ST. LOUIS MO – Fairfield Farmer Mitch Konen has been elected to the National Barley Growers Association as Vice President, the newest Montanan to serve in a leadership position with NBGA as past president from Culbertson Buzz Mattelin’s term expires.
In an interview with Brett McRae soon after the elections occurred, Konen commented, “I’m pretty proud of this achievement and I hope that I can do the job well for them with the issues surrounding malting barley and barley as a whole whether it is feed grain or helping out with brewers and craft brewers. I’ll do my best to keep all those issues in line.”
Konen credits his time on the board with National Barley as well as the Montana Grain Growers Association with helping him prepare for this opportunity and attain the respect needed to secure a nomination from other member states.
Montana Grain Growers Association Executive Vice President Alison Vergeront commented that the group was “over-the-moon excited” to see their former leader selected to this role. Vergeront she believes this will mean great opportunities for Montana.
With the upcoming Farm Bill, Konen mentioned the importance of National Barley Growers in making sure Barley is considered a recognizable food and feed source so that it can be well protected in the safety net that crop insurance provides.
Other members just elected to see on the National Barley Executive board include Chris Engelstad from Minnesota as their new President as well as Past President Greg Kessel from North Dakota.
In Konen’s closing comments, he reminds us “No Barley, No Beer”. Cheers to our friend, Mitch Konen on this new position!
