January 13, 2011

Ohio's corn and wheat growers' groups merge

The Ohio Wheat Growers Association has merged with the Ohio Corn Growers Association to form a group that will be an even more influential lobbying force.

The Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association officially came into being last week and is being led by Dwayne Siekman, who was executive director of both groups.

The group has 2,500 members in the state, and its president will be Mark Wachtman, who has led the wheat group, said Siekman.

Ohio is the nation's seventh's placing grower of corn and its largest producer of soft red winter wheat. About 10% of Ohio's farmland is planted in wheat. Ohio's corn crop last year was valued at US$2.7 billion, and the value of the state's wheat crop was about US$350 million.