Chris Cherry is new ICGA President; new directors attend first board meeting

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Dec. 6, 2023) — During its board of directors meeting last week, the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) elected Chris Cherry, a farmer from New Palestine, Ind., as president of the policy organization for 2024. Other new board officers include Vice President Tyler Everett, Lebanon, Ind.; Secretary J.R. Roesner, Ferdinand, Ind.; and Treasurer Joe Tuholski, LaPorte, Ind.

Cherry has served as ICGA vice president, and he is succeeding Scott Smith, a farmer from Windfall, Ind., who has been president for the past two years. Smith is in his second, three-year term and will remain on the ICGA board. Cherry grows corn, soybeans and wheat on his farm in Hancock County. He said ICGA will focus on pressing farm policy issues.

“It is an honor to be the ICGA president,” Cherry said. “There are many pressing issues that we need to address this year. Of course, one of the biggest is getting the next federal farm bill adopted. We will do all we can in working with our senators and representatives in Congress from Indiana to help get a bill passed in 2024.”

Everett served as the ICGA treasurer last year and said he is pleased to act as the board’s vice president in 2024. He is a third-generation farmer and works with his father to produce corn, soybeans and wheat on their farm in Boone and Hendricks counties. Everett represents District 7 on the ICGA board.

ICGA Secretary Roesner and Treasurer Tuholski have experience on the state’s corn and soybean checkoff boards. Tuholski served for nine years on the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) board from 2011-2019 and was the ISA chair in 2018. Roesner is an Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) board director and is on the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Board.

New Directors Seated

ICGA Board Director Tom Murphy, a farmer from Chesterton, Ind., was re-elected to a second term in District 1, which includes Lake, Porter and northwestern LaPorte counties. Alan Dunn, a farmer from Michigantown, Ind., was elected in District 4, which has Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clinton, Hendricks, Jasper, Montgomery, Morgan, Newton, Putnam, Tippecanoe, White, Warren and parts of Cass, Fountain and Howard counties. Dunn takes the District 4 post of Mike Beard, who finished his third, three-year term in District 4 last week.

“We want to congratulate Alan Dunn and Tom Murphy, but first we’d like to sincerely thank Mike Beard for his nine years as the District 4 representative on the board,” said ICGA CEO Courtney Kingery. “Mike’s service to the ICGA board has been appreciated through the years.”

Dunn grows corn and soybeans on his Clinton County farm. A full-time farmer, he earned a degree in marketing from Butler University in 1993 and is a Class 6 graduate of the Indiana AgriInstitute Leadership Program. He serves on the Clinton County Council as the board’s president.

“As corn growers, it is not an overstatement to say that we are the operators of the world’s most efficient renewable energy business,” Dunn said. “Using only energy from the sun, water and a few key elements, our farms create food, fuel and clothing for people around the world. And yet, what we do is often misunderstood; or worse, mischaracterized. I want to work to protect the miracle of modern farming and to help educate our customers and partners on the amazing things we have accomplished, and will accomplish, as the industry upon which many others are built.”

Also new to the board is Crothersville, Ind., farmer Tyler Pottschmidt, who was appointed to the seat in District 9. Pottschmidt will serve the one year remaining on the term left following the death of ICGA Board Director Mike Flock earlier this year. District 9 includes Brown, Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Jackson, Johnson, Lawrence, Morgan, Monroe, Orange, Scott and Washington counties. To remain on the board, Pottschmidt will need to seek election in 2024.

Pottschmidt started farming in 2015 in Jackson County. He is also a financial officer for Farm Credit Mid-America, and he has earned a bachelor’s degree in farm management from Purdue University. Pottschmidt grows corn and soybeans in a rotation on his no-till farm that he operates with his father and brother. He also plants cover crops.

“I want to promote and encourage innovation for new end uses for corn,” Pottschmidt said. “I also hope to see new, innovative ways to produce a crop.”

Murphy grows amylose corn for Cargill Hammond, and the rest of his crops are commercial grain. Murphy also grows soybeans on his farm in Porter, Lake and LaPorte counties. A full-time farmer, he began farming in 1995. Murphy has also served with the Porter County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Porter County Farm Bureau. Murphy wants to carry the concerns of District 1 farmers to state and federal lawmakers.

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About Indiana Corn Growers Association: The Indiana Corn Growers Association works with state and federal governments to develop and promote sound policies that benefit Indiana corn farmers. The ICGA consists of nine farmer-directors who provide leadership to the organization on behalf of more than 800 members statewide.

This communication was NOT funded with Indiana corn checkoff dollars.