Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin board election is underway
Dairy farmers in eight Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) d/b/a/ Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin districts have until May 24 to vote for candidates for eight open seats in the current election. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) mailed ballots to eligible dairy producers in the affected districts this week.
The following candidates, listed by district, are certified as eligible:
District 3: Lincoln, Oneida, Price and Taylor counties - Nominee – Mark Leder – Gleason.
District 6: Chippewa and Eau Claire counties - Nominees – Jaclyn Backhaus, Boyd, and Douglas Danielson, Cadott.
District 9: Shawano and Waupaca counties - Nominees – Donald Robaidek, Pulaski, and Jeff Strassburg, Wittenberg.
District 12: Portage, Waushara and Wood counties - Nominees – Ken Heiman, Marshfield, and Steve Pankratz, Marshfield.
District 15: Adams, Juneau and Monroe counties - Nominee – Mary Cook, Wilton.
District 18: Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha counties - Nominee – Dean Strauss, Sheboygan Falls.
District 21: Crawford and Vernon counties - Nominees – Gail Klinkner, Viroqua, Kevin Wallaser, Desoto, and Danika Wehling, Westby.
District 24: Dane and Jefferson counties - Nominees – Virgil Haag, Mount Horeb, and Tina Hinchley, Cambridge.
Eligible producers who have not received a ballot by May 10 can request a ballot by contacting Debbie Gegare, Market Orders program coordinator, at 608-224-5116 or Debbie.gegare@wisconsin.gov. Completed ballots must be signed and sent to WI DATCP, Marketing Order Program, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53708-8911. The ballots must be postmarked on or before May 25. Unsigned ballots will not be counted.
To view candidate biographies and for more information on the DFW election, visit www.wisconsindairy.org/elections. Elected producers will serve three-year terms starting July 1, 2019.
DATCP administers elections for Wisconsin commodity marketing boards. To learn more about the market order boards, visit https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/About_Us/MarketingBoards.aspx