Nebraska Corn Board Members

Dan Nerud represents District 1 for the Nebraska Corn Board.

Dan is a farmer from Dorchester, Nebraska. He farms with his two sons Travis and Tyler. As the fourth and fifth generation on the farm, together they raise irrigated and dryland corn and soybeans, wheat, and hay along with a cow-calf herd.

Dan’s past leadership roles include serving as the president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, on National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Action Teams, and is currently serving as the Chair of the Membership and Engagement Action Team. He is also a member of his local Southeast Corn Growers chapter. Off the farm, Dan has serves on the Rural School District #11 Board and Dorchester Co-Op Board of directors.

Dan serves the Nebraska Corn Board and corn industry because it’s for his sons, perhaps his grandchildren and for all the generations to come. He seems how important it is to leave a legacy for them.

Dan and his wife, Joan, stay busy keeping up with their grandson Jaxson and his go-carting adventures

Matt Sullivan represents District 2 on the Nebraska Corn Board and farms in Superior. As a fourth-generation farmer, Matt grows corn and soybeans on his farm.

After graduating from Kansas State University with a degree in animal sciences and industry and a master’s in food science, he worked for W. H. Braum, Inc. in Tuttle, Oklahoma for 18 years as director of manufacturing. With a desire to move back and resume farming, he and his wife purchased their father and father-in-law’s operations and moved back to Nebraska in June 2010. Matt farms with his son, John, the next generation of the family. His family’s farm, Sullivan Dairy Inc. received the Aksarben Pioneer Farm Award in 1984.

Matt has been on the Superior School Board from 2012-2024 and served as president from 2016-2024. He also has a crop insurance agency servicing clients in southern Nebraska and northern Kansas. He is also a member of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association.

Matt became involved in the Nebraska Corn Board because he wants to help maintain the profitability of producing corn and ensure the rural way of life is upheld and continues for generations into the future.

Matt and his wife Teresa, have two children, Mattison (Johnny) and John (Cara). When not working, they enjoy spending time with their grandchildren, riding their Harley-Davidson motorcycle and trail riding on ATVs.

Brandon represents District 3 for the Nebraska Corn Board. He is a fifth-generation farmer, who currently farms with his dad, Daryl, and brother, Zach. He lives on the farmstead in Giltner that has been in his family for over 100 years. The Hunnicutt family raises corn, white corn, non-GMO corn, soybeans and popcorn. Brandon graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in agricultural business and he spent of several years working on post graduate classes focused on technology, plant breeding, leadership, communications and science.

Brandon incorporates cutting edge technologies into his farming operation, which has resulted in being featured in numerous farm publications. Hunnicutt Farms was awarded the Century Farm Award in 2003. Brandon is involved in the Nebraska Corn Board because as he looks to the next generations, he wants them to have the same ability to farm he has. The work the Nebraska Corn Board does looks to find the next market and new uses for corn, allowing the next generation a growth in opportunities.

Brandon is active on the national stage having formerly served the Corn Board of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and has previously on many NCGA action teams. Nationally, Brandon serves in leadership for the Field to Market organization. Brandon’s additional leadership experience includes his service as past president of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association, past president and secretary of the Nebraska Agriculture Technologies Association, board member of the Hamilton County Farm Bureau and Hamilton County Corn Growers. He is currently a member of the Nebraska Soybean Association and the Agriculture Builders of Nebraska. Locally, Brandon attends the Stockham Community Church.

Brandon is married to Lisa, and they have seven kids; Kinsely, Payton, Bréley, Truett, Fallon, Breslyn and Vashti.

Debbie Borg represents District 4 of the Nebraska Corn Board. She received a bachelor’s degree in ag business from Colorado State University and completed coursework for a master’s degree in agriculture communication. Debbie is a partner in Borg Family Farms, a fifth-generation farm, that raises corn, soybeans, alfalfa and feeds cattle. In 2019, the Borg’s added poultry barns to their family farm, which grows chickens for Costco. The Borg farm, just over 140 years old, has been using climate-smart practices, such as no-till production, for more than 35 years in addition to planting cover crops and incorporating livestock manure as much as possible.

Debbie enjoys serving on the Nebraska Corn Board as she firmly believes that agriculture needs to continue sharing the stories of how we grow crops and livestock and care for our animals.

Debbie has served as chair of the NCGA Member & Consumer Engagement action team and on the U.S. Grains Council Innovation and Sustainability advisory team. She has been involved in other leadership positions and served as president of the Nebraska Soybean Association and a board member of the Nebraska Rural Radio Association. Debbie is currently a member of the Nebraska Ag Builders group, a board member of the Dixon County Farm Bureau and a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Wakefield. In 2008, Debbie and her family were awarded the Farm Bureau Ag Family of the Day award at the Nebraska State Fair.

Committed to passing on their farming legacy to the next generation, Debbie and her husband, Terry are blessed to work alongside their adult children Hannah and Hunter. Their daughter Heidi and son-in-law Shane Hamilton are active in agricultural careers in a neighboring community.

