Don Villwock
Don Villwock of Edwardsport, Ind., took office as president of Indiana Farm Bureau and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance in January 2002. His farming operation produces white corn, soybeans, seed soybeans, and seed wheat.
Villwock served in many capacities with Farm Bureau prior to his election as president, including vice president, District 7 director, Knox County president, State Young Farmer Committee chairman, and Feed Grains Committee chairman. He has served on the Farm Bill Task Force and the Farm Credit Task Force.
At the national level, Villwock is a member of the American Farm Bureau board of directors and the National Vice President of the Farm Bureau Bank, American Agricultural Insurance Company, and AFBIS. In January 2004 he was appointed to the AFBF Trade Advisory Committee. In June 2003, he was elected chairman of the board of trustees of the Farm Foundation. He is a member of the 25 x ‘25 Ag Energy Working Group, a national task force promoting the use of renewable fuels. He was also a finalist in the national Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet, was elected national chairman of the Young Farmer/Rancher committee and in that role served on the AFBF board of directors.
A 1972 graduate of Purdue University with a degree in agricultural economics, Villwock served as state executive director of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service from 1989 to 1993. He also served as state agricultural liaison for U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar. Villwock was appointed to the national Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture in 1997.
Villwock has been involved with the Indiana Corn Growers, Indiana Soybean Growers, and the Indiana Pork Producers. He has served as chairman of the Indiana Institute of Agriculture.
Other leadership positions and awards include Purdue Distinguished Agricultural Alumnus, past president of the Purdue Ag Alumni Association, Prairie Farmer Master Farmer, Friend of Extension, 33rd degree Scottish Rite Mason and Sagamore of the Wabash (the highest honor that can be bestowed by Indiana’s governor). Don and his wife, Joyce, have two married daughters.
July 2012