Farmer Directors Elect Mike Spier as Next President and CEO of U.S. Wheat Associates
At their board meeting Nov. 14, 2024, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) directors elected Mike Spier, Vice President of Overseas Operations, as the export market organization’s next President and CEO, effective with the retirement of current President and CEO Vince Peterson on July 1, 2025.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to be elected to this position and grateful to our officers and directors for their trust and confidence,” said Spier. “I am also immensely grateful to Vince Peterson, whose vision and dedication have laid a durable foundation for future success. I look forward to working with my outstanding colleagues, as well as the National Association of Wheat Growers, state wheat commissions, and our industry partners. Together, we will continue to innovate, create new export opportunities, enhance profitability for U.S. wheat growers, and deliver value to customers overseas.”
Mike Spier (right), USW Vice President of Overseas Operations, has been selected to replace Vince Peterson (left) as the organization’s next President and CEO, effective July 1, 2025.
The USW President serves at the pleasure of the wheat farmers on its Board of Directors and is responsible for implementing board-directed policies and for managing staff, export market development programs, and finances.
“Mike is well-known and respected by our overseas wheat buyers and the entire domestic industry. He is highly qualified, and I am very pleased the board selected him to lead the organization,” said Peterson, who was named USW’s fourth President in 2017. “With strong support from our board, we have maintained a solid financial position that will give Mike and our talented, hard-working staff a great foundation to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead in the world wheat market.”
Spier is an Oregon native who has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Seattle Pacific University. He started his career in 1992 as an accountant and then a grain merchandiser with United Grain Corporation in Portland, Ore. In 1997, he joined USW as Assistant Director of the West Coast Office. Spier relocated to Cairo, Egypt, in 1998 as USW Assistant Regional Director for the Middle East and East Africa. After four years in Cairo, he transferred to Manila, Philippines, as Assistant Regional Director for South and Southeast Asia. In 2009, USW promoted Spier to Regional Vice President for South and Southeast Asia and transferred him to USW’s Singapore Regional Office. In 2015, Spier transitioned to Columbia Grain International Inc. (CGI) as Assistant Vice President of International Marketing, establishing CGI’s Singapore office for marketing international milling wheat in Southeast Asia. In 2018, he moved to the company’s headquarters in Portland, Oregon to lead CGI’s international wheat marketing desk. In 2019, Spier returned to USW as Vice President of Overseas Operations.
Throughout his career, Spier has gained expertise in grain merchandising, international wheat trading, market analysis, risk management and hedging, logistics, execution, and negotiation of ocean freight contracts. Over his career in the wheat industry, Spier has traveled to more than 50 countries, implementing wheat export market development activities, providing insight into the U.S. and world wheat markets, and assisting buyers with wheat contract terms to meet price and quality expectations.
USW’s mission is to “Develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance wheat’s profitability for U.S. wheat producers and its value for their customers.” Its activities are made possible by producer checkoff dollars managed by 17 state wheat commissions and through USDA Foreign Agricultural Service cost-share funding. For more information, visit www.uswheat.org or contact your state wheat commission.
