Last month, the Texas Wheat Producers Board held its biennial election to fill five expiring positions. Based on the results of the election, four nominees were reelected and one nominee was newly elected to serve six-year terms on the board.
Elected board members are responsible for the allocation of funds from the statewide wheat producer assessment. These funds are applied to wheat research, education and market development to serve wheat farmers in Texas.
Members reelected to the board include Collin Bowers of District I, Jody Bellah of District III, and Gary Murphy and Glen Gibson of District IV. Landon Friemel of Hereford was elected to represent District II, a seat previously held by David Cleavinger who served on the board for 30 years. Eddie Womack of Tulia was appointed to serve the remaining term of Tommy Womack, who resigned after 28 years on the board.
Landon Friemel was raised on his family’s farm between Amarillo and Hereford, where he continues to grow wheat, corn, milo and cotton with his brother. He is also involved in his family’s feedyard, F-Troop Feeders, and manages F-Troop Grain in Umbarger. Friemel serves as a volunteer firefighter for the Dawn Volunteer Fire Department, is co-chair of the Amarillo Tri-State Fair ag mechanics committee and has been a board member of the Deaf Smith Farm Bureau since 2015. He and his wife, Brianna, have three children.
Eddie Womack is a fourth-generation farmer from Tulia. His multi-county operation consists primarily of wheat and cattle, with a strong focus on land stewardship. Womack is a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Tulia and recently served as the County Executive Director for the Farm Service Agency in Swisher County. He and his wife, Sonya, have a son, a daughter and two grandchildren.
The elected board members took an oath of service delivered by an official from the Texas Department of Agriculture during the quarterly board meeting on February 16.
The Texas Wheat Producers Board election included a referendum to limit the maximum statewide wheat assessment rate to three cents per bushel until 2025 and to five cents per bushel thereafter. Based on the results of the election, the referendum passed with 89 percent of voters supporting the proposal. The assessment rate has remained at two cents per bushel since 2007.
During the board meeting on February 16, the board approved a motion to raise the wheat assessment rate to three cents per bushel for the next fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2023. The board revisits the assessment rate each year with the goal of balancing a conservative budget and adequately funding programs to enhance farmer profitability.
For more information, visit TexasWheat.org/Checkoff.
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