Hawkins elected ICGA president

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Garrett Hawkins, a Waterloo farmer, was elected president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association for 2024-2025 at its recent reorganizational meeting.

Hawkins has served on the ICGA board since November 2017, most recently as vice president. He will continue his role as District 14 director for the duration of his term as president, representing corn farmer members in Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, St. Clair and Washington counties.

Joining Hawkins in leadership roles are Vice President Mark Bunselmeyer, Maroa; Treasurer Dan Parker, Dwight; and Secretary Ellen Rahn, Mount Carroll.

The Exports Committee will be led by Chairman Sarah Hastings, Sidney, and Vice Chairman Mike Shane, Peoria.

Elected to lead the Industrial Committee were Chairman Don Guinnip, Marshall, and Vice Chairman Michael Houston, Golden.

Grassroots Committee leadership for the coming year are Chairman Shane Gray, Waverly, and Vice Chairman Chris Gould, Maple Park.

Hastings, Houston and Guinnip were reelected and will continue in their positions as directors.

Newly elected directors serving farmers in Districts 3 and 15, respectively, are Phil Fuhr, Taylor Ridge, and Pervis Ellis, Harrisburg.

Newly elected at-large directors who serve all of the corn farmers in Illinois include Clint Gorden, Blue Mound, and Evan Marr, Jacksonville.

New President

Hawkins farms with his father in Monroe County where they grow corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. He is a graduate of Valmeyer High School and studied agricultural education at the University of Illinois.

“Waterloo is our address, however, I’m closest to Valmeyer which is in the Mississippi River Valley just south of St. Louis,” Hawkins said.

He’s been an ICGA member for many years before taking on leadership roles.

“I got into the organization through the current National Corn Growers Association president, Kenny Hartman. He’s from Waterloo and I’ve always known Kenny. He was terming off of the state board at the time and he was looking for a replacement and he mentioned it to me. I said, OK, it’s something that I could definitely do. At the time, I didn’t think that in seven years I’d be president,” he said.

Hawkins believes a key role for ICGA is serving as a voice for Illinois corn growers.

“Commodity organizations are very beneficial for farmers because we’re the voice in Springfield and Washington, D.C., for the farmer,” he said.

“In the entire nation, there’s only two million farmers and ranchers or something like that. It’s a very small percentage of the population. So, for us to have any kind of voice at the table at the state or national level, we have to have these organizations.”

Promoting Demand

Among his focuses during his term will be to continue ICGA’s work promoting demand.

“We have a long list of things we’re concerned about and working on, but the main focuses for 2025 is definitely going to be year-round E15 and the big thing is getting the Next Generation Fuels Act reintroduced in Congress,” he said.

“It’s basic economics. Demand and supply equals price. We have a good product, we have a safe product and our job is we need to find more demand. We’re also working on getting a new farm bill.

“We’re always here for the corn farmer and if anyone has a concern they should contact us. Maybe it’s something we’re working on, maybe it’s something that we’re not aware of.

“That is one good thing about Illinois Corn or any other commodity groups, we have directors from throughout the state. Things that are a concern for me down at the river bottoms of the Mississippi River aren’t a concern for someone in Champaign County or whatever. However, we bring that to the table for everybody and we represent corn farmers across the state.”

Over the past several years, Illinois Corn and other commodity groups have expanded partnerships. Hawkins hopes that continues.

“We’re all on the same team even though we’re different commodities — corn, soy, wheat, beef, pork, whatever it may be, we’re still all farmers. We have a lot of things that we work together on that affect all of us equally. I plan on working close with all of our other commodity groups,” he said.

Growing Season

Hawkins’ crops experienced a wide range of weather this past growing season.

“One of my favorite sayings from my father is, ‘In farming, you do the same thing every year, but every year is totally different.’ That’s what 2024 was,” he said.

“We started off dry in the spring, things were going good, and then we got very wet — 13, 14 inches in May. We finished planting in June. We had some timely rains in June and July, but then it turned dry in August and September.

“We ended up with average to maybe slightly above average corn yield and soybean yields were average to slightly below average.”