Chair

Mike and Melanie Fink
Location: Germansville, PA

Mike and Melanie operate a fresh vegetable farm as well as a greenhouse in Germansville, PA. What they enjoy most about Farm Bureau is networking with people that have similar interests, supporting each other and ideas, and the great opportunities to travel with the American Farm Bureau Federation. In addition to operating the farm, Mike and Melanie enjoy traveling, snowmobiling, and spending time with family. They are also kept busy by their two daughters Emmalyn, age 3, and Amelia, 8 months.

District 1 (Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming, Lackawanna, and Pike)

Robert and Amy Klim
Location: Kingsley, PA

Bob and Amy reside in Kingsley, PA on their dairy farm. They also have 50 head of steer and grow crops. In their free time they enjoy fishing and going to theme parks with the family. They have two children, a 5 year old boy, and a 2 year old girl. What they enjoy most about Farm Bureau is getting to meet other people, the representation and lobbying and the benefits of memberships such as discounts on insurance.

District 2 (Monroe, Northampton, Lehigh, and Bucks) 

Don and Kristen Buckman
Location: Perkasie, PA

Located in Perkasie, PA, Don and Kristen Buckman operate a farm with pigs, goats, and cows as well as growing corn, soybean, and hay. They live on the farm with their 3 children and enjoy family time, helping with girl scouts, and going to soccer games. Their favorite part about YF&R is getting to meet others and swapping ideas to see what other practices are being used.

District 3 (Berks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware, and Philadelphia) 

Mark and Amy Garber
Location: Mohrsville, PA

Amy and Mark own and operate Irish Creek Stables, located in Mohrsville, Pa.  They have a boarding stable, run an extensive lesson and day camp program for horse enthusiasts of all ages, and hold an open horse show series throughout the summer. In addition, to the horses they have 50 head cow calf operation, where the animals are finished and sold as freezer beef. They have about 80 tillable acres where we grow hay, corn, soybeans, and rye which is fed back to our animals.  Mark has a full time job off the farm as an excavating foreman.  Outside of farm bureau they enjoy gardening, competing and training our own horses, and spending time with our kids and family.  Their favorite thing about Farm Bureau is talking with all the other farmers and exchanging ideas for our operations. They also enjoy talking and getting to know their legislators and having a say in the laws that are being made.  They have taken advantage of the many training opportunities Farm Bureau offers and feel have become better farmers, especially when it comes to relating and talking with the non farming public.  They have two wonderful children, Alexis, who is 8 years old, and David, who is 3 years old.  Alexis barrel races her horse, Hickory, and also helps with the riding lessons and day camps.  David enjoys any work that lets him ride on a tractor with Dad!  Both kids help with the feeding, gardening, and the riding lessons.

District 4 (Columbia, Luzerne, Schuylkill, and Carbon)

Curtis and Lydia Turner
Location: Bloomsburg, PA

Curtis and Lydia believe that Farm Bureau is important to growers and producers as a whole because of having a support network that provides a place to go for questions and concerns. They enjoy spending time with their young children Ellis, age 7, and Grace, age 2.  Curtis also enjoys coaching little league for Ellis and Lydia helps out with the concessions. In addition, they own and operate a farm producing small grain and beef cattle which is located in Bloomsburg, PA.

District 5(Tioga, Bradford, Sullivan, Potter, and McKean)

Vacant

District 6 (Centre, Clinton, and Lycoming) 

Vacant

District 7(Union, Montour, Snyder, and Northumberland)

Tim and Janette Lesher
Location: Pitman, PA

Owners and operators of a dairy farm in Pitman, PA, Tim and Janette are very busy people. In addition to their work on the farm, they have two small children, a 1 year old boy and a 3 year old girl to keep them occupied. They believe that Farm Bureau is a great organization and it is essential that farmers have a united voice. In their sparse free time, Tim helps out at the local Fire Co. and they are also very involved with their Church.

District 8 (Dauphin, Lebanon, Lancaster, and York) 

Drew and Trisha Bowman
Location: Airville, PA

It’s all about horses for Drew and Trisha Bowman on their farm in Airville, PA. They also harvest hay, soybeans, barley, oats, and corn on their operation. In addition to working on the farm, they spend family time together with their 4 year old son and Trisha is the leader of a local 4-H club. What they enjoy most about Farm Bureau is seeing the entire process from ideas through the end results.

District 9(Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, and Fulton) 

Justin and Susan Conner
Location: Saint Thomas, PA

Interaction and getting to know new people is why Susan and Justin enjoy the Farm Bureau so much. They make and sell hay as their primary operation in Saint Thomas, PA. Keeping up with three children can also be a full time job that makes them very busy. When they do have free time, they enjoy spending it together with their family.

District 10 (Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Perry) 

Vacant

District 11 (Bedford, Blair, and Somerset) 

Scott Rhoads
Location: Stoystown, PA

In Stoystown, PA, Scott keeps busy with 1500 acres of crops, 150 head of beef cattle, and growing various vegetables. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Kim and their 2 year old daughter Olivia. Scott is an avid Penn State fan, a helper for 4-H, and he also writes market reports for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

District 12 (Cambria, Clearfield, and Indiana)

Andy Fabin
Location: Indiana, PA

 Row crops are Andy’s specialty. He enjoys planting and harvesting soybeans and corn at his farm in Indiana, PA. When he’s away from the farm, he loves to travel and goes snowmobiling in the winter months. Meeting new people and networking are his favorite aspects about Farm Bureau and he also enjoys serving on the Young Farmer and Rancher Committee.

District 13(Armstrong, Clarion, Elk, Jefferson, and Venango)

John-Scott Port
Location: Clarion, PA

John-Scott is all about his beef operation in Clarion, PA and says his favorite part about Farm Bureau is the Young Farmer and Rancher Program. He loves YF&R because of the networking opportunities and being able to surround yourself with people that have a passion for agriculture. John-Scott enjoys traveling and meeting new people along the way.

District 14 (Crawford, Erie, and Warren)

Chris and Dawn Pelc
Location: Union City, PA

Chris and Dawn own and operate a beef, cash crop, and hay operation outside of Union City, PA. They like to hit every tractor pull in the surrounding three counties during their free time in the summer. In addition to Chris and Dawn working on their farm they get help from Chris’s brother Tony, his dad Roger and their new son Jacob. What they enjoy most about the organization is how Farm Bureau is always working on the fore front to head off dreadful legislation for all of the farm families in Pennsylvania.

District 15 (Beaver, Butler, Lawrence, Mercer)

Vacant

District 16 (Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland)

David Bentrem
Location: Paris, PA

David is a Ferrier by trade and enjoys competing in Ferrier competitions as well as hunting and riding horses. His operation includes horses, hay, and hogs which is located in Paris, PA. He gets help on the farm from his dad and his brother who also take part in daily work. His favorite part about Farm Bureau is being informed, their support for agriculture, and giving farmers the ability to keep doing what they love.