Director

Doug R. Keesling is a fifth-generation farmer from Chase, Kansas. With more than 30 years of experience in farming, agribusiness, and agriculture policy, Keesling has participated in nearly every aspect of the industry—ranging from crop production to shaping agricultural policy through involvement in state, national, and international agricultural trade organizations.

Keesling began his career as a farmer, raising livestock and growing wheat, corn, soybeans, and sorghum. He is the owner of Keesling Farms, an agricultural input supplier and 2,500 family-owned-acre operation located in Chase, Kansas. He also owns and operates Output Management, an environmental cleanup operation of hazmat materials and manure cleanups for large-scale layer facilities delivered to farmers and spread for crops and is a past owner of Millennium Healthcare.

A former chairman and current member of the Kansas Wheat Commission, Keesling was instrumental in the formation of the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center and has represented the organization in trade missions to Africa, Central America, Cuba, and Iraq.

Keesling is a founding board member of Heartland Plant Innovations and has served on the boards of Plains Grains, Inc., the Wheat Foods Council, U.S. Wheat Associates, and the IGP Institute.