Kenneth Hartman Jr., of Waterloo, Illinois, joined the MAIZALL Board in October 2025. He serves as chairman of the Corn Board of the National Corn Growers Association.

Hartman is a fifth-generation farmer who, together with his wife and daughter, grows corn and specialty crops such as tofu soybeans and white corn, while acting as early adopters of precision farming technologies. Hartman was honored by Prairie Farmer magazine with the Master Farmer award in 2021 for his exceptional agricultural production skills as well as his commitment to family and service.

Hartman is the immediate-past president of NCGA and has served as a member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission Ag Advisory Committee and serves as the liaison to the Agriculture Markets Advisory Council and the Renewable Fuels Association.

Previously, he chaired the NCGA Finance Committee, served as the board liaison to the Ethanol, Member and Consumer Engagement, Corn Productivity and Quality, and Stewardship Action Teams, and served on its Governance Team.

Prior to joining the Corn Board, he served as chairman of the Market Access Action Team, vice chairman of the Public Policy Action Team and as a member of the Biotechnology Working Group and Research and Business Development Action Team. He is also a past member of the U.S. Grains Council Executive Committee.

 Hartman has also been active at the Illinois state level. He is a past president of the Illinois Corn Growers Association and past chairman of the Illinois Corn Marketing Board. He is a member of the Illinois Leadership Council for Ag Education. He also previously served as a member of the Corn Vision 2020 Steering Committee and chairman of Corn Vision 2020’s Production and Environment Committee.