Adam Grabenstein represents District 5 for the Nebraska Corn Board. Adam is the fifth generation operating his family farm, which is located in Frontier and Dawson counties. On his farm, he grows corn and cover crops, and manages a cow/calf operation and a cattle feedlot near Farnam. In 2005, the Grabenstein family was recognized with the Aksarben Foundation’s Pioneer Farm Award, which recognizes Nebraska farm families who have consecutively held ownership of land in the same family for 100 years.

Adam serves on the Nebraska Corn Board because he is passionate about agriculture and sees the Corn Board as a way to give back to the industry he loves and is able to bring state, national and international issues back to the local level. Advocacy for Adam is sharing his roots in a humble manner to ensure the vital industry is understood by consumers and farmers alike in the best way possible. Representing the central part of the state on the Nebraska Corn Board has allowed him to see the endless opportunities statewide and the bright future for corn growth.

Adam earned degrees in diversified agriculture and agricultural economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. Adam is a graduate of the Nebraska Lead Program Class 37, a Farnam volunteer firefighter and involved in St. John’s Lutheran church.

Adam is married to his wife, Kelsey, and holds his favorite job title of Dad to their three children, Fletcher, Rowdy and Stella.

Ted Schrock serves as the District 6 director of the Nebraska Corn Board.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he has been an active farmer and rancher in Phelps County on a farm that has been in his family for more than a century. In 2008, Schrock Farms received Aksarben’s Pioneer Farm Award. Ted farms with his dad, Ed; brother, Tom; cousin, Trent; and his two uncles, Sam and Robin. On the farm, the family grows corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat and run a cow-calf operation.

Ted is also active off the farm. He has served on the Phelps-Gosper County Farm Bureau, Phelps County Planning Commission, as a former Phelps County Republican chairman and as a former board member of Great Plains Pheasants Forever. He is currently a member of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association.

Ted is the proud father of three children — Gabrielle, Jacqueline and Jacob.

John Krohn represents District 7 on the Nebraska Corn Board. He grows corn and soybeans with his father in Albion.

After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in agronomy, John was the production supervisor for Cargill before an opportunity allowed him to join the farm operation full-time. He is the fifth generation to operate his family’s farm. The Krohn family grows corn and soybeans in the Boone County area which includes some land that has been in his family for over 120 years.

The Krohn family received the Aksarben Pioneer Farm Award in 1999, the Governor’s Excellence in Agriculture Conservation Award in 2022 and the Nebraska Association of Resources Districts’ Outstanding Water Conservation Award in 2022.

John practices sustainable production methods within his operation including being 100% no-till since 2004 and using cover crops for over 13 years. His goal is to improve the health of the soil continually and have as close to zero erosion from his fields as possible. He started his involvement with the Nebraska Corn Board by simply wanting to learn more about the checkoff and now understands the value the organization provides to Nebraska farmers. The goals of the Nebraska Corn Board have solidified that this organization was the right fit for John and his time. The understanding of how important it is to represent the industry and have a seat at the table impacts his passion and involvement.

John serves on the U.S. Grains Council Trade action team and various NCGA national leadership opportunities. Outside of the farm, John serves on the Board of Directors for Country Partners Cooperative and is in a stakeholder group with the Lower Loup Natural Resources District for drought management. John is a fellow of the Nebraska LEAD Program Class 39 and is involved in his local church. He farms with his parents, wife, Sheena, and has three children, Kasey, Annie and Caleb involved as much as they can.

Andy Groskopf represents District 8 for the Nebraska Corn Board. As the fourth generation, he farms irrigated corn and dry edible beans alongside his father, Lavern.

Andy believes that utilizing corn checkoff dollars to fund market development, research, promotion and education activities are critical to advancing not only Nebraska farmers, but the state as a whole.

Andy attended Western Nebraska Community College for automotive technologies. He maintains a fleet of farm equipment and a few classic Ford pickups. Andy is involved on the national level as a member of NCGA’s CornPAC committee and the U.S. Grains Council Western Hemisphere action team.

Andy and his wife, Jessica, are active in many local and state agriculture organizations. Andy is a 2010 graduate of the Nebraska Farm Bureau Leadership Academy, NCGA Leadership Academy, an active member of the Scotts Bluff County Farm Bureau and is working to establish an active Corn Growers Association.

Jay Reiners serves as the at large director on the Nebraska Corn Board. He currently farms 2,100 acres where he grows field corn, seed corn and soybeans.

Jay has always had a strong passion for agriculture. He graduated with an associate’s degree in general agriculture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After a four-year stint in Nebraska’s Army National Guard, Jay was honorably discharged and returned back to the farm. In 1992, Reiners’ Farms received the Aksarben’s Pioneer Farm Award.

Jay serves on the Nebraska Corn Board because he can see first-hand the enormous value in promoting Nebraska corn both domestically and internationally. The benefit of promoting his own product grows the opportunities for each farmer’s corn.

Jay is active in a variety of leadership roles. He is involved with the Adams-Webster Corn Growers Association and the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. He previously served as the chairman of the National Corn Growers’ Market Access action team, on the Market Development action team and Trade and Biotechnology action team. He has also been involved with the Little Blue Natural Resource District as well as many church boards.

He raises five children (Michael, Meagan, James, Elisha and Jonathon) with his wife Deb, and enjoys hunting and fishing when he can find the time.