Clark Gerstacker

Editor’s note: In July National Corn Grower Association delegates to the Corn Congress will elect five members to the Corn Board. Each week leading up to the election, a Corn Board candidate will be profiled. NCGA Corn Board members are charged with representing the corn industry as it moves toward increasing the value of the U.S. corn crop.

Clark Gerstacker’s priorities as a member of the Corn Board are to work to embrace tradition and the values of American agriculture while pursuing new ideas and programs for the future in order to maintain profitability for producers. He would also work to protect and further develop NCGA as a respected leader in Washington, D.C., and across the United States on corn policy and its growers’ issues.

Clark farms 1,500 acres of corn, soybeans, sugar beets and dry edible beans on a 114-year-old family farm in Midland, Mich.

Clark believes a Corn Board member needs to be receptive to views and opinions shared by others and rationalize and defend those positions while being progressive, policy-minded and a consensus builder.

He says his interest, experiences and relationships with research facilities such as Michigan State University, Dow Chemical, Michigan Molecular Institute and others have given him a strong base of understanding of many national programs and priorities and their implications to the future of the corn industry. He wants the opportunity to help lead NCGA with historic values while pursuing new programs and policies to further enhance the profitability of corn producers.

“I think it is crucial that growers participate in organizations and that those organizations play a role, not only in the development and ownership of new technology, but in understanding and helping prepare growers for a changing industry,” he says. “NCGA allows corn producers the opportunity to inspire and influence policy.”