INDIANAPOLIS — Dan and Kelly Snipes, Indiana Farm Bureau State Young Farmer Committee representatives, have been appointed to serve on the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmer & Rancher Committee for 2018-2020. Prior to this appointment, the Snipeses from Fulton County, represented young farm families in Fulton, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph and Starke counties.
While serving on the national committee, the Snipeses will help evaluate and update AFBF’s Young Farmer & Rancher long-term plan and serve on a subcommittee as well as a contact for several state young farmer groups. They also will assist with executing Young Farmer & Rancher competitive events at the annual convention and provide programming advice for the Young Farmer & Rancher Leadership Conference.
“We are really humbled and excited for this opportunity,” said Kelly. “We had no idea this was in store for our future when we got involved with our county Farm Bureau years ago.”
The Snipes family lives in Rochester, Ind., where they farm corn and soybeans on their fourth generation farm. When not working on their farm, Dan is an equipment salesman for New Holland Rochester. Kelly runs her own business offering graphic design, web design and writing services for agribusinesses, farms and other clientele, in addition to working on the farm.
“It’s great to know that we are part of a group that is working hard for agriculture,” said Dan. “It hits close to home for us personally as we are heavily invested in our agricultural roots. We look forward to working together with others to make a difference for years to come while building our leadership skills.”
The AFBF Young Farmer & Rancher Committee is comprised of 16 positions all representing different regions of the country. The Snipeses will represent Indiana and several adjacent states.
As an integral part of AFBF, committee members develop useful leadership skills that can be used to cultivate a bright future for the agriculture industry, Farm Bureau and their individual farm operations.
“Grassroots volunteer leaders, such as those who serve on national committees, are the bedrock of Farm Bureau,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “They play an important role in building greater understanding between modern farmers and consumers.”
Interested committee members must submit a thorough application explaining their involvement in their state’s Farm Bureau and local community and be selected to participate.
AFBF announced the committee members in this announcement.
— Indiana Farm Bureau
