The Kansas Department of Agriculture has mailed ballots to elect commissioners to the state's five grain commodity commissions – corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers and wheat – to registered voters in districts seven, eight and nine in the eastern third of the state.
District Seven includes Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Jefferson, Leavenworth, Marshall, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Riley and Wyandotte counties.
District Eight includes Anderson, Chase, Coffey, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Johnson, Linn, Lyon, Miami, Morris, Osage, Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties.
District Nine includes Allen, Bourbon, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cowley, Crawford, Elk, Greenwood, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson and Woodson counties.
Ballots must be cast or postmarked by March 1. The names of candidates-elect will be announced in mid-March and the elected commissioners will take office April 1. Commissioners serve three-year terms.
Kansas Corn Commission Candidates
District Seven: Ken McCauley is a corn and soybean farmer from Doniphan County. He currently serves on the Kansas Corn Commission and is an active member of the Kansas Corn Growers Association and National Corn Growers Association. McCauley has an associate degree from Highland Community College, and he also attended Kansas State University. He is married to Mary and has two adult children.
District Eight: Patrick Ross is a corn and soybean farmer from Douglas County. He currently serves on the Kansas Corn Commission and is a member of several agricultural associations, including the Kansas Soybean Association, the Kansas Corn Growers Association and the Kansas Livestock Association. He is married to Mary and has two adult daughters and four grandsons.
District Nine: Randall Small is a Wilson County farmer. He previously served on the Kansas Sunflower Commission and is a member of the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, Kansas Livestock Association and Kansas Farm Bureau. He is married to Nicole and has two sons.
Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission Candidates
District Eight: Jeff Casten is a corn, grain sorghum soybean and wheat farmer from Osage County. He currently serves on the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission and is a past secretary of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program. Casten graduated from Kansas State University with a degree agronomy. He has four adult daughters and seven grandchildren.
District Nine: Gary Kilgore grows corn, grain sorghum, soybeans and wheat in Neosho County. He currently serves on the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission and is a member of the Kansas Soybean Association, Kansas Farm Bureau and Kansas Forage and Grassland Council. Kilgore graduate from Kansas State University with a bachelor's and a master's degree in agronomy. He is married to Lorraine and has three children and five grandchildren.