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Fair in any fieldBy Jennifer M. Latzke On the football field, Don Schieber is known for his fair and honest judgment as a referee. Inthe corporate field as an Oklahoma Wheat Commissioner and vice chairman of U.S. Wheat Associates, he's recognized for his passion for wheat research and marketing. But for this north central Oklahoma farmer, the fields that matter most are the wheat fields of Schieber Farms. Farming first down Schieber and his wife, Cecelia, raised a family of four daughters and built their farming business just outside of Kildare, Okla. They began in 1969, buying their first homestead near Kildare while Schieber was still running the North Central Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station in Lahoma. They raised wheat seed, farming after work and on weekends. Finally, they made the move to full-time farming. "We moved here in 1973, right before wheat prices rose," Schieber said. Then, interest rates rose, times got tough, and they had to adjust their business plan. "We cut back farming, started doing more custom work," he said. Custom harvesting and trucking kept them going. And then in 1977, Scheiber and a neighbor stumbled across a couple of used seed cleaners. They bought the cleaners, and in their first year they processed more than 500,000 bushels of wheat for neighbors and elevators in the area. Seed cleaning was added to the list of custom farming services. Schieber and his friend expanded their seed cleaning business, traveling as far as western Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico for jobs. They also started building portable seed cleaners and selling them. Today, Schieber still has his custom farming operations to keep him busy between planting and harvesting of seed wheat. Schieber's crew starts harvesting in southwest Oklahoma, moving north toward their ground. Once harvest is done, he'll start trucking and cleaning seed until fall harvest of corn and sorghum is ready. Then, he'll repeat the run. "Right now, the combine's sitting in southwest Oklahoma, ready to start wheat harvest in a couple of weeks," he said. Some years, the combine never sees his shop-instead, moving from the field to the dealer for winter repairs and back to the field for the next harvest. Despite the custom work that keeps him busy, Schieber's true joy is in producing quality wheat seed. With his research background he takes a particular interest in the new wheat varieties coming from the wheat breeders at Oklahoma State University. "We plant Billings and Duster, both out of Oklahoma State genetics," he said. Both are marketed and sold by Oklahoma Genetics Inc. through a licensing agreement with OSU. Schieber also has a few acres of OK Bullet, a variety with Jagger in its background. "It isn't bad, but we're trying to get away from Jagger derivatives in our varieties," he said. Jagger and other Jagger-based varieties like OK Bullet and Overly have been starting to show reduced resistance to various leaf rusts, he explained. He looks to Billings and Duster as varieties that will help his customers in the long run. Moving toward the goal Helping his customers improve their bottom lines is one of the reasons why Schieber began his leadership in the Oklahoma wheat industry. He started attending Oklahoma Wheat Grower meetings in the 1970s, rising through the leadership to serving as the president of the OWGA board. It was during his time in leadership of OWGA that he was introduced to the workings of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. "I got to observe what the Oklahoma Wheat Commission was doing for research, marketing and promotion, and I discovered I wanted to be a part of that," Schieber said. He was elected to a five-year term on the Commission in 2005 and was recently nominated for a second term on the Commission. "Don has made a great impact on the Oklahoma Wheat Commission board and has been influential in the Oklahoma wheat industry for several years," said Mike Schulte, OWC executive director. "With his leadership skills he has had a significant influence in helping market Oklahoma and U.S. wheat. He is involved in every aspect in producing and marketing wheat. This has allowed him to make numerous contributions to creating a better industry." Marketing was a topic that interested Schieber from day one on the Commission. "Marketing is where it's at," he said. Following the ups and downs of the world wheat market, and the role U.S. wheat plays in it, is something Schieber enjoys about his service to the OWC. But, he also likes to see the effect of checkoff dollars on OSU's tremendous wheat breeding program. "By law, 20 percent of our checkoff funds have to go to research, and ours goes through the Oklahoma Wheat Research Foundation to OSU for distribution to various projects," he said. "I think we have the best wheat breeders in the nation, and we do all we can to keep them happy. They're coming out with new lines all the time." Schieber works with OSU's wheat breeders, planting test plots on his land to showcase new varieties as they are developed. Taking an active interest in improving Oklahoma wheat is just another part of being a leader in the industry for Schieber. Leading the team The drive for leadership came about several years ago, with Schieber's selection to the inaugural class of the Oklahoma Agricultural Leadership Program. "I was in Class I of OALP, and that started the ball rolling," Schieber said. "It put a little 'want-to' in you, to be active in one organization and then want to keep doing it." The lessons he learned in that class were some of the reasons why he was eventually selected as chairman of the OWC and to represent Oklahoma on the board of directors of U.S. Wheat Associates. Those leadership lessons will also come in handy as he takes on a new role as USW Chairman at the organization's Summer Board Meeting this July. USW President Alan Tracy said Schieber's work with USW has been incredibly beneficial to the goals of the organization, particularly in customer relations. "Folks like Don are the reason why our customers tell us they enjoy their farm visits most when they travel here," Tracy said. "He has that special warmth that draws people in. I remember at our World Staff Conference in 2008, Don, on his own, asked people who had been with U.S. Wheat Associates for 25 years or more to come up front and then he offered heartfelt thanks for their service. It feels good having a leader like Don, who cares so much for our staff, and our customers see that in him, too." "Growers should take pride in the experience of the staff at U.S. Wheat," Schieber said. It's the commitment of the staff to be the best in promoting U.S. wheat to our overseas buyers that guarantees success. "I was at a conference in Egypt for millers, and a buyer came to the booth and said he had problems with a cargo of U.S.-sourced wheat," Schieber said. He added that before the miller could finish his problem the USW staff member for the region explained he was fully aware of the situation and that a solution was in place to fix the error. That's why our people are on a pedestal above all others, he said. Representing Oklahoma and U.S. wheat producers is a rewarding part of his service. "I like everything I do," Schieber said. "I went to Tanzania to speak before about 300 African millers at a trade show. You know, it's not often a guy from Kildare, Okla., gets to speak in Tanzania." Drive to success Part of being active in the wheat industry, though, has been the sacrifices to his farm and family life. Several times during the year he's away for board meetings, or representing USW at international conferences. Schieber said he's thankful to have an understanding wife and neighbors who help him out when he gets in a bind for farm work. "Some stuff gets missed, it's just a part of it," he said. "I do the best I can do, and I give back when I can. We have enough neighbors and friends to pitch in and help us out when they can, and we give back in return." As a referee, Schieber knows no one plays a perfect game, and in some ways no one farms a perfect game, either. "In refereeing, we always want to do things right," he said. "Hard as we try, though, there's always something that we may not get right. We've never refereed a perfect game yet, but we always try. "Farming isn't a game," he added. "You make mistakes, and you'll pay for them. But, you try your best to get it right." Jennifer M. Latzke can be reached by phone at 620-227-1807, or by e-mail at jlatzke@hpj.com.
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