ND Grain Dealers meet, elect board

Elections were held at the 107th annual convention of the North Dakota Grain Dealers Association. Mark Hovland, General Manager at Fessenden Cooperative Association was elected President. Jeremy Burkhart, Multi-Commodity & Project Manager at CHS-SunPrairie, Minot, was elected First Vice President. Alex Richard, Grain Manager at Maple River Grain and Agronomy, Casselton, N.D., was elected Second Vice President. Scott Althoff, Manager at Alton Grain Terminal, LLC, Hillsboro, N.D., along with Burkhart and Hovland were re-elected to the board. Dan Mostad, General Manager at Berthold Farmers Elevator was newly elected to the board.

 Program topics at the convention included:

 • 2019 Grain Elevator Outlook by Will Secor, Cobank

 • Weather Trends: Recapping 2018, Forecasting 2019 and Beyond by Daryl Ritchison, NDAWN

 • ND Soybean Checkoff Update by Stephanie Sinner and Molly Fern, ND Soybean Council

 • Board of Directors Roles, Responsibilities and Liabilities by Dave Barrett of Barrett, Easterday, Cunningham & Eselgroth

 • Managing Risk: Internal Controls for the Grain CFO by Steve Rosvold, CFO University

Over 700 people attended the meeting. The next convention will be held in Fargo, Jan. 19-21, 2020.

The association offers safety inspection and employee training to its members. It operates a self-funded health insurance trust for about 1,000 grain elevator employees plus 1,500 dependents. Its Education Foundation has provided scholarships and grants to agriculture-related curricula at North Dakota colleges and universities for 38 years. The association publishes an annual directory, a monthly magazine and other communications as needed. For decades it has operated an insurance agency writing primary warehouse bonds on North Dakota grain elevators.

The association is governed by a nine-man board of elevator managers from around the state. Current Association officers and directors are Mark Hovland, Fessenden, President; Jeremy Burkhart, Minot, First VP; Alex Richard, Casselton, Second VP; and directors Gary Urlacher of Parshall, Steve Hepper of Bismarck, Joe Peterson of Bowbells, David Ramsey of Edinburg, Scott Althoff of Hillsboro and Dan Mostad of Berthold.

Staff consists of Stu Letcher, Fargo, Executive Vice President; Odie Scheel, Fargo, Office Manager; Sue Benson, Fargo Office Assistant; Dave Nelson, Halstad, Minn., Safety & Health Director; and Verne Wolf, Kindred, Sr Safety Specialist.

The NDGDA office is located at 2417 N University Dr, Suite A, Fargo.