Nebraska Wheat Growers Association members elected Michael Thomas Jr. of Ogallala as the new association president. The election came during the association’s annual meeting last month. Thomas succeeds Dayton Christensen of Big Springs, who completed the two-year term limit as president.

Thomas was elected to the NWGA Board of Directors in 2009. Since then, he has served as a Nebraska delegate to the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), has served on the NAWG Biotechnology and Research Committee and participated in several NAWG research fly-ins in Washington, D.C. He has also been active in several NWGA Mobile Baking Lab events.

Michael Thomas Jr.

Thomas and his family farm wheat, corn and edible beans in Keith, Perkins and Deuel counties. Thomas is also a graduate of the Nebraska LEAD Program.

“I am excited about serving Nebraska’s wheat farmers in this new capacity,” Thomas says. “Our industry faces many challenges including biotechnology, the gluten-free diet trend and a growing gap of knowledge between producers and consumers. I look forward to working with our state’s wheat farmers and our association members in addressing those issues.”

The Nebraska Wheat Growers Association is a non-profit, membership-based organization that works to improve and stabilize the profitability of the Nebraska wheat producer. NWGA works to do this by representing Nebraska’s wheat producers in state and national policy and providing educational opportunities to producers and consumers.