BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson has been elected president of the National Farmers Union — the first North Dakotan to lead the organization.

Johnson, 56, defeated Pennsylvania Farmers Union President Larry Breech in Tuesday’s election at the group’s annual convention in Washington, D.C. Johnson got about 90 percent of the vote.

Farmers Union is one of the nation’s largest farm groups, with about 250,000 family memberships. President Tom Buis is stepping down with a year left on his two-year term to become chief executive officer of a new ethanol group.

Johnson said his priorities will include helping ensure the new federal farm bill works the way Congress intended, and pushing for farm policies that will help producers during the recession.

“The whole industry of agriculture — we just face a lot of challenges right now. This economy ... it seems to me is the overriding issue we’re all going to be dealing with,” he said. Johnson said he has a lifelong association with Farmers Union, starting with the organization’s youth program.