LIA Briefs

Congratulations to Clark Tacke, Class 37, and his wife, Sara, on the birth of their son Carsten Earl on November 15. Clark farms in the Cottonwood area and left home at 1:15 am for a fast trip to Lewiston hospital where Carsten was born at 2:32 am. Clark says, "He came in a hurry! And probably was just anxious to meet his brothers Corbyn, Cael, and Cieran" - whom Clark refers to as the "boy tribe of Tackes."
 
Congratulations to Brenna Christison, Class 37, who became engaged in early November to Greg Smith. Brenna continues her employment with the Idaho Wine Commission.
 
Congratulations to Dave Duvall, Class 35, and his wife, Rachelle, on the birth of Ariel Nadine on November 2 at 9 lbs. 4 oz. Dave works as Assistant Water Superintendent for Nampa & Meridian Irrigation District.
 
Maggie Malson, Class 39, was elected to serve on the Idaho Cattle Association Board of Directors as the Idaho Cattlewoman Representative. The two-year term began in November 2019 at ICA's Annual Convention and Trade Show. Maggie is an agricultural communications professional sharing the story of farmers and ranchers through writing, photography, and social media. She also works alongside her husband, Josh, raising purebred cattle at Malson Angus & Herefords outside of Parma. 
 
Congratulations to Richard Durrant, Class 9, who received a Distinguished Service Award from the Idaho Wheat Commission at a recent Tri-state meeting held in Spokane.
 
Congratulations to Justin Place, Class 37, who was recently elected to the Executive Board for the Idaho Grain Producers. Justin joins other LIA alumni on the board including: Vice President Lucas Spratling, Class 36; Ty Iverson, Class 24; and Past President Matt Mosman, Class 34.
 
Congratulations to Sarah Baker, Class 34, who was presented a Distinguished Service Award for Idaho by the National Association of County Agricultural Agents.
 
Rick Pearson, Class 21, farms near Buhl and was recently selected as the #1 Producer in the Nation for production of irrigated winter wheat, producing 211 bushels per acre.
 
Gretchen Hyde, Class 36, and Rochelle Oxarango, Class 12, are proud daughters of Jim Little who was recently presented a Distinguished Associate Award by the U of I College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Gretchen and husband, Bob, are also busting with pride over their son, Luke, who was named "Hometown Player of the Game" by the U of I Vandals. Luke is a graduating senior this year at the U of I.
 
Sympathy is extended to the family of Tom McCaughey, Class 11, who passed away on November 13, losing a long battle with cancer. Tom worked for Glanbia Nutritionals at the time he went through LIA.
 
Congratulations to Lori Satterwhite-Turner, Class 36, who recently applied for graduate school at the University of Idaho. Lori is currently employed by Simplot Land and Livestock.
 
Anticipate some change in the life of John Wright, Class 37, who recently sold his dairy, cows, and equipment. He is not ready to use the "R" word, so he is just relocating his priorities. John was also President of Idaho Milk Producers Association and on the board of the Idaho Milk Products Commission. He resigned from both positions after selling his operation. Thanks, John, for your leadership in Idaho's number one agriculture industry!
 
Sympathy is also extended to Frank "Flip" Phillips, Class 3, in the passing of his father, Bud Phillips, on November 2. The service was attended by many LIA Alumni. Flip's wife is Susi Larrocea, Class 4, and they are engaged in a farming and ranching operation in Star.
 
At the Regional Event in Moscow, we interviewed CEO of PNW Farmer's Cooperative Bill Newbry. Bill has been a great friend to LIA and has spoken at a number of our regional events in North Idaho since PNW has been a sponsor. Bill is retiring from the company and recently we received the job announcement. Bill asked we share the announcement below with you in hopes there might be some applicants from LIA.
 
Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative (PNW) 
 
PNW's current CEO is retiring after 36 years with the cooperative of which he served as CEO for 24 years. The position reports to a 9-member board of directors plus its independent non-voting advisor.
 
PNW came into existence in 2008 through a merger between Whitman County Growers, Inc. and Genesee Union Warehouse Company. Cooperative Agricultural Producers (CoAg) merged into PNW in June 2017, creating a current storage capacity of 35.5 million bushels. Members number approximately 1,600.  PNW has 45 facilities in locations covering a broad geographic area throughout Whitman and Spokane Counties in Washington State, and Latah, Benewah, and Nez Perce Counties in Idaho. PNW encompasses an extensive grower base from Montana, the Idaho Panhandle, extending to Garfield and Wallowa counties in Washington State, and river and prairie areas in Clearwater and Idaho counties in Idaho. Blessed with rich soil and rainfall conducive to exceptional dry land yields, PNW's trade territory lies in the heart of the most productive wheat, barley, pea, lentil and garbanzo area in the United States.
 
With the corporate office in Genesee, Idaho, patrons and communities are also served in Washington State by offices located in Colfax, Rosalia, Oakesdale, and Fairfield. PNW lies within 30 miles of three ports on the Columbia-Snake River system. Many of its facilities are on state all-weather highways that make year-round loading, shipping and receiving possible. Besides having five legume processing plants and four seed facilities, PNW is also served by a 110-car unit train facility at McCoy Rail Terminal, 26 car unit-train loading facility at Fallon, Washington, a 25-car unit-train loading facility at Thornton, Washington, and a barge terminal, Snake River Terminal (SRT) at Almota, Washington. PNW is also partner in two barge terminals at Lewiston, Idaho (Lewis Clark Terminal Association, or LCTA) and Central Ferry, Washington (Central Ferry Terminal Association, or CFTA). Members benefit from the convenient train and barge loading receiving stations as well as marketing opportunities because of access to different modes of transportation.
 
Candidates must demonstrate extensive knowledge of the grain industry from field to export, agronomy, grain and specialty crop varieties, quality factors, state, federal, and global regulations. Must be well grounded in grain trading and/or agricultural commodities marketing techniques and practices.
 
APPLICATIONS AND EXPRESSIONS OF  INTEREST MUST BE RECEIVED ON OR BEFORE JANUARY 20, 2020.
 
Harvey A. Meier PhD, CMC®, CEO and Board Advisor, Harvey A. Meier Co.
Mobile:  509.458.3210               E-mail:  harvey@hamcosearch.com