AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee Members

• YF&R Chair Zach and Anna Hunnicutt, Nebraska
• Michael and Melanie Fink, Pennsylvania
• Marc and Blair Green, North Carolina
• Matthew and Rachel Heimerl, Ohio
• Dustin Johnson, New Mexico
• Rick Roden, Wisconsin
• Susan Wilkins, West Virginia
• Marty and Crystal Wooldridge, Louisiana
• Jake and Jennifer Carter, Georgia
• Dustin and Harmony Cox, Utah
• Chet and Dancey Creel, Texas
• Travis and Renae Gebhart, South Dakota
• Greg and Contessa Harris, Kentucky
• Todd and April Mackie, California
• Jeff and Alyssa VanderWerff, Michigan
• Alex Wright, New York

YF&R Chair Zach and Anna Hunnicutt live in Aurora, Nebraska, and farm outside of Giltner, raising irrigated corn, popcorn and soybeans. The couple met while attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where Zach earned a degree in agricultural economics and Anna's degree is in family and consumer science education; both graduated in 2004.

They were active in many groups on campus and led worship together for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Upon graduation, they spent two years living in Kansas City where Anna taught junior high family and consumer science. In 2007, they moved back to Nebraska to begin farming with Zach's father and brother. They have become very active in social media, working to tell agriculture's story and help bridge the gap between the consumer and the farm. Zach currently serves as treasurer for the Ag Chat Foundation.

Zach and Anna have been very involved with Farm Bureau on the county and state level. They just retired from serving for the past four years on the state Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee where Anna served as vice chair and Zach as social media chair. Zach is currently the Hamilton County Farm Bureau president and AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee chair. Zach also competed in the AFBF Discussion Meet in 2010.

They are raising two children, Everett and Adeline. In their spare time, Zach and Anna enjoy competing in sports, watching the Huskers, making music and cooking. Anna makes and sells “Hunnidue” homemade hair clips and sells Pampered Chef and Zach enjoys playing with technology and guitars.

Michael and Melanie Fink live in the small southeastern town of Germansville, Pennsylvania. Michael is the fifth generation of his family to farm at Heidel Hollow Farm, Inc., which is an ever-evolving agricultural operation. The family farm consists of 1,600 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, barley and large quantities of hay and straw for export. Heidel Hollow Farm is one of few farms on the east coast to run a hay compressing operation, which uses a hydraulic press to break large bales down for easy transport. The hay is then shipped internationally, from Bermuda to Puerto Rico and far beyond.

In addition to helping with Michael’s parents’ operation, Michael and Melanie grow 300 acres of fresh produce for wholesale and retail markets. Mike Fink’s Produce specializes in fresh sweet corn and pumpkins, winter squash, cucumbers and other fresh produce. They also grow bedding and vegetable plants and hanging baskets in their 10,000-sq. ft. of greenhouse space. Melanie is in charge of the retail operations on the farm, which includes a seasonal roadside market and a year-round store on the farm. They also recently acquired a new farm in northern Pennsylvania, which will be utilized for further hay production.

Melanie grew up on a dairy farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania. She went on to Lebanon Valley College, where she graduated with a degree in elementary education. After teaching at Sylvan Learning Center for several years and teaching at a private kindergarten, she left the profession to work full-time on the farm. The couple has two daughters, Emmalyn and Amelia, who are with their parents every day helping in the retail store on the farm.

The Finks are very active in their county and state Farm Bureaus. They have served on the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau YF&R committee since 2008, and Michael currently serves as the chairperson of the committee. Michael also serves on the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau board of directors. Melanie currently serves as the treasurer of the Lehigh County Farm Bureau, and Michael served as vice president of their county board.

Michael and Melanie are members of Heidelberg UCC Church, where Melanie sings with the choir. They love to travel, spend time with their family and friends and attend concerts. Michael is also an avid snowmobiler and loves traveling to New York and Maine in the winter months.

Marc and Blair Green live in Winnabow, North Carolina. Born and raised in Kelly, North Carolina, Marc grew up farming. His grandparents owned a dairy farm until the late 80s, when his parents took over the family farm and began a stocker operation. Driving the tractor, vaccinating cattle and FFA competitions were all common childhood experiences for him. Blair grew up in Cleveland, North Carolina, where the family-owned trucking business, FFA and a small beef cattle herd were part of her life. Although they were from opposite ends of the state, they met in college at North Carolina State University.

