USA: Grains Council elected the new barley sector director

The U.S. Grains Council has elected Don Fast of the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee as the barley sector director at the 47th annual Board of Dele-gates' meeting conducted in Toronto last week, The Prairie Star communicated on August 17.

The U.S. Grains Council is a private, non profit, partnership of agribusinesses and producers committed to building and expanding international markets for U.S. barley, sorghum, corn and their co-products. The U.S. Grains Council has nine international offices that oversee programs in over eighty countries. The Council is supported, in part, by Montana producer-assessment dollars.

Fast, who has a diversified family farming operation near Glasgow, has served as a director on the Montana Wheat and Barley Committee since 2001. During his tenure on the check-off board, Fast has repeatedly taken time away from his farm to represent his fellow growers with trade and promotion activities.

Fast has participated in a U.S. Grains Council-sponsored trip to Asia to help expand Montana's customer base for barley. He worked with other delegates on this mission to re-establish contacts with the malt, feed and food barley processors in Japan and Taiwan.

He has represented U.S. grain interests in Mexico where country millers were experiencing difficulty with grain shipments, as well as participated in a trip to Latin America promoting wheat from the United States.

This is the second year Fast has been asked to serve as the barley sector director. In addition to Montana, he will also represent North Dakota, Idaho and Washington.

22 August, 2007