FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 6, 2016

Contact:     Aaron Heley Lehman, [email protected](515) 291-2656

IOWA FARMERS UNION WELCOMES NEW PRESIDENT

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IFU President Aaron Heley Lehman

AMES (Dec. 6, 2016) — Iowa Farmers Union (IFU) members gathered on Friday, December 2 at the Iowa Arboretum near Madrid, Iowa for the 2016 IFU Annual Convention, Taking Root for a New Century.

The convention included elections for IFU president, vice president, and board of directors. IFU members elected Aaron Heley Lehman, a fifth-generation family farmer from rural Polk County, to serve as the next IFU president.

Lehman and his family raise corn, soybeans, oats, and hay in both organic and conventional rotations on their family farm. He served as the IFU vice president immediately prior to his election as president. Lehman also has served previously as the executive director and legislative director for IFU and on the National Farmers Union Policy Committee. His father, Phil Lehman, is a past IFU vice president and board member, and Aaron was active in Farmers Union youth programs growing up.

“I am honored to serve the family farmers of this organization for the next two years,” Lehman stated following his election. “I am extremely proud of the Farmers Union, and I am very optimistic about our future and our role in shaping a positive path for agriculture in Iowa.”

Lehman is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and Treasurer of the North Polk School Foundation. He is a graduate of North Polk High School in Alleman, Iowa and St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. He and his wife, Nicole Heley Lehman, have two children, Jordan and Benjamin.

Out-going IFU president, Jana Linderman of Linn County, was elected to serve a two-year term as IFU vice president.

“I have been so privileged to have the opportunity to lead this organization as president for the past 3 years during a time of growth and transition,” said Linderman. “I look forward to working with our new president to continue to build a strong grassroots organization that represents Iowa’s family farmers.”

IFU members also elected John Gilbert of Hardin County, Sally Gran of Story County, Julia McGuire of Polk County, Matt Russell of Marion County, and Ron Tigner of Webster County to serve on the IFU board of directors. D’Quinton Robertson of Des Moines, a participant in the 2016 National Farmers Union Beginning Farmer Institute, was elected to serve as a student representative on the IFU board.

The 2016 IFU Convention featured workshops on water quality, pesticide drift, a proposed statewide CAFO moratorium, and proposals for the next federal farm bill. IFU members also debated and approved new IFU legislative policy for 2017, and adopted two special orders of business on water quality and market competition.