California's Roy Motter Elected U.S. Wheat Secretary-Treasurer Posted on 1/30/2012
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S. - The U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) board of directors elected Roy Motter, Brawley, California, to serve as secretary-treasurer for 2012-13 at its meeting in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29. He will take office at the summer board meeting in July.
"As an active USW director for California for the last four years, I have attended USW-organized regional buyers' conferences for Latin America and South Asia," Motter said. "I have been impressed by the quality of the staff and work done by USW in creating export opportunities for California and US wheat. I welcome this opportunity to take a larger leadership role in the organization."
Motter is managing partner of Spruce Farms, LLC, a diverse operation in California's Imperial Valley that includes Desert Durum, lettuce, cabbage, onions, sugar beets, sugar cane, alfalfa seed and hay, Sudan grass, melons and tomatoes. He has been a member of the California Wheat Commission since 1998, currently serving as vice-chairman, and has served as president and vice-president of the Stockman's Club of Imperial Valley.
USW is the industry's market development organization working in more than 100 countries. USW 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. The California Wheat Commission (CWC), created by growers in 1983 to support research that improves California wheat quality and marketability and to develop and maintain domestic and international markets for California wheat, joined USW in 1985.
"California exports approximately 25 percent of its wheat annually, including sending durum to Italy and hard red and white wheat to Asia and Latin America," said Larry Hunn, CWC chairman and Clarksburg, CA wheat grower. "Participating in USW puts us in the middle of the action on such issues as wheat quality, hard white wheat promotion, trade policy, and biotechnology, in addition to giving us access to the worldwide network of market specialists. With Roy entering the officer rotation, we look forward to even greater participation." Motter is the first Californian to be elected as an officer in USW.
The USW board is made up of grower representatives from each of the 19 member states. The current chairman is Randy Suess from Colfax, Washington. Long active in state and local wheat organizations, Suess reflected on the importance of USW. "As a state that exports 90 percent of the wheat we grow, the work that the overseas staff of USW does on our behalf is extremely important. The long-term relationships they have developed with grain buyers, millers and end users, along with all the trade-servicing work, keep all classes of US wheat in the forefront of our customers around the world."
