calf herd. Peters attended McCook Junior College, the University of Nebraska Technical School of Agriculture and Kansas State University. He joined the Board on January 1, 2003 and his new three-year term will end on December 31, 2014.
Zessin has a family farm operation and past business experience in personnel and internal auditing. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Zessin joined the Board on January 1, 2009 and her new four-year term will end on December 31, 2015.
Miller has a family ranching business with a commercial cow-calf operation, and a background and finish cattle enterprise. He has a degree from Northwest Vo-Tech College and a National Rural Electric Director Certification. Miller will join the Board on January 1, 2012 with a four-year term ending on December 31, 2015.
Vande Weerd is from Brookings, SD and part of two agricultural businesses - Vande Weerd Family Farms custom raises heifers and farms, and Pleasant Dutch Dairy. He was appointed to fill a board vacancy effective November 1, 2011 and will begin a new four-year term on January 1, 2012 that will end on December 31, 2015.
Lynn Harrell, St. Lawrence, SD will end his service on the Board on December 31, 2011. The Board of Directors is grateful for his contributions to the success of the Association over the past six years.
About Farm Credit Services of America:
Farm Credit Services of America is proud to finance the growth of rural America, including the special needs of young and beginning producers. With more than 92,000 customers and assets of $16 billion, FCSAmerica is one of the region’s leading providers of credit and insurance services to farmers, ranchers, agribusiness and rural residents in Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. For more information, visit www.fcsamerica.com.
