Illinois corn farmers Chad and Jessica Kleinschmidt of Emden(pictured), and Darrin and Christie Storm of Windsor, are the first participants in a new program, sponsored by the National Corn Growers Association and DuPont.

The program helps identify emerging leaders, and works towards developing skills and excellence among its participants.

Recently, the Kleinschmidts and the Storms participated in communications training, leadership skills, social media training, and more to become better at serving the industry at local, state and national levels.

The program is implemented in three phases, with two plenary sessions and an interim project. Session I was held January 27-30, 2014, in Des Moines. Participants will now begin interim projects to take place between January and July. Session II will take place in Washington and Wilmington, Del., July 13-18, 2014.

Farm families interested in participating in this program in 2015 should contact Lindsay Mitchell at lmitchell@ilcorn.org for more information.