Kansas Corn Commission Election Results; Neitzel Joins KCC Board Representing East-Central District 

 

April 4, 2021–Newly elected and reelected Kansas Corn Commissioners began their three-year terms on April 1, 2022. Griff Howard, Hiawatha was elected to represent the northeast district; Krystale Neitzel, Lawrence, was elected to represent the east-central district, and Randy Small, Neodesha was reelected to represent the southeast district. The commodity commission elections were conducted by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Commissioners are elected by growers in their respective districts.

Neitzel, of Bismarck Farms in Douglas County, is the newest commissioner, filling the seat of retiring East Central District commissioner, Pat Ross, who served as a commissioner for 15 years. Neitzel is a graduate of Kansas Corn’s first Kansas Corn Corps class.  Since becoming involved with Kansas Corn, Neitzel has volunteered with Kansas CommonGround and has hosted consumer events on their family farm. Neitzel currently works for Kansas Insurance Inc. as operations manager and works on the family farm with her husband raising two kids, corn and soybeans. Their operation spans into Douglas, Jefferson and Leavenworth counties.

“I’m honored to fill the Kansas Corn Commission seat for my district and represent my fellow corn farmers,” says Neitzel. “My passion lies within the next generation and opportunities to educate future agriculturists and consumers. I see delight in my children as we share our own farm’s story and I hope to continue programs like Kansas Corn STEM that provide chances to grow the relationship between consumers and growers. Technology and the world seem to be everchanging and its important to keep up and connect both farmers and consumers to all sides of production agriculture.”

Griff Howard was elected to represent the northeast Kansas district, He has served on the Kansas Corn Commission after being appointed in August 2021 to fill the seat of retiring commissioner Ken McCauley, White Cloud. Howard is a fourth-generation farmer from Hiawatha where he lives with his wife and their three children. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Economics, Griff returned to the family farming operation, which includes his parents and three full-time employees.  Howard Farms Inc. is a row crop operation that focuses on corn and soybean production.  Howard Farms also operates Howard Seed LLC..

Randy Small was re-elected to serve as the southeast Kansas Corn Commissioner. He has served on the commission since 2013. Small operates 2S Land and Cattle, which earned national honors in 2018 when the farm received the National Corn Growers Association’s Good Steward Recognition. Along with his wife and family, he farms more than 2,000 acres, which have been 100% no-till since 1999 and manages a sizable cow-calf herd on cover crops and regenerating native prairie grass pasture land. Sustainability is a priority of Small and his family as they focus heavily on soil health, run-off prevention and streambank stabilization on their farm.

The Kansas Corn Commission is made up of farmers elected from each of the nine crop reporting districts in the state. The commission determines how checkoff funds will be invested in the areas of market development, education, promotion and research.