COMMISSIONER SID MILLER REAPPOINTS MEMBERS TO THE TEXAS AGRICULTURE FINANCE AUTHORITY BOARD (1/30/2025)

Members will oversee financial assistance programs for agricultural producers

AUSTIN—Today, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller announced that he has reappointed four members to the Texas Agriculture Finance Authority (TAFA) Board. TAFA is a public authority within the agency designed to provide financial assistance for expanding Texas agricultural products, production, processing, marketing, and exporting.

“Thank you to our Texas Agricultural Finance Authority Board members for stepping up to serve,” Commissioner Miller stated. “Your knowledge and expertise will significantly assist Texas agriculture as we develop and administer programs that support our agricultural producers and strengthen rural communities across the state.”

Commissioner Miller would like to introduce the following reappointed members:

Ted F. Conover of Tyler will continue to serve as the Board’s chairman and agricultural lending representative. He was the president and chief executive officer of Heritage Land Bank from 1985 to 2005 and held the same positions at the Bank of Tyler from 2005 to 2010. Conover has served on several committees and boards, including the Greater Tyler Association of Realtors Board of Directors, the State Advisory Board for Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership, and the Advisory Committee to the Dean of Agricultural Sciences at East Texas A&M University. In 2016, Conover was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus at East Texas A&M and received the Agricultural County Agents Man of the Year award and the Bill and Mary Clements Award for outstanding leadership in agriculture. He received a master’s degree in general agriculture from East Texas A&M University in 1973 and graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at SMU in 1999.

The Honorable Lee Norman of Post will continue to serve as the Board’s elected official representative. Since 2007, he has served as a county judge for Garza County, rounding out 35 years of experience as a farmer. He has served on the Post Chamber of Commerce, the Plains Cotton Cooperative Board, and the South Plains Association of Governments executive board. Norman received the American Farmer Degree at 19 and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University. 

Aaron Wiechman of Austin will continue to serve on the Board as an agricultural lending representative. He is currently the senior vice president and chief lending officer of the Farm Credit Bank. He serves on the steering committee of the Farm Credit Rural Investment and Innovation Workgroup. Wiechman received a Master of Business Administration from Baker University and bachelor’s degrees in international business and Spanish from Friends University. 

Samuel Brian McCuistion of Fort Worth will continue to serve as the Board’s trade association representative. He is the Saginaw location manager for Viterra Grain USA, which purchases Texas-grown wheat to support a strategic partnership with the largest flour mill in Texas. He has previously served as a director of several trade associations, including the Texas Sorghum Producers Association and the Texas Grain and Feed Association. He received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from Texas A&M University in 1999.