Stay Informed

At 11 years old, Collegiate Farm Bureau is a fairly new Indiana Farm Bureau program, but it has already made an impact on individual members’ lives and campus life in general through professional networking, career development experience, national travel opportunities, scholarships, philanthropy and more.

INFB’s three Collegiate Farm Bureau chapters are at Purdue University, Vincennes University and Huntington University. The Purdue and Vincennes chapters began in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

The newest chapter is at Huntington, and it was added in 2016, just after the university opened the Haupert Institute for Agriculture in 2015.

According to the Huntington University website, “Haupert Institute promotes a Christian perspective on agriculture, which recognizes our responsibility to be good stewards of God's creation and to examine questions of sustainability and justice.”

Its agribusiness program includes concentrations in agrimanagement, agrimarketing, agrieconomics and finance, agrientrepreneurial small business management, crop production, communication and public policy, ministry and