Smith, Tuholski and Roesner seated on the Indiana Corn Growers Association board

BY DAVE BLOWER JR.

Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) President Scott Smith was elected to a second term on the policy organization’s Board of Directors while Joe Tuholski and J.R. Roesner were first-time winners during the election earlier this year. Both Tuholski and Roesner joined their first ICGA Board meeting in late 2022.

Smith, a Windfall, Ind., farmer, was first elected to the ICGA Board in 2019. Although new to ICGA, both Tuholski and Roesner have experience on the state’s soybean and corn checkoff Boards. Tuholski, a Mill Creek, Ind. farmer, served for nine years on the Indiana Soybean Alliance (ISA) Board from 2011-2019, and he was the ISA Chair in 2019.

Roesner, a farmer from Ferdinand, Ind., is an active member of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council (ICMC) board, and he currently serves as its treasurer.

Smith was re-elected to District 5, which includes the counties of Delaware, Tipton, Madison, Grant, Hamilton, and parts of Howard. Roesner will represent District 8, replacing Mike Nichols, who completed his nine years of service in November. District 8 includes all of Vermillion, Parke, Vigo, Clay, Owen, Greene, Sullivan, Knox, Daviess, Martin, Gibson, Pike, Dubois, Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, Perry, Orange, Crawford and part of Fountain counties.

Tuholski was elected in District 2. He will follow Christian Rosen, who is also finishing six years on the board. District 2 includes all of St. Joseph, Elkhart, Marshall, Starke, Fulton, Pulaski, Miami, Wabash, and parts of Cass, Kosciusko and LaPorte counties.

“We want to congratulate the new board members, but first we’d like to sincerely thank Mike Nichols and Christian Rosen who completed their current terms on the board in November,” said ICGA CEO Courtney Kingery. “Your service to the ICGA Board has been much appreciated.”

The following are brief biographies of these board members:

Scott Smith

Along with his wife, Terri, Smith owns Triple S Smith Farms and Sharp-View Farms in Tipton, Madison, Grant and Howard counties. He has a diversified, third-generation farm that produces corn, soybeans and process tomatoes. A full-time farmer, Smith began farming in 1974. His goal is to promote economic and environmental policies that help Indiana farmers and to encourage the growth of the state’s ethanol industry.

“As a corn producer, I want to promote the ethanol industry,” he said. “I also want to protect farmers’ rights from government regulations. I am supportive of food safety and legal immigration to provide a sufficient workforce for farmers.”

Tuholski raises corn, seed corn, popcorn, soybeans and alfalfa on his farm in LaPorte and St. Joseph counties near Mill Creek, Ind. Tuholski started farming in 1995. He has two children: Nathan and Lukas.

“We have a basic corn and soybean farm,” Tuholski said. “We are 100 percent no-till and also use cover crops. I hope to proactively support Indiana agriculture by being a voice locally, statewide and nationally.”

An ICMC board member since 2015, Roesner was also elected in July to the National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA) Corn Board. Roesner is only the third Hoosier farmer to be elected to NCGA – the first since 2018. He and his wife, Charlotte, are raising two sons, Clayton, age 14, and Beau, age 11, on his farm that touches parts of Dubois, Pike, Spencer and Warrick counties.

“I grow corn, soybeans and wheat in cooperation with my brother,” Roesner explained. “We farm in four counties in southwestern Indiana. I have been farming full-time since graduating from Purdue University in 2000.”