 Hello, I am Mohamed Khan, Interim Program Leader for Agriculture and Natural Resources, abbreviated as ANR at North Dakota State University. Today, I will discuss commodity elections since NDSU Extension is required by North Dakota Century Code to conduct these elections. So, what are the commodity elections and what do we do? North Dakota law authorizes producers of agricultural commodities to establish consuls that support their specific industry. The consuls are allowed to levy an assessment, known as a check-off, on their producers and use the proceeds to fund research and promotion of the commodity. The commodity consuls are managed by a board of producers for that commodity. Each conkti has the opportunity to have a conkti representative. Conkti representatives are elected by all conkti producers of that commodity. Conktis are grouped into districts as determined by their consul and district representatives are elected by the conkti representatives in the district. NDSU conkti agents are required by the North Dakota Century Code to conduct elections for the North Dakota barley consul, corn consul, dry pea and lentil consul, all seed consul, soybean consul and the wheat commission. The elections are based on a three-year rotation for soybean, pea and lentil and all seed consuls and a four-year rotation for barley and corn consul and the wheat commission. Elections can be held in conjunction with an event such as a crop improvement meeting or a separate meeting altogether. Multiple conkti elections can be held during the same event. Planning and officiating these elections provide a conkti ANR agent a great opportunity to meet and form a working relationship with producers in the conkti. Having a well-run election and event can help agents become a recognized and knowledgeable resource to area producers. In November, emails are sent to conktis required to hold elections for the next year. Some commodities allow elections to be held as early as December, while others require a later date. The emails are from my office, except for the soybean election information sent directly from the North Dakota soybean consul. Once agents receive the email, they are asked to set the date, time and location of the conkti election and then send the information, including the address of the election site to the ANR program leader's office. An email will then be sent to the agent with a newspaper advertisement, news release, ballots and certificate for election. Paper ads can be sent to the local newspaper for publication. The ANR conkti agent conducts the conkti election. Ballots are supplied for nominations and voting. Agents are encouraged to use ballots in case there is a contested election. If there is a tie vote, the winner can be determined by the flip of a coin or drawing a name from a hat. After the election, a copy of the certificate with the name of the conkti representative is mailed or emailed to the ANR program office. Ballots should remain in the conkti office until the next election for that commodity, which can be three or four years later. Soybean elections are the only commodity election held by mail-in ballots. The North Dakota soybean consul takes care of all nomination and ballot mailings for the conkti elections. The agent will collect the nominations through the mail and provide the names to the soybean consul. The ballots will also be sent to the agent's office, who will be required to provide the name of the winner to the soybean consul by a specific date. The district election is the next step. An agent in the commodity district is chosen by the ANR program leader, the commodity consul, and the district director to officiate the district election. These elections are planned with help of the commodity offices and are run similar to the conkti elections. Conkti representatives represent the producers in the conkti where they live and serve as a liaison between the producers and the consul. The conkti representatives influence how the check-off dollars are invested, influence the industry's direction, expand their network of fellow producers, leaders, and key influencers, and increase their personal knowledge of their commodity and industry. District representatives represent their district at the consul or commission meetings. They participate in board and committee meetings, select and evaluate their administrator, evaluate and review commission operations, monitor and participate in issues impacting the consul or commission, determine uses for the check-off money, and approve, establish, prioritize, and evaluate programs and services of their organization. In summary, commodity elections are great opportunities for A&R agents to meet and develop relationships with producers within the conkti and to help develop leaders within their communities. Also, NDSU Extension is given the responsibility to conduct a fair and transparent election as required by the North Dakota Century Code. The public has placed their trust in us. Let us ensure that their trust is well placed in NDSU Extension. Thanks for visiting.