Hickman resident takes soybean association director's seat

Kentucky Soybean Association fills vacant director seats

During the Kentucky Soybean Association spring board meeting, one important order of

business was filling vacant director seats. At-large Association board member Neal

Milliken stepped down after a career change left him with scheduling conflicts. The

Association appreciates Neal’s service and wishes him well in his new endeavors.

Matt Gajdzik of Mulberry Orchard in Shelbyville was selected to fill this empty seat.

Matt completed his training as one of Kentucky’s ASA Corteva Young Leaders at

Commodity Classic and was interested in serving. In addition to the orchard, agritoursim

business, and Kentucky Proud Certified Roadside Market, Matt and his wife Amanda

raise soybeans, corn, and cattle.

During the Kentucky Commodity Conference in January, Hickman farmer Matt Moss

expressed interest in filling the seat left vacant in the Purchase Area by Allen Pace, who

served the maximum of three, three-year terms allowed by the organization’s bylaws.

Moss was elected to this seat at the spring board meeting. In addition to soybeans and

corn, Moss owns and operates Moss Hog Farms and serves his community as the Fulton

County Coroner.

The Kentucky Soybean Association is a membership-based organization that focuses on

policy efforts at both the state and national levels. KSA’s farmer-leaders travel to

Frankfort and host legislators on their farms to promote open dialogue about issues that

affect those in the agriculture sector. Those same farmer-leaders have also developed

relationships with our lawmakers in Washington, D.C. and (under normal circumstances)

travel to the Capitol multiple times each year to visit our Senators, Congressmen and

their staff members to talk about direct and unintended consequences of legislation and to

lobby for the best interests of Kentucky’s soybean farmers.

The association’s directors are elected to represent the farmers in their respective areas of

the state by the farmer-members in those areas. Elections for vacant seats are normally

held during the Annual Meeting, which occurs during the Kentucky Commodity

Conference. That meeting is set for January 19, 2023, at the Sloan Convention Center in

Bowling Green. If you are a soybean farmer and KSA member interested in serving on

the Association Board, please contact our office to see if there’s a vacancy coming up in

your Area.

For 2022, KSA’s directors are as follows.

Purchase Area: Andrea Williford, Jonathan Reynolds, Dan Pirtle, and (newly elected)

Matt Moss.

Pennyrile Area: Craig Roberts, Brent Gatton, and Daniel Adams

Green River Area: David Winchell, Jason Strode, Clay Wells, and Bryan Kuegel

Mammoth Cave Area: Adam Hendricks, Andy Alford, and Shane Wells

Lincoln Trail Area: Quint Pottinger, Anna Reding, Caleb Ragland, and Houston Howlett

Central Bluegrass Area: Ben Furnish, Brennan Gilkison, Spencer Sims, and Jeremy

Tucker

Directors At-Large include Jeremy Stull, Mark Wilson, and (newly elected) Matt Gajdzik