Oklahoma Wheat Commission to hold District IV election

Wheat (Photo by Todd Johnson.)

The Oklahoma Wheat Commission will hold an election for the District IV board seat.  The election will be at 1 p.m. May 9 at the Cotton County Fair and Expo Center located at 924 W. Missouri Avenue, Walters, Oklahoma. District IV consists of Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Kiowa and Tillman counties.

 All wheat producers within District IV boundaries who are actively engaged in wheat production, have marketed wheat, and have paid a check-off fee and left that fee with the commission for the current year (July 1, 2023 to May 9, 2024) are eligible to vote.  It will be the responsibility of the producer to prove their eligibility to vote by providing a dated grain elevator receipt including the producer’s name and amount of wheat sold, and a driver’s license or some other form of identification.

Candidates wishing to run in the election must be at least 25 years old, a resident of Oklahoma, engaged in growing wheat in the state for at least five years and must derive a substantial portion of his/her income from growing wheat.  Three nominations will be made at the election, from which the Oklahoma secretary of agriculture will appoint one person to serve a five-year term with the Oklahoma Wheat Commission.

The commission’s vacancy meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at noon and the election will begin promptly at 1 p.m. Lunch will be provided at noon by the Oklahoma Wheat Growers’ Association with Mike Schulte, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, speaking on “Wheat Research/Wheat Supply and Demand Outlook.”