The North Dakota State Board of Agricultural Research and Education has announced changes to its leadership for the upcoming year. The board was established in 1997 with responsibilities to oversee agricultural research and Extension at NDSU.
Mike Beltz of Hillsboro, N.D., was elected board chair. A board member since July 2010, Beltz has served on the boards of the North Dakota Dry Bean Council, North Dakota Soybean Council and North Dakota Ag Coalition.
Keith Peltier of West Fargo, who has served on the board since July 2012, was elected vice chair. Active in agricultural and community organizations, Peltier is a board member of the Northern Canola Growers Association.
In addition, Lyle Warner and Brian Leier were elected to four-year terms ending in 2017.
Warner owns and operates a livestock farm near Baldwin, N.D. He retired from Bismarck State College in 2009 after 27 years of teaching agribusiness as an associate professor of agriculture, technology and natural resources. He has participated in numerous local and statewide boards and advisory committees. He has been inducted into the NDSU Saddle and Sirloin Club Hall of Fame as Agriculturalist of the Year and was named Master Sheep Producer by the North Dakota Lamb and Wool Producers Association.
Leier is a certified seed grower from Linton, N.D., and has served on a variety of boards, including the Emmons County Crop Improvement and Seed Association, Emmons County Farm Bureau, Carrington Research Extension Center advisory board and he is Emmons County representative on the North Dakota Barely Council. He previously was an Emmons County Soil Conservation District board member.
Outgoing board members are Robert Bahm and John Bollingberg, who served from 2004 to 2013. The outgoing board chair is Rodney Howe, whose term expires in 2015.
The board will begin working on business for the next legislative session at its meeting on Sept.12-13.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.