In May 2005, Marc graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in industry animal science and a minor in ag business. In December 2005, Blair graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and extension education with a minor in animal science. They were married in 2006. In 2010, Blair graduated from North Carolina State University with her master’s degree. In April 2011, their daughter, Cheyenne, was born and they are expecting their second daughter in August of this year. They share their love of horses by always having several of them around or in training. Marc enjoys team roping and cow-catching, while Blair and Cheyenne stick to riding and keeping the horses in shape. One of their family goals is to build a strong broodmare band to raise quality performance horses for the future.

Marc is employed as the general manager of Funston Farms in Winnabow. The operation includes about 3,300 acres of corn, wheat and soybeans, a farrow-to-wean hog operation with 3,000 sows, 1,800 finishing hogs and an Angus-based beef cow herd of 275 brood cows. Cattle are Marc’s main focus where he takes special pride in raising quality calves to sell to western feedlots. He runs his cows through a heat synchronization program, artificially inseminates and uses cleanup bulls for breeding. After weaning the calves, he selects the finest replacement heifers and backgrounds the rest for 60-120 days. Extensive pasture management and rotational grazing are also very important to him.

Blair works part-time from home doing public relations work for agriculture and is a full-time stay-at-home mom. She loves visiting elementary classrooms and utilizing Ag in the Classroom resources to teach children where their food comes from.

As attendees of Mount Olive Baptist Church, Marc and Blair wish to raise their daughters in a Christian home. Their focus is to instill values of a high education, a good work ethic and a strong knowledge of agriculture into their daughters' lives. Their involvement in Farm Bureau has allowed them to meet many other like-minded couples and find many opportunities to educate the public about agriculture.

Matt and Rachel Heimerl live in Johnstown, Ohio. They both attended The Ohio State University to obtain agriculture-related bachelor degrees. They were married in the summer of 2007 and welcomed the light of their life, their daughter, Lauren, in September 2008. They both grew up surrounded by agriculture on family farms and participated in organizations like FFA and 4-H. They now farm with Matt’s parents and siblings. They enjoy cheering the Ohio State Buckeyes each fall during football season and their favorite driver in NASCAR each summer. They love to host their friends and family for cook outs on a regular basis and go camping every free weekend during the summer months. One of their summer highlights is their county fair where they camp and help in the hog barn.

Between the two of them, they have many responsibilities on the farm. Rachel is the farm office manager. This role includes accounts payable, receivable and payroll for farm employees. It is also the responsibility of the office manager to reconcile and track all ingredients that are unloaded at their feed mill as well as all slaughter data for the more than 300,000 hogs that are sold annually. Matt’s position is the operations manager. He oversees much of the day-to-day activities on the main farm and manages the trucking fleet that is comprised of nearly twelve tractors and trailers. As the operations manager, he also oversees the cattle division of their farm including the purchasing, care and selling of calves.

On their farm they have grain crops, hogs, cattle and trucks. The hog division makes up most of their farm operation. They operate with 15,000 sows and market more than 300,000 hogs annually. They are a multiplier for PIC genetics so some hogs are sold as breeding stock to other farms. The rest of the hogs are sold at market. Of the 15,000 sows, they own half and the other half are owned by other farms of which the Heimerls purchase every pig that is weaned. The cattle division is currently all Holstein steers. A majority of the hogs and cattle that they own are housed on other family farms; they contract their facility and in return contracted farm workers to care for their animals. Matt and Rachel work with nearly 70 other family farms to finish their animals for market. They also own and operate a trucking fleet of twelve trucks that haul feed, grain and livestock.

Matt and Rachel have been involved with Farm Bureau at the county level for almost seven years now. They both are on the county board of trustees. Matt serves as vice president and Rachel is president. They both served on the Young Agricultural Professional Advisory Team and were appointed as the chair couple while on the team. They have both graduated from the AgriPower Institute as well. They are members of the Ohio Pork Producers Council, serve as industry spokespeople for various publications, are active in social media and participate as Operation Main Street Speakers, a training program sponsored by the National Pork Board. Additionally, they have been members of Ohio Soybean Association and are participants of the Dupont Young Leader Program.

