| |  |  | | | | ICI Board of Directors The founders and current Board of Directors of the Independent Cattlemen of Iowa are: Eric Nelson - Moville, Iowa
Eric and his wife Carol own and operate a beef feedlot, along with a cow/calf and farming operation in western Iowa near Moville. Eric is a fourth generation farmer/cattleman and proudly operates the same land his great-grandfather purchased in 1920. Eric and Carol have five children, several of whom already are active 5th generation participants in the family operation. In addition to the farm andfeedlot, Eric has been active in the farm seed business for more than 20 years, having taken over the business his grandfather Roy E. Nelson started in the early ’60s. Eric now actively consults with corn and soybean growers in several upper Midwest states and has held the Certified Crop Advisor designation since 1995. Eric joined R-CALF USA in 2003 and has become increasingly active with the group. He became the organization’s Iowa Membership Chair in 2005, and at the 2006 annual convention, as- sumed the duties of R-CALF USA Region VII Director, after Jerry Swartz stepped down for personal reasons. Region VII includes the states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Eric earned a B.S. in Agricultural Business from Iowa State University in 1984. He and Carol remain active in both local civic duties and in their church. Terry Barnes - Lamoni, Iowa Dale Wenell - Albert City, Iowa
Dale and his wife Sally, serve as president and secretary of Emdale Farms Inc., a small family farming operation that includes a row crop enterprise and an eight hundred head beef feedlot located in Pocahontas county near Albert City, Iowa. Dale and Sally are parents of two gorgeous daughters, Felicia, a senior at Laurens Marathon Community Schools and Julie, a student at the College of William and Mary School of Law, Williamsburg, Virginia. Dale Wenell is a 1977 graduate of the College of Agriculture Iowa State University and spends his leisure time chasing after his daughters and exploring the trails with friends on the back of a horse. Howard Vlieger - Maurice, Iowa
Howard is a third generation family farmer and cattleman. He lives on the family farm with his wife Pamela. Pam manages the printing services office at Northwestern College of Orange City, Iowa. They have 3 children, a daughter Sarah who lives in Colorado and still owns cows at home, a son David who owns cows and is responsible for the majority of the farming operation and a daughter Rachael who is still in high school and owns cows and is very involved with the cattle operation. The Vliegers are members of St. Johns Lutheran Church of rural Ireton. In addition to having purebred and commercial cows the Vliegers feed and finish premium natural cattle. Howard is the president and co-founder of Verity Farms LLC. Verity Farms has a successful biological crop production program, a feed division with high quality supplements for feeding livestock naturally and premium natural meat products. Verity works with and for independent family farmers and ranchers to improve their soil and the crops and livestock they raise. Howard became involved with ICI after seeing the need for R-CALF USA to have a local connection with Iowa’s cattle producers. Iowa cattlemen need local and national representation by an organization to work for and with them in the future. Monte Akers - Kellerton, Iowa Bill Ory - Earlham, Iowa Dan Kohl - Mechanicsville, Iowa Jason Hamann - Correctionville, Iowa
Jason has been actively involved in the family feedlot business his entire life. Jason is a 1993 graduate of Anthon-Oto High School and received a B.S. in Agricultural Studies from Iowa State University in 1997. Jason believes that modern technology and techniques should be used to face the many current challenges in the cattle industry. Common sense must be the major component in any industry's policy. ICI has an opportunity to be the standard bearer for creating cattle industry policy in Iowa. Dan Loving - Webb, Iowa
Morris Larson - Spencer, Iowa | | | | | | | |
