MCGA Elects Six to Board of Directors at MN Ag Expo

Last week at MN Ag Expo in Mankato, delegates to the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) annual meeting elected six farmers to the organization’s Board of Directors. Dana Allen-Tully, Jim Kanten, and D.J. VanKlompenburg were reelected to the board, and James Johnstad, Gregg Muehler, and Nathan Serbus were elected for the first time.

A member of the MCGA board since 2019, Allen-Tully raises dairy, corn, soybeans, and alfalfa alongside her brother and parents on their family farm in Eyota. She served as MCGA president in 2024 and is serving as chair of the board in 2025. Kanten is a fifth-generation family farmer in Milan, where he raises corn alongside his dad and brother. He has also been on the MCGA board since 2019 and is serving as MCGA president in 2025. VanKlompenburg raises corn, soybeans, and cattle near Montevideo and has served on the MCGA board since 2019.

Johnstad raises corn, wheat, soybeans, and sugar beets on his family farm in Polk County. He said he joined the MCGA board because he likes getting involved and providing value to his local area, adding that he looks forward to learning about the organization.

Muehler raises corn and soybeans in Traverse County and is a graduate of the National Corn Growers Association’s Leadership Academy and a current member of the Minnesota Agriculture & Rural Leadership Program. He said he ran for the MCGA board to help educate the population at large about corn farming, noting the importance of corn farmers being actively engaged in the legislative process. He added that he wants to hit the ground running as a new board member and delve into policy, biofuels, trade opportunities, and opportunities to market locally produced commodities.

Serbus raises corn and soybeans on his third-generation family farm in Renville County. He has been farming with his family since 2018 said he was inspired to run for the MCGA board in part because of past MCGA board member Gerald Mulder, who was his bus driver growing up. Serbus said Mulder would talk with him about his work with MCGA. “Ever since then, I’ve always had an interest and wanted to be involved,” he said.