After 12 years on the job, North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne is not seeking reelection. Two candidates are vying for the position: Matt Perdue and Shelly Ziesch. Perdue resigned from his role as NDFU government relations director in June to pursue the presidency. 
“The organization is in an incredibly strong position, great financial resources, incredibly strong membership, but there are a lot of challenges facing farmers and ranchers right now with trade, low commodity prices and high input costs.” Perdue describes himself as a strong voice that can represent NDFU in Washington, D.C. and Bismarck. In addition to his experience at the state level, Perdue also spent time on the National Farmers Union staff. He was raised on a family farm at Ray. In addition to the presidency, Perdue emphasized that this position is also the organization’s CEO. “We’re blessed with a lot of financial drivers; we have the restaurants, we have Farmers Union Insurance, we have Farmers Union Industries,” said Perdue. “We have a long history of entrepreneurship and my priorities are to ensure that those entities remain strong while leveraging them to create new opportunities for our members.”