Dustin Johnson lives in Farmington, New Mexico. He is of the Bit’ah nii Clan (Folded Arms People) born for the Todich’ii’nii Clan (Bitter Water People). He is a tribal member of the Navajo Nation in northwest New Mexico near Farmington. He is a third generation farmer and a fourth generation rancher.

Dustin ranches with his grandmother, uncle, sisters and brother. Dustin’s family ranches on the Moncisco Mesa in San Juan County and near the Becenti area of McKinley County. They are commercial cow-calf producers, raising Angus/Hereford cross-bred cattle to handle the high deserts of northwest New Mexico. They also raise a small flock of Suffolk sheep. They also have a family farm in the San Juan River valley, near Upper Fruitland, where they raise alfalfa. He assists his dad in the farming operation. Farming and ranching have allowed Dustin to learn and work alongside his family in producing great food and fiber.

Dustin has also worked full time as a lease operator for an independent oil and gas company for the past five years. Prior to this position, he worked in the human services field working with adults with developmental disabilities for four and a half years.

He is active in Farm Bureau at the local and state levels. At the local level, Dustin started as the county representative for the state YF&R committee and currently serves as the secretary/treasurer for the San Juan County Farm & Livestock Bureau’s board of directors. He also currently serves as the New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau’s YF&R state chair and serves on the state board of directors. He is active in the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, of which he serves on the board of directors and as the vice chairman of the cross-cultural committee.

In his spare time, Dustin loves to volunteer his time for good causes. For the past five years he has been a volunteer firefighter for the San Juan County fire department. He is a life member and past volunteer for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. He has served on the United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc., (UNITY) national executive committee as a member-at-large and as secretary. He also spends time drawing, oil painting, hunting, camping and learning how to fly fish.

Rick Roden grew up on a dairy farm in West Bend, Wisconsin with his parents and four younger sisters. He currently milks 400 cows and raises crops on nearly 2,000 acres with his parents. Rick has been transitioning into their business ever since graduating from University of Wisconsin-Madison farm and industry short course in 2004. Beginning in 2003, he began purchasing his own cows and currently owns a quarter of the herd. Since then, he has also made some equipment purchases and has been investing in farmland. In 2009, Rob-n-Cin Farms began a three-way cross-breeding program that includes Montbeliarde, Swedish Red and Holstein. In the fall of 2011, a bedding recovery unit was installed to enable separating solids from liquid manure to use for bedding. Most recently Rick helped incorporate a breeding system that tracks cows’ activity for heat detection. The farm also raises corn, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa and sweet corn and conducts custom work for neighboring farms including preparing ground, planting, baling, combining and chopping hay and corn.

Rick has been active with Ozaukee County Farm Bureau since 2004. He serves as Ozaukee County Young Farmer and Agriculturist chair and represented District 1 on the state committee. In 2010, he was elected as the Wisconsin Young Farmer and Agriculturist chair. While on the state committee, he planned a social event with live music and membership opportunities that has grown to over 400 attendees.

He is currently the vice president on the Ozaukee County 4-H leaders board and helps with many county 4-H activities and projects. In his spare time he enjoys playing softball for a team appropriately named the “Milkmen” and plays in a winter volleyball league.

Susan Wilkins lives on a cattle farm in the mountains of Pocahontas County, West Virginia. She has been a member of the West Virginia Farm Bureau since 2005 and is currently serving her fifth term as the vice chair of the state Young Farmers & Ranchers committee. During her time with the committee, the group has been successful in implementing a book barn project throughout the state to promote agricultural literacy among children.

Susan is a fourth generation farmer. She is an active part of the family farm where she helps her parents and brother with their Hereford/Angus beef cattle operation, as well as their commercial sheep flock. Crops grown and harvested include hay, corn, oats, alfalfa and rye. All crops raised are fed during the winter in the form of hay bales or chopped silage.

Susan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bluefield State College and a master’s degree in communications from West Virginia University. She works for the United States Department of Agriculture.

When time allows, Susan enjoys playing the banjo, gardening and traveling. She is a member of the Oak Grove Presbyterian Church where she sings in the choir. Susan believes strongly in giving back to her community and volunteering with 4-H. She is also a certified Master Gardener.

Susan’s goal for her time on the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers committee is to be an inspiration for other Farm Bureau members to find new and diverse ways to become advocates for agriculture.

Marty and Crystal Wooldridge live in Oil City, a small town in the northwest corner of Louisiana, where they own and operate Wooldridge Land & Cattle Co.

Marty is the fourth generation to work at his family’s cattle operation consisting of 800 owned acres and another 2,000 leased acres. The farm is a 500-head Brangus cow calf operation, utilizing Angus, Brahman and Brangus herd sires to reach a desired level of cross-breeding. They strive to raise quality steers and replacement heifers, along with a freezer beef and custom hay business.

Marty earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M in 2001 and completed one year of graduate work toward his Master’s of Business Administration. Crystal graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in finance and is employed as a registered sales assistant to three financial advisors at Morgan Keegan and Co., Inc., in Shreveport, LA. Crystal met Marty while he was running for public office in their local community and stood by his side every step of the way. They were married in 2008. Crystal comes from a non-farming background, but when she isn’t in the office, she spends her time on the farm with Marty. Whether she is needed to work with the cows at 5 a.m. or bale hay until 10 p.m., she is always by his side.

The couple has been very active in their state and local Farm Bureau. Marty has been a Caddo Parish Farm Bureau board member since 2002 and served as YF&R chair, vice president and is currently president. Marty served on the Louisiana YF&R committee as a district member from 2005-2007 and as vice chair from 2007-2009. In 2009, Marty and Crystal served as chairs of the Louisiana YF&R committee and Marty held the YF&R chair state board seat until 2011. Additionally in 2005, Marty was the Louisiana YF&R Discussion Meet winner and in 2011, Marty and Crystal were the Louisiana YF&R Achievement Award winners. Crystal is a 2011 graduate of the Farm Bureau Women’s Communications Boot Camp. Both individuals have served and continue to serve on numerous committees at the state and local levels of Farm Bureau and are currently ex-officio members of the Louisiana YF&R committee.

Marty is president of Caddo Parish Cattleman’s Association, a member of the state Livestock Advisory Committee and a member of the Louisiana Livestock Brand Commission. Marty is a graduate of LSU Agricultural Leadership Program Class IX. He is now the vice president of Agricultural Leaders of Louisiana, the alumni association for the LSU Agricultural Leadership Program. He is the treasurer of the Caddo Parish Soil and Water Conservation Board and a member of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Museum Board. Marty and Crystal both serve on their parish 4-H Foundation, Marty as president and Crystal as secretary/treasurer. When they are not at a committee or board meeting, the two enjoy spending time with family and friends.

Jake and Jennifer Carter are from McDonough, Georgia where they live on their family farm. The couple married in 2005 and has two beautiful daughters, Karson and Kennedy.

Jake graduated from the University of Georgia in 2003 with a degree in business management. Soon after graduation, Jake returned to the farm and began transforming the former dairy operation into the 320-acre agritourism destination that it is today. Operating as Southern Belle Farm, the Carters offer U-Pick strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, a fall corn maze and educational school tours year-round. As the seventh generation to farm in Henry County, Jake feels that it is his mission to educate what has become an urban population about the importance of agriculture in the community.

Jennifer graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2004 with a degree in exercise and health science. Jennifer is on the farm full-time and is responsible for administrative duties that include bookkeeping and scheduling all educational school tours. Since she is also a full-time mom, she feels blessed that the farm and home are one in the same.

Jake and Jennifer have been very active in Farm Bureau on both the local and state level. They served as chairs of Henry County Farm Bureau and sit on the local Board of Directors. In 2011, the Carters were appointed to the Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) State Young Farmer Committee and, in 2012, were elected to serve as chairs. Jake also served as a member of the GFB State Board of Directors in 2012. Jake serves on the GFB Fruit Advisory Committee and is a member of the GFB Agritourism Subcommittee.

Dustin and Harmony Heaton Cox were born and raised in Southern Utah, Harmony on her family’s large cattle ranch and Dustin working for a neighboring ranch. They were married soon after Dustin returned from his two-year LDS mission and have five beautiful daughters.

The Coxes have their own ranch and hay brokerage business, and enjoy immensely the farmers and dairymen that they deal with throughout the country. Additionally, their family was recently featured on a special 30-minute episode of America’s Heartland, which they felt was a great way to share their agriculture story.

Dustin and Harmony have served in leadership positions in their county and state Farm Bureau since becoming members. Most recently, they served as Utah Farm Bureau state YF&R chairs.

Chet and Dancey Creel live in Newcastle, Texas. They met at Texas A&M University, and after graduating in 2005 and 2006, respectively, they married in 2007 and began their business. They are blessed with one daughter, True, who was born in May 2012.

As the owners and operators of Seed-Tex Grain & Cattle, Chet and Dancey own two grain elevators in Young County, through which they buy and sell grain at harvest. They also sell certified seed-wheat and have a custom seed cleaning business, focusing on offering quality seed wheat at a competitive price. Their trucking company compliments the grain business, but also includes the hauling of other commodities. Another facet is their cattle pre-conditioning yard and custom feeding program compliments their 1,000-head wheat pasture yearling operation. The Texas Wheat Producers Board awarded Seed-Tex the “Grain Elevator of the Year” award in 2011.

The couple is active in Farm Bureau at all levels. Chet serves on the Young County Board of Directors and chairs the Wheat, YF&R and Policy Development committees. At the state and district levels, he serves on the Resolutions and AgFund Candidate Evaluation committees, and is a voting delegate at the state and national level. The Creels served on the state Young Farmer & Rancher Committee from 2009 to 2012, with Chet serving as vice chair from 2011 to 2012.

Chet also serves on the Hamilton Hospital Board of Directors and is a Governor-appointee to the Brazos River Authority Board of Directors, and Dancey is a member of the Olney Junior Altruistic Club. The Creels are active in their church, serve on the Brandon Bailey Memorial Scholarship Board of Directors, are members of the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and support the Newcastle Booster Club, Young County Livestock Show, Young County A&M Club, and the TAMU Association of Former Students. They enjoy traveling, spending time at the lake, reading, golfing, photography and especially attending Texas A&M football games.

Travis and Renae Gebhart farm and ranch in Northwest South Dakota, where they raise beef cattle, alfalfa and grass hay, wheat, oats, sorghum, barley, corn, and sunflowers. Travis and Renae are focused on giving their three children, Shannon, Katelyn, and Kyle, the opportunity to be the fifth generation to produce quality beef and are proud to be raising their children in agriculture.

Travis graduated from South Dakota State University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in range science and minors in animal science, marketing, ag business and business. Renae graduated from South Dakota State University in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in communication and minors in accounting, business, marketing, ag business and nutrition, and received a master’s degree in education in 2005.

The Gebharts feel it is very important to take an active role in a variety of organizations and clubs, both agriculturally- and non-agriculturally-related, and hope to help protect agriculture for the next generation by their involvement. They are both active in their local community through the school, 4-H, FFA, church, Extension, community clubs and the volunteer fire department. Travis is also the Perkins County Farm Bureau president and Renae serves as reporter. Travis and Renae served on the South Dakota YF&R Committee for eight years.

Greg and Contessa Harris work and live in Richmond, Kentucky, where they have lived their entire lives. Greg is a full-time farmer on his family’s farm, and Contessa is a first grade teacher. They have been married since 2005 and have twin daughters, Kyla and Shayla.

Greg graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2002 with a degree in agriculture and a minor in business. After graduation, Greg began farming with his father and grandfather. The 320-acre farming operation consists of burley tobacco and hay and corn for their cow/calf operation. Contessa also graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2005 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education. She began teaching the next year and has continued in that same position. In 2010 she was recognized as a National Board Certified Teacher. Contessa has added an agriculture unit to her class, as well as the entire first grade.

The Harrises are very involved with Union City Christian Church. Greg is a deacon, treasurer, Sunday School teacher and softball coach, while Contessa helps with Vacation Bible School, is a member of the missions committee and sings for the congregation on a regular basis. Contessa loves hunting and the outdoors, and she also helps coach archery for elementary students at her school and the church. Greg is also a past member of the Madison County Fair Board.

Greg and Contessa have been very active in Farm Bureau at the county and state levels. Greg has been on the Madison County Board since 2003, and was the Young Farmer chair until 2011. Greg and Contessa were members of the Kentucky Farm Bureau Young Farmer Committee from 2008 to 2010. Greg served as committee chair and on the state Board of Directors in 2009. Contessa uses her Farm Bureau knowledge and experience in the classroom to help students better understand what agriculture is and its importance to everyone.

