Iowa Corn Growers Association Staff

Lindsay Calvert, Leadership Development Manager, manages training and development for the Iowa Corn board, committees, staff, and members. She also coordinates the I-LEAD and CAT programs as part of Iowa Corn’s leadership development efforts. Lindsay grew up on a farm in Guthrie County. After vowing as a 14-year-old that she...

Brandi Strautman serves as the public relations manager for Iowa Corn. In her role, she works with state, national, and international media reporters to share the Iowa corn farmer’s story and explain the importance of Iowa agriculture. This includes scheduling corn farmers for multi-media interviews, providing preparation, talking points, training...

Grant Menke serves as the Director of Market Development for Iowa Corn where he focuses on growing demand for Iowa corn through biofuels, livestock, international trade, and other key market opportunities. Menke comes to Iowa Corn from USDA Rural Development in Iowa, where he served as the agency’s State Director....

Victoria is a 4th generation agriculturalist who takes part in her family’s century farm operation, where they raise purebred Black Angus cattle and grow corn and soybeans. Originally from Iowa Falls, Iowa, Victoria graduated from Ellsworth Community College in 2017 with a Associate of Science degree. She then transferred to...

Kevin J Studer, Attorney and Federal Policy Advisor has been involved with agriculture policy for over 20 years serving in many roles in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill and the United States Department of Agriculture. He currently resides in West Des Moines and enjoys spending time with his wife and...

Lowell Appleton, District Field Manager, covers 12 counties in northwest Iowa. Since 1980 Lowell has been a small acreage farmer. Prior to Iowa Corn he worked off the farm for 35 years as an accountant for a local health care provider. His involvement with Iowa Corn first started when he...

Joni Erwin serves as the District 2 Field Manager for Iowa Corn covering 11 counties in north central Iowa focusing on increasing membership and awareness of checkoff investments. Joni’s passion for agriculture began on her family’s family farm in Southeast Iowa near Crawfordsville, they raise corn, soybeans and have a...

John Finley, District 3 Field Manager, covers 11 counties in NE Iowa. Those counties include Allamakee, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek.

Janelle Kracht, District 4 Field Manager, covers West Central Iowa where she enjoys working with county and district board members, planning and implementing several county events and activities all while advocating for agriculture. She also enjoys working with consumers and sharing the farmers story. Janelle has been with Iowa Corn...

David Ertl, Technology Commercialization Manager, manages research programs related to profitable corn production technologies such as the Genomes To Fields Initiative. David is a native of Connecticut and received his Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy from the University of Connecticut. He then attended Iowa State University where he obtained a Masters...

Ben Gleason, Sr. Manager of Sustainable Programs, works on a range of environmental issues affecting Iowa corn growers. Soil and water conservation are priorities, and Ben works closely with government agencies and other organizations to address these issues. Previously, he worked for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship...

Alex Buck, PhD is the Industrial Innovation Manager directing and coordinating the new uses research portfolio of Iowa Corn. In addition to being a technical lead, Alex also manages the patent strategy and licensing strategy for converting corn to value-added projects. Alex grew up outside of agriculture in Cedar Rapids....