Floyd Gaibler of Great Falls, Va. passed away on January 21, 2021 after complications from heart surgery. At the time of his death, Mr. Gaibler was the longtime Director of Trade Policy and Biotechnology at the U.S. Grains Council.
“Floyd was a good man who loved his work at the Council and in the agriculture community,” said USGC President and Chief Executive Officer Ryan LeGrand. “We are deeply saddened by his loss and grateful for the many contributions he made to our industry over a lifetime of work. He was not only a leader at the Council, but he spent many years at the USDA, and his trade policy footprints within our wide net of cooperator organizations will be forever part of the trade and agricultural landscape we all value so much.”
In his role with the Council, Mr. Gaibler worked with government officials and the White House to address trade policy issues related to the export of U.S. feed grains and their co-products.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Gaibler served as deputy undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In that capacity, he provided leadership and guidance to programs administered by the Farm Service Agency, the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Risk Management Agency and international and food trade issues affecting the Foreign Agricultural Service.
He also worked for the House Committee on Agriculture; the Agriculture Retailers Association; the International Dairy Foods Association; the National Cheese Institute/American Butter Institute; and others. Mr. Gaibler was a political appointee in the Reagan / Bush administration.
Floyd Gaibler was born on August 9, 1950 to Lester and Laura Gaibler and raised on the family farm in Farnam, Nebraska. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Nebraska, and came to Washington, D.C. in 1975 as an Agricultural Economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Mr. Gaibler is remembered by some as the subject of a July 2008 article in the HomeLifeStyle section (p. 4) of the Great Falls Connection entitled “Back to His Nebraska Roots.”
Floyd leaves behind a loving wife, Salome Howard Gaibler; a daughter, Stephanie Gaibler Sutton, and son-in-law Nicolas Sutton; a son, Christian Gaibler; a Father, Lester Gaibler; a sister, Gwen Kotschwar, and brother-in-law Rick Kotschwar; a niece, Gretchin Heckenlively, her husband John, and their two children Mason and Elle; a nephew, Derek Kotschwar, his wife Amanda, and their two children Reid and Riley.
Floyd was an active member of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Great Falls, VA.
A memorial service will be held in Spring 2021.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that all donations in his memory be sent via check to:
Christ the King Lutheran Church
10550 Georgetown Pike
Great Falls, VA 22066