WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. — U.S. Grains Council (USGC) members on July 31 voted to elect a new slate of board of directors, selecting Julius Schaaf as chairman during the Council's 53rd Annual Board of Delegates Meeting in Ottawa, Canada.

"The world is always changing. Markets are always changing. Today competition is growing, and so are the opportunities. Our job is to figure out how to stay ahead of the changes,” Schaaf told attendees of the conference.

"We know that the global middle class is growing. We know where the growth in global food demand will be. We also understand that our competitors are just as eager to serve these markets as we are. Our goal is to regain market share for U.S. grains and expand that share into the future.”

Schaaf is a fifth-generation farmer from Randolph, Iowa, U.S., with more than 33 years of experience in production agriculture with other family members. He farms a corn, soybean rotation.

He has been a member delegate of the council and a member of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board since 2003. He is a past chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and has also served on the research and biotech committees for the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.

The 2013/2014 USGC board of directors includes:
• Julius Schaaf, chairman, Iowa Corn Promotion Board
• Ron Gray, vice-chairman, Illinois Corn Marketing Board
• Alan Tiemann, secretary/treasurer, Nebraska Corn Board
• Don Fast, past chairman, Montana Wheat and Barley Committee
• Thomas Sleight, president, U.S. Grains Council
• Dave Lyons, agribusiness sector director, Louis Dreyfus Commodities
• Mark Seastrand, barley sector director, North Dakota Barley Council
• Chip Councell, corn sector director, Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board
• Bill Kubecka, sorghum sector director, United Sorghum Checkoff Program
• Kim Falcon, state checkoff sector director, Montana Wheat & Barley Committee
• Jim Tobin, at-large director, Monsanto
• David Howell, at-large director, Indiana Corn Marketing Council
• Charles Ring, at-large director, Corn Producers Association of Texas
• Deb Keller, at-large director, Iowa Corn Promotion Board