O’Toole elected U.S. Wheat Associates secretary-treasurer
The U. S. Wheat Associates Board of Directors elected Brian O’Toole of Crystal to serve as secretary-treasurer for 2013-14 at its meeting in Washington, D.C., in January. He will begin his term at the organization’s annual meeting, June 29.
O’Toole began his farming career after attending the State School of Science in Wahpeton. He and his cousin Tom O’Toole operate O’Toole Farms where they produce hard red spring and hard red winter wheat, including seed wheat, dry beans, soybeans, corn and sugar beets. In 1996, he took over a seed cleaning and conditioning business started by his father, Richard O’Toole.
O’Toole is an experienced agricultural and community leader. He serves on the North Dakota Wheat Commission, the board of the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Ore., and is chairman of the SBARE Wheat Granting Committee. He is also past president of the North Dakota Crop Improvement and Seed Association and past president of the Crystal Farmers Elevator Co-op. He has received the Young Outstanding Farmer Award, Master Farmer Award and Friends of 4-H Award. Additionally, he and his wife, Sara, were Pembina County NDSU Harvest Bowl honorees. They have four grown children, two of whom are involved in farming.
USW is the industry’s market development organization working in more than 100 countries. Its activities are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.