NCGA Membership Program Wraps Up Successful Year; Roach Wins Sixth
Straight Recruiter Title (01-11-05)
The National Corn Growers
Association’s (NCGA) membership program enjoyed another strong
year in 2004, finishing with the second-highest calendar year-end
membership total ever. NCGA’s membership program is sponsored
by Syngenta Seeds.
NCGA ended the year with
32,743 members, just slightly off of last year’s record pace.
Corn grower associations from numerous states – including
Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, South
Carolina and South Dakota – posted major membership increases
during the year. And 2004 was a banner year for a pair of state
associations, as South Dakota and Colorado each set new state membership
records.
For the sixth year in
a row, North Dakota grower Leslie Roach was NCGA’s top individual
recruiter. Roach, who recruited 474 members, was followed by perennial
top recruiter Myron Peterson of Minnesota. Peterson recruited 260
members. Rounding out the top five were: Douglas Toreen, Minnesota,
243 members; Merrill Grisham, Minnesota, 95 members; and Sam Creed,
Missouri, 85 members.
Roach said he credits
his sixth straight recruiting title to the countless hours he spends
making contact with potential members and growers whose memberships
have lapsed. “It takes a lot of dedicated time and it has
to be something you believe in,” he said.
Ethanol and livestock
issues continue to be a few of the top reasons North Dakota growers
decide to join the association, Roach said. “The biggest thing
in the state right now is ethanol,” he said. “And there’s
also lots of interest in expanding the livestock industry. Growers
understand that they need to come together to have a more effective
voice on those issues in the state legislature.”
Many corn producers
don’t belong to NCGA simply because they haven’t been
given the opportunity to join, Roach said. “A very high percentage
of the growers I talk to thank me for calling them and making them
aware of the association,” he said. “That makes recruiting
a more pleasurable experience.”
Creed said the Missouri farmers he recruited this
year were most interested in the state and national associations'
ability to represent them on a variety of issues. "Ethanol
and value-added opportunities are on the top of the list for most
of the farmers I talked to," Creed said, adding that an ethanol
plant and another value-added facility in his area have helped to
raise the local basis. "Growers are also interested in having
a voice on legislative issues. If we didn't have a national association,
it would be extremely hard for growers to have a powerful voice
on a national level."
Creed also said growers join because of the association's
ability to build coalitions with other advocacy groups with common
interests. As an example, the Missouri Corn Growers Association
launched the Environmental Resource Coalition to help Missouri farmers
address water quality issues and other environmental concerns.
Other big winners in
the 2004 membership program were the Minnesota corn Growers Association
and Colorado Corn Growers Association. Minnesota recorded the highest
overall membership increase for the year, adding 288 new members
to its state association. Colorado had the highest percentage membership
increase in 2004, upping its membership by 24 percent.
NCGA also recently announced
the winners of its quarterly recruiter recognition program for the
period of October–December 2004. Jim Berg of Wapakoneta, Ohio,
won the individual recruiter drawing for a new computer system.
The South Dakota Corn Growers Association won a $500 gift card for
having the highest percentage growth for the quarter with 7.3 percent
increase in membership. The $500 gift card for top overall membership
increase went to the Ohio Corn Growers Association, which recruited
141 members during the quarter.
In 2004, NCGA also announced
its first-ever Recruiter Hall of Fame class. The inductees are Roach;
Richard Peterson, Minnesota; Myron Peterson, Minnesota; Harlan Meier,
Iowa; and Roger Bonham, Ohio. These top recruiters will be formally
recognized at Commodity Classic in Austin, Texas. Another highlight
of the year was the addition of Alabama to the NCGA federation,
which now includes 26 states.
NCGA membership continues
its steady ascent and recruiters are already reaching out to new
growers in 2005. NCGA's memberhsip has increased by 3,998 members
in the last five years.
For more information
on NCGA’s membership program, contact Byron Keelin at (636)
733-9004, ext. 105, or click here.