Steve Nelson of Axtell
was elected as the new president of Nebraska Farm Bureau Tuesday (Dec.
6) in Kearney at the Farm Bureau state convention. He succeeds Keith Olsen
of Grant, who did not seek re-election after serving nine years as president.
Mark McHargue of Central City was elected as first vice president.
"Being elected the next president
of the state's largest farm organization is just a great honor and an
exciting opportunity to speak up for farm and ranch families across Nebraska,"
Nelson said. "Nebraska Farm Bureau is a grassroots, member-driven organization
and it's my goal to increase our membership, to increase our efforts to
find consensus in agriculture, and to increase our influence in the public
policy arena."
Nelson and his wife Elma raise
corn, soybeans and seed corn. He currently serves as first vice president
of Nebraska farm Bureau and chairs the State Legislative Policy Committee.
He is a past president of the Kearney-Franklin County Farm Bureau. Nelson
chaired the American Farm Bureau Federation's Feed Grains Advisory Committee
and has served on its Water Quality Task Force and Information and Technology
Committee. In 2003 he was appointed to the American Farm Bureau's Making
American Agriculture Productive and Profitable Committee to study the future
of American Agriculture.
Nelson was elected to the Nebraska
Farm Bureau Board of Directors in 1997 to represent District 5 and was
re-elected in 2000. In 2002 he was elected as first vice president and
was re-elected in 2003 and 2006. More information about Nelson and photos
are available at http://www.nefb.org/about/media/SteveNelsonbio.pdf
McHargue and his wife Judi raise
irrigated corn and popcorn and own a farrow-to-finish hog operation. He
was second vice president of Nebraska Farm Bureau before being elected
as first vice president and is a former Merrick County Farm Bureau president.
McHargue is a member of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association and serves
on the National Pork Board's Speakers Bureau, and is chairman of Nebraska
Christian Schools. More information about McHargue and photos are available
at http://www.nefb.org/media/Mark_McHargue_bioA_2011.pdf
