FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Doverspike, Gray and Farmer elected to Northwest FCS Board of Directors

Spokane, Washington - March 18, 2015 – Stockholders of Northwest Farm Credit Services elected Susan Doverspike and Duane M. (Skip) Gray and re-elected Jim Farmer to the Northwest FCS Board of Directors. They will each serve a five-year term.

Susan Doverspike and her husband own and operate a cattle ranch in the high desert near Burns, Ore. She’s been a Farm Credit customer for 30 years and most recently served as a Northwest FCS Local Advisor for the Redmond office. Doverspike is on the board of directors of Harney District Hospital and a member of the Oregon Beef Council; Oregon Cattlemen's Association; Harney County Farm Bureau; Oregon Farm Bureau; and Oregon CattleWomen Association. Doverspike replaces Rick Barnes of Callahan, Calif.

Duane M. (Skip) Gray owns and operates a diversified crop production business that produces vegetable and flower seeds, processed vegetables, peppermint, hazelnuts and grass seed. He’s been a Farm Credit customer for 34 years and has served on the Salem Local Advisory Committee. Gray has also served as treasurer for the Specialty Seed Growers of Western Oregon; past chair of the Farm Service Agency County Committee; a member of the Government Affairs Committee of Albany Area Chamber of Commerce; past president of the Association of Agricultural Professional Executives; and a participant of The Executive Program for Agriculture Producers. He replaces Mark Gehring of Salem, Ore.

Jim Farmer and his brother own and operate a 2,000-acre irrigated row crop farm, producing onions, wheat, field corn and dry edible beans for seed and a fresh onion packing shed located near Nyssa, Ore. He’s been a Farm Credit customer for 33 years and has served on the Northwest FCS board and on the Ontario Local Advisory Committee. Farmer serves as secretary of the Nyssa Rural Fire Protection District  and is past president of the Nyssa Co-op Board and the Idaho-Oregon Fruit & Vegetable Association. He’s a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Idaho Society of Certified Public Accountants; Western Growers Association; Idaho-Oregon Fruit & Vegetable Association; and the National Onion Association. Farmer also served two years in the United States Marine Corp. and worked in public and corporate accounting.

In addition to Doverspike, Gray and Farmer, members of the Northwest FCS board include: Christy Burmeister-Smith, Newman Lake, Wash.; Dave Hedlin of Mt. Vernon, Wash.; John Helle, Dillon, Mont.; Greg Hirai, Wendell, Idaho; Herb Karst, Sunburst, Mont.; Dave Nisbet, Bay Center, Wash.; Kevin Riel, Yakima, Wash.; Nate Riggers, Nezperce, Idaho; Julie Shiflett, Spokane, Wash.; Karen Schott, Broadview, Mont.; and Shawn Walters, Newdale, Idaho.

Northwest FCS is a customer-owned financial cooperative providing financing and related services to farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, commercial fishermen, timber producers, rural homeowners and crop insurance customers in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Northwest FCS provides approximately $13 billion in loans and is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of borrower-owned lending institutions that provide approximately $213 billion in loans to rural America.