Carl Bednarski has dual roles – he’s the president of Michigan Farm Bureau and a crop farmer in Tuscola County.  Five days a week, he’s full-time in the office in Lansing, leading both the agriculture and insurance sides of Farm Bureau.  On the weekends, he’s with his...

Since 2018, Pamela Ruegg has been the Chair of the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University.  She’s had a variety of roles within the ag industry, including positions as a veterinarian, a faculty member at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Canada,...

As a Career Consultant at MSU in the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Jill Cords connects students with businesses to foster positive working experiences. On her second shift, she and her family raise cash crops and beef cattle in Charlotte. She’s also...

Dave Armstrong has been President and CEO of GreenStone Farm Credit Services since 2009.  He’s on several industry boards, he’s treasurer at his church, and he works out daily.  In fact, he and his wife Debra walk 2.5 miles almost every night – except when it rains. ...

Amy Laper of Anderson & Girls is the second generation on her family’s Stanton farm. After graduating from MSU and working on an off-farm job, her parents asked her back, and she’s now been there for 25 years. They run a market, a gift shop, a bakery, a petting...

Jolene Griffin, Director of Industry Relations, United Dairy Industry of Michigan Jolene Griffin is the Director of Industry Relations at the United Dairy Industry of Michigan. Jolene is from a dairy farm in Hastings, where she spends a lot of time with her family,...

Greg Shooks of Central Lake grows cherries, wine grapes, and small grains on his fourth generation farm, where he works with his brother and cousin. The wine grapes are new, because last year they sold their 550 head of cattle and built a winery – Cellar 1914, with a...

Isaiah Wunsch farms cherries and apples on Old Mission Peninsula, and he also owns a cherry and apple packing and marketing business. After graduate school at Michigan State, he worked for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation as their agribusiness specialist....

Cora Okkema is studying Livestock Behavior and Welfare under Dr. Temple Grandin at Colorado State University. Her interests include fresh heifer wellbeing, newborn calf care, and crossbreeding. She was born in the Netherlands and moved to the U.S. in 1999 with her...

Elise Thorp started Trillium Wood Farm with her sister, Allie. They were both vegetarians, but they decided to experiment with raising meat for themselves and friends. Seven years later, they are raising hogs, lambs, chickens and turkeys as their full-time jobs. They...

Caleb Stewart raises hogs, grows cash crops, and buys and sells farm equipment.  After graduating from Michigan State, he started farming with his parents, Carol and Jim.  Three years ago, he and his wife Teresa, along with their two kids, became sole proprietors in...

Mike Klumpp and his wife Jaime own AgMarvels, where they help hemp farmers grow, process, and sell their crop.  They also grow their own hemp, as well as corn, soybeans, and wheat.  Mike and Jaime are entrepreneurs, and the hemp business is just one of many of their...

Jim and Jean Reverman grow and sell Christmas trees from Reverman Farms in Grand Ledge.  They have recently started painting trees – not just green, but purple, pink, and even a patriotic red, white & blue.  When he’s not shearing trees, Jim also works for the...

Mike Mathis is the director of MSU Tollgate Farm and Education Center, which gives 22,000 visitors a year the chance to experience hands-on agriculture.  From milking goats to growing kale, the farm offers a variety of programming and camps for the community.  After...

Jeff VanderWerff farms in Western Michigan, where he and his family grow 2000 acres of corn, soybeans, and apples.  He’s currently transitioning his orchard into an organic operation.  A self-professed salesman at heart, he also started an ag retail business named...

James Weber of Weber Family Dairy milks 130 Jersey cows and raises crops on his Frankenmuth farm.  A graduate of the MSU Ag Tech program and Cal Poly, (California Polytechnic State University), he returned to Michigan in 2015 to reopen his parents’ farm.  He now works...

Hilaree Fraly is a BASF Innovation Specialist, which means she works with farmers to help plan their growing seasons and figure out solutions for their crop problems.  Originally from Montcalm County, she started in FFA, graduated from Michigan State, and began...

Dan Vogler owns Harrietta Hills Trout Farm LLC, the largest private fish farm in Michigan.  For 22 years, he has been on the farm with his parents Jim and Katherine, his wife Susan, and their six children.  He’s president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association, and...

Andy Rozendaal is the farm director at Eighth Day Farm in Holland, MI.  The urban farm, which is right in the middle of a ripped-up parking lot, focuses on taking care of the land as well as people.  The faith-based, non-profit also donates 10% of what they grow to...

Brittney Rooney is an urban farmer in the Brightmoor neighborhood in Detroit.  She, along with her partner Kieran Neal, started the two-acre farm with the long-term goal of growing an agroforestry system.  While their 500 trees are maturing, they are direct marketing...

Alison and Ben Sklarczyk own Sklarczyk Seed Farm LLC, which is one of the only hydroponic seed potato farms in Michigan, the other being a research farm at Michigan State University.  They produce six million mini tubers a year, plus grow 1100 acres of corn, soybeans,...

Jay Parr farms 1300 acres of sugar beets, soybeans, and corn.  He works alongside his dad Jeff in Brown City, where he also lives with his wife Tara and daughters Millie and Hazel.  A graduate of Michigan State University, Jay enjoys going to livestock shows,...

Christie Apple is an agronomy and soil health specialist at Timac Agro USA. She is a self-proclaimed ‘soil nerd’ and loves everything to do with soil health and plant nutrition.  She works with clients, trains farmers and other agronomists, and in her free time, farms...

Ben Randle is general manager at GDW Farms LLC, which is a turkey farm.  After a career as an electrician, Ben took on a new role as a farmer, where he helps raise turkeys from one-day to 20-weeks old.  In Hamilton, he’s the assistant basketball coach and school board...