Canola district elections were recently held in the North Dakota Oilseed Council’s District I, where Bryan Aalund of Hazen in Mercer County was elected to his fourth, three -year term on the council board.

Aalund is native to the Mohall area, where his father and brother farm. He and his wife, Kelly, farm in the Hazen/Beulah area and are parents of two daughters and four grandchildren. They concentrate on no-till practices and raise a variety of crops including canola, corn, sunflowers, winter wheat, barley, spring wheat, peas and flax.

Aalund studied diesel mechanics at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton after graduating from Mohall High School and worked for Butler Machinery for 12 years as a diesel mechanic. He is an active member in his community and is vice president of the United States Canola Association.

District I includes the counties of Golden Valley, Billings, Stark, Morton, Slope, Hettinger, Grant, Bowman, Adams, Sioux, Dunn, McKenzie, Mercer, Oliver, Divide, Burke, Williams, Mountrail, Renville, Ward and McLean.

In addition to Aalund, other elected or appointed canola county representatives in these counties are: Steve Wegner, Reeder (Adams); Kevin Kirsch, Belfield (Billings); Kent Horntvedt, Columbus (Burke); Derik Pulvermacher, Crosby (Divide); Lenci Sickler, Gladstone (Dunn); Mark Hardy, Beach (Golden Valley); Dylan Witte, Regent, (Hettinger); Trevor Kohler, Benedict, (McLean); Shane Tellman, New Salem (Morton); Kyle Nichols, Stanley (Mountrail); John Weinand, Hazen, (Oliver); Parker Gates, Mohall (Renville); Miles Hanson, Bowman (Slope); Ben Kuhn, Dickinson (Stark); and Kevin Folkers, Kenmare (Ward). Other counties have vacant positions.

The Oilseeds Council currently contracts with the Northern Canola Growers Association to increase demand in domestic and foreign market development programs, to obtain crop protection registrations for canola, conduct canola research and provide information to North Dakota canola growers.