Barney, N.D., grower Russ Mauch completed his two-year term as president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association during the group’s February annual meeting. Prior to turning over the president’s gavel to Kelly Erickson, Mauch summarized the challenges and accomplishments of the past two years. Provided here are excerpts from his talk.
Russ Mauch - Photo By Don Lilleboe
The current president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association, Barney, N.D., producer Russ Mauch, touched upon several key areas of ASGA priority and activity during his commentary toward the conclusion of the group’s 2011 annual meeting in Tucson, Ariz. A significant portion of his remarks dealt with biotech issues — specifically, the long and ongoing litigation regarding the availability of Roundup Ready® sugarbeets for 2011 and beyond. Below are excerpts from Mauch’s presentation.
Russ Mauch PHOTO by Don Lilleboe
As ironical as it may sound, the new president of the American Sugarbeet Growers Association actually placed his college education on hold for this crop.
Russ Mauch was a student at North Dakota State University in the fall of 1974 — a time that coincided with the first harvest for growers of the new Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative. Among the original stockholders in the Wahpeton, N.D.- based co-op were Mauch’s father and brother, Bernard and Randy. They needed more manpower to bring in that initial beet crop, and Russ made himself available. “So I took off the fall semester of my sophomore year to drive sugarbeet truck,” he smilingly recounts.
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