The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) is pleased to announce the election of two new individuals to its board of directors and the re-election of one board member.
Mikayla Tabert and Ted Winter are newly elected members, and Carolyn Olson has been re-elected to a three-year term. Tabert fills a research and promotion council seat, while Winter and Olson will represent general farm organization positions on the board.
Tabert is the co-owner of Trinity Creek Ranch, Inc. in Red Lake County, Minn. It is a family crop and cattle farm with an emphasis on regenerative farming practices. She is a director of the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council and a member of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, the Minnesota Soybean Growers, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, and the Northwest Stockmens Association. She has dual bachelor’s degrees in crop and weed science and animal science, as well as a master’s degree in plant sciences from North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D.
Winter is a farmer in Nobles County, Minn., and a member of the Minnesota Farmers Union Executive Committee, a grassroots organization representing Minnesota’s family farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. He is the president of the Rock and Nobles County Farmers Union. He is a past member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, serving from 1987-2003.
Olson is an organic corn, soybean, small grains, and alfalfa farmer near Cottonwood, Minn., who also finishes approximately 14,000 hogs each year. She is the current District III Director of the Minnesota Farm Bureau board of directors, past president of the Lyon County Farm Bureau, chair of the American Farm Bureau Organic and Direct Marketing Issue Advisory Committee, current member and past chair of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Organic Advisory Task Force and secretary of the local Future Farmers of America Alumni Chapter. Additionally, she is a past member of the Minnesota Farm Bureau’s Promotion & Education, Growth and Resolutions committees.
“We are excited to welcome Mikayla Tabert, Ted Winter, and Carolyn Olson to their new director terms. Like each member of our board, they bring a wealth of expertise, vision, and dedication to our organization’s mission,” says Shannon Schlecht, AURI’s executive director. “The knowledge, enthusiasm, and support of our new and returning board members is critical to our success. I look forward to their perspectives and contributions as we strive to achieve our goals and grow Minnesota’s value-added agriculture economy.”
About AURI
The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute is a nonprofit whose mission is to accelerate the expansion of the agricultural economy by empowering expanded uses and markets of agriculturally derived products. It accomplishes this by using science and technology to help develop new uses for agricultural products. It collaborates globally, acts regionally, and is known as an economic catalyst for Minnesota with a focus on bio-industrial products and food. AURI provides a broad range of services, including applied research and development, scientific assistance, and a targeted network across the value chain to foster collaboration. To learn more, visit auri.org
