Steve Briggs, Senior Vice President of Agronomy and Corporate Marketing, and a member of the Wheat Growers Leadership Team, will retire December 31, 2016. Briggs has been overseeing agronomy sales, agronomy marketing and procurement functions as well as all the activities related to corporate marketing functions and corporate communications.

From left to right, CEO Dale Locken, Precision Ag Manager Brent Wiesenburger and Sr. Vice President of Agronomy and Corporate Marketing, Stephen Briggs.

Wheat Growers earned Precision Farming Dealer's Most Valuable Dealership award in 2014. You can read the full story here.

“We will miss Steve’s leadership and the direction he has given this co-op for the past 6-plus years,” Dale Locken, Wheat Growers CEO, says. “Thanks to Steve’s leadership, Wheat Growers has realized greater recognition and has a more prominent voice in our trade area as well as with our local, state and federal ag policy leaders. We are confident, given our solid financial position and with our planning for the future, that we will continue to be the co-op our patron/owners will be proud of and that others in the industry respect.”

Other organizational changes are also being implemented as a result of Vision 2021 — Wheat Growers’ forward focused ongoing planning initiative.

Effective immediately, Chris Pearson, Senior Vice President of Operations, will be named Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Wheat Growers. Chris has been with Wheat Growers for 3½ years and has a long history of cooperative executive management experience. As the new COO, Chris will be responsible for the Agronomy Division, Operations Division and the Safety and Regulatory Affairs function.

“We are looking at all aspects of our business and are excited about the future of Wheat Growers,” Locken says. “We have provided, and will continue to provide, our patron/owners with the best grain and agronomy experience in the Dakotas. Wheat Growers is well positioned for the future from both a talent and asset perspective.”