Ag Faces in the Crowd
Select Sires Honors Ripley and Hanson
During a ceremony held October 2, 2017, Select Sires Inc., dedicated their Westby, Wis., production facility as the Roger L. Ripley Production Facility in honor of retired Accelerated Genetics President and Chief Executive Officer, Roger L. Ripley. On the same day, the Roger Hanson Laboratory was also dedicated to honor Hanson who served Accelerated Genetics as vice president of production and laboratory manager for nearly 26 years and the industry for more than 40 years.
Brossard graduates from communications boot camp
Andrea Brossard was among the 15 farm and ranch leaders to graduate from the American Farm Bureau Federation 11th annual Women’s Communications Boot Camp. The event is an intensive three-day course featuring sessions on working with the media, public speaking, testifying and messaging.
Brossard is an owner of her family’s 300 cow dairy, Brossard Dairy Farm, LLC in Beaver Dam, and recently started raising beef cows with her husband Mason Rens. She is the Dodge County Farm Bureau secretary and treasurer and previous chair of the state Young Farmer and Agriculturist Committee. Brossard is a member of the state Promotion and Education Committee.
O’Brien Joins WI Farm Bureau team
Caroline O’Brien has been hired as Bookkeeper II for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s operations division. In this role, O’Brien will provide bookkeeping support to county Farm Bureaus that are part of the county financial services program. She holds a diploma in bookkeeping from Pitman Institute in Dublin, Ireland.
Nagel retiring from Lakeside Foods after 60 years
Hired during the Eisenhower Administration in 1957, Donna Nagel is retiring 11 presidents later – or 60 years - from Lakeside Foods in Manitowoc. Nagel was initially hired as an order clerk, and was promoted to her most recent position as customer service manager. Under her employment, the company expanded from four to 10 plants in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Midwestern BioAg, Inc. honored
Midwestern BioAg, Inc. was presented with the 2017 Wisconsin Innovation Award in the category of Agriculture on Oct. 4. The ceremony recognized the state’s most innovative products and services from nine industry categories. Midwestern BioAg received the honor in recognition of the company’s vision for the future of agriculture and their newly released, innovative fertilizer line made with TerraNu Nutrient Technology™.
Members Re-Appointed to FB Committee
George Mroch of Walworth County, Darby Sampson of Jackson County and Kay Gilbertson of Dunn County have been re-appointed to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee by the Farm Bureau’s state Board of Directors. Their terms begin at the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting and Young Farmer and Agriculturist Conference, December 1-4, in Wisconsin Dells.
Mroch is a director on the Walworth County Farm Bureau board and Ag in the Classroom coordinator. He also serves as a director on the Walworth County Fair board.
Sampson and her husband Clint maintain a 200-head beef cow/calf herd near Melrose. She is the Jackson County Farm Bureau Promotion and Education committee chair and county Ag in the Classroom coordinator. She enjoys helping with livestock shows at the county fair and is the Open Class Beef Superintendent at the Wisconsin State Fair.
Gilbertson lives in Elk Mound with her family. Along with Farm Bureau they are members of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin. She is the general leader of Elk Meadow 4-H Club, Sunday School superintendent at her church and the Dunn County Ag in the Classroom coordinator.
New Holland wins innovation award
New Holland Agriculture was awarded the Silver Medal by the independent expert committee appointed by the DLG German Agricultural Society for its pro-active and automatic combine setting system – the first in the industry – for its CR Revelation combines.
Diederichs to receive volunteer award
Mark Diederichs, CEO at Lake Breeze Dairy LLC in Malone has been tapped to receive Envision Greater Fond du Lac’s 2016 “Volunteers of the Year” award. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Envision Greater Fond du Lac, the AgriBusiness Council and the Agricultural Ambassador Program. Diederichs’ long list of memberships include PDPW, St. Peter’s Lions Club, Farm Bureau, Holyland Food Pantry, New Holstein FFA Alumni, Ag Education Center and more.
Rebout named FB Member Relations director
Megan Rebout has been hired by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation as its Director of Member Relations. Rebout will serve as staff advisor to the WFBF Promotion and Education Committee. She will assist with volunteer training functions, planning and conducting a variety of Farm Bureau meetings and events and will provide staff support to WFBF’s nine district coordinators with functions of the County Farm Bureau Services Program. Rebout will train with current Director of Member Relations, Deb Raemisch, until her retirement on December 31.
Trechter is Adviser of the Year at UW-RF
David Trechter, professor of agricultural economics, has been named the 2017 Adviser of the Year at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Nominations are submitted by graduating seniors and recent alumni. In addition to providing academic advice to students in his department, Trechter has been the faculty adviser for the Delta Theta Sigma (DTS) fraternity, and the Agriculture Business and Marketing Society. Trechter joined the faculty in 1990 after earning his Ph.D. from Michigan State University and completing a six-year stint in Washington D.C. working first at the USDA and then the Congressional Budget Office. Trechter is also a statewide specialist with UW-Extension working in the areas of cooperatives and rural development.
Bolsen joins PMI Nutritional Additives
PMI Nutritional Additives announced the addition of Keith Bolsen, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Kansas State University to its team of technical experts. A globally renown silage expert, Bolsen will work with dairy farmers and nutritionists to evaluate and adjust silage, product, harvest, storage and feed management practices to deliver on milk production goals.
Wisconsin Oven, TPS opens new facility
Wisconsin Oven Corp. and parent company Thermal Product Solutions (TPS) opened its new facility in East Troy that will accommodate the company’s Blue M laboratory oven product line and provide additional manufacturing space for their expanding operations. The company will be investing $1.5 million in equipment and renovation work at the building. The company expects to hire 80 to 90 new full-time technical employees, who will join Wisconsin Oven’s existing staff of 137 at the company’s growing campus in East Troy.
