Thompson elected ICMB chair

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Tim Thompson was elected Illinois Corn Marketing Board chairman by his peers for the 2025-2026 term.

Thompson, of Franklin, grows minimum-till corn and no-till soybeans with his father-in-law, Gary Heyen, in Morgan County in west-central Illinois.

Thompson and his wife, Tami, have two children, Timothy Jr. and Marleigh, and also welcomed a foreign exchange student, Maren, of Oslo, Norway, as part of their family.

Besides his work on the family farm, the new ICMB chair is also a regional sales manager for Valent U.S.A. and in his free time trains Labrador retrievers, competes in American Kennel Club performance field trials and enjoys hunting and fishing.

“I have been in the ag crop protection business for over 30 years. I’m a regional sales manager for Valent U.S.A. I have a sales team that covers the top northeast corner of the U.S., about 18 states. We call on distributors and retailers, as well as growers, to sell crop protection products on corn, soybeans, apples, peaches, grapes and a whole variety of specialty crops, as well,” Thompson said.

The Thompsons purchased a small farm in Georgia a few years ago and have some plans in place beyond a place to enjoy the warmer weather in the winter.

“We also have longleaf pine trees. We put in about 7,000 of those trees 12 months ago. My children will have the opportunity to see those fully harvested 25 years from now, but it’s another agricultural opportunity for us, and it’s been a learning experience for sure,” he said in an interview on Illinois Corn TV.

“My entire family is very involved in the process. In about year eight we’ll start harvesting pine straw which is sold for landscaping and in about year 13 we’ll start thinning out the crop and then in about year 25 we’ll start harvesting for the full crop.

“When we harvest the pine trees in 25 years, they’ll go into telephone poles or lumber. They’ll be 75 feet tall by that time.”

Other Officers

Also elected to ICMB officer positions were Matt Raben, Carmi, vice chairman; Terry Smith, Clayton, treasurer; and Dan Meyer, Tuscola, secretary.

These ICMB farmer leaders strategically invest Illinois corn checkoff dollars to grow demand, create new markets and foster understanding of corn farmers and the corn industry, which is Illinois’ highest valued agricultural commodity.

The ICMB was established in 1982 to manage the voluntary checkoff investment that corn farmers in the state agreed to implement that year. The farmers that make up ICMB are elected by their peers to serve unpaid, three-year terms.