Roger Krueger, senior vice-president grain, Wheat Growers

ABERDEEN, SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S. – Roger Krueger, senior vice-president of grain, is retiring from Wheat Growers, the grain and agronomy cooperative announced on July 6.

Krueger, a member of the Wheat Growers leadership team, joined the cooperative in 1999 as director of grain marketing. At that time, the cooperative had just opened its first shuttle loader in Wolsey, South Dakota, U.S. Since then, the cooperative has grown from 12 to 25 grain facilities and nine 110-car shuttle loader facilities as well as two more in North Dakota as part of a joint venture.

 “Roger has been very instrumental in growing our grain storage and marketing capabilities for our farmers,” said Dale Locken, chief executive officer of Wheat Growers. “Thanks to Roger’s leadership, we have tripled our grain handle capabilities, allowing our farmers more direct access to key markets in the Pacific Northwest and Gulf of Mexico. He’s had a tremendous impact for our customers.”

Krueger said he plans to return to Missouri and be closer to his family.

“It’s never easy to leave an organization when it has such positive momentum like Wheat Growers does right now,” he said. “We have tremendous customers and world-class employees at all levels. Dale has been wonderful to work with and (new CEO) Chris Pearson promises to be every bit as impactful as he steps into his new role.”

Pearson said this is a transition that has been in the planning stages for almost a year.

“Roger let us know nearly a year ago that he was contemplating retirement,” Pearson said. “That has given us added flexibility to prepare for this. He offered to stay with us into the fall, and he’s also helping us search for his successor.

“Roger has held a key role here and is a very significant reason why Wheat Growers has been successful and why our farmers have done so well. We will miss his leadership, but we wish him the very best as he steps into retirement.”