Gary Millershaski, a wheat farmer from Lakin, Kansas, took the gavel as chairman of the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Board of Directors at the organization’s summer meeting in Fargo, North Dakota.
In addition to the installation of officers for 2026/27, the three-day summer meeting included updates from USW state wheat commission members and USW staff during budget, long range planning, transportation and wheat quality committees and working groups. The full USW Board of Directors meeting on June 25 featured updates on world supply and demand, food assistance programs and industry partners, as well as reports from USW leadership staff.
Millershaski, who replaces North Dakota wheat farmer Jim Pellman as USW Chairman, will serve a one-year term.
“Gary has been an active board member and a valuable voice on the officer team – he is a strong representative for U.S. wheat farmers,” said USW President and CEO Mike Spier. “He has visited many global markets and established relationships with wheat buyers around the world. This kind of engagement serves the mission of USW to build export demand for wheat. We look forward to his continued contributions to our work that benefits wheat farmers in his home state of Kansas and states across the country.”
Millershaski, along with his wife Jana and their sons Jeremy and Kyler, grow hard red winter (HRW) wheat, hard white (HW) wheat and dryland corn and milo, and manage a cow/calf operation. Millershaski became a Kansas Wheat Commissioner in 2016 and served as its chairman. He also served as a director of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers (KAWG) from 2007 to 2017 after he received a KAWG scholarship while a member of the Class VIII Kansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership (KARL) program.
More recently, Millershaski participated in the industry-focused Bayer Leadership Program to build collaboration and prepare for global agricultural challenges.
“In my role as Vice Chairman, I’ve learned a lot from working alongside Jim Pellman, our U.S. Wheat staff around the world and the state partners that support our efforts,” MIllershaski said. “My goal as Chairman is to meet more of our customers and continue to raise awareness of the high-quality wheat we grow.”
The full slate of officers for the coming year was elected at the January winter board meeting in Washington, D.C. In addition to Millershaski, Mike Carstensen of Almira, Washington, moved up in the officer rotation to Vice Chairman and Jim Pellman of McClusky, North Dakota, moved to the Past Chairman position. Mark Jossund, who farms in Hendrum, Minnesota, was newly elected as Secretary-Treasurer. The officers all started their official terms on June 25 following installation.