Todd and April Mackie reside in Hollister, California along the state’s beautiful central coast. They met while attending California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo. April graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal science and minor in ag business, and a master’s degree in ag business economics and policy, and Todd with a bachelor’s degree in ag business. Todd and April were married in 2007.

They moved back to Hollister, where Todd is the fleet and fuel manager for Dassel’s Petroleum, a company which was founded by his grandfather in 1939 that caters to agriculture customers and rural communities utilizing gasoline, diesel and propane. April operates her own consulting company for growers on the central coast who need assistance with agriculture compliance and policy-related issues, including food safety and water quality.

Todd and April are involved with their local Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Committee, and April has been on the California YF&R Committee for four years.

Apart from Farm Bureau, the Mackies were founding board members of a local political action committee, and April holds leadership roles in Ag Against Hunger, the Monterey County Farm Bureau, Salinas Valley California Women for Ag and Monterey County Ag Education.

In their spare time, the Mackies enjoy entertaining friends and family, snow skiing in the winter, wakeboarding and kneeboarding in the summer, attending San Francisco Giants baseball games, collecting classic cars, hunting, and fishing. They have two dogs, Cali and Boots.

Jeff and Alyssa VanderWerff live near Casnovia, Michigan and farm just outside of Sparta. They raise corn, wheat, soybeans and apples with Jeff’s father, uncle and brother. Jeff is responsible for many of the day-to-day activities, including precision agriculture and agronomics.

Jeff grew up near Sparta and studied at Michigan State University and Lansing Community College. After college, he worked in a variety of agribusiness careers, including application, sales, management and as a district manager for a seed company. Active in the world of social media, Jeff currently serves on the board and is vice president of the AgChat Foundation.

Alyssa grew up near Marshall, Michigan where she served as a regional FFA officer and vice president. After graduation, she attended Michigan State University received a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a master’s degree in food safety. She also completed Midwest Poultry Consortium courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Alyssa spent the next five years pursuing a career with Pfizer Animal Health, working in the testing and regulatory approval of poultry, swine and canine vaccines. Currently, she works at the Van Andel Research Institute, where she is the clinical program coordinator for the neuroblastoma program.

Jeff and Alyssa have been very active in Michigan Farm Bureau, serving as delegates at the state convention, serving four years on the state YF&R Committee, and achieving success as the 2008 state Excellence in Agriculture award winner and national runners-up in 2009. Jeff also served as conference committee chair and vice-chair of the state YF&R Committee, on the county board as YF&R chair, and on the state Policy Development Committee.

Alex Wright grew up on a horse farm in Upstate New York, where her family bred, raised and trained quarter horses and produced their own hay. Alex received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in crop and soil sciences, where she was also a member of the Cornell Polo Team and Alpha Zeta. She also holds a Master of Agriculture degree from Iowa State University.

Alex works as a certified crop adviser and agronomy research manager in the northeast for Carolina Eastern-Vail, Inc. (CaroVail), an independent agricultural retailer that provides fertilizer, seed, chemicals, custom application services and other agronomic services, such as soil sampling and precision field mapping, to its farm customers. Working mainly with corn silage, alfalfa, corn grain, soybeans and wheat, she creates plot protocols, and tracks and analyzes 50 or more trials throughout the year.

Alex is very active in Farm Bureau, on both the county and state levels. As her county’s Young Farmer chair, she set up many events throughout the year focused on building membership and advocacy skills of young farmers. As a member of the New York Young Farmer Committee, she helped develop the statewide Young Farmer Leadership Conference and served on the Promotions Committee. In 2013, Alex was a national top ten finalist in the AFBF YF&R Excellence in Agriculture competitive event.

Additionally, Alex volunteers with the Cooperative Extension and serves as an industry rep on Cornell University’s Field Crops Program Work Team. She serves on both the K-12 and Early Career Members Committees for the American Society of Agronomy. Alex also served as the adult chairperson on the nominating committee for the State FFA Line Officers and likes to give back to FFA Chapters whenever she can, as FFA has given so much to her.

In her free time, Alex enjoys outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, shooting, and playing polo with her ponies Hacha and Rogosa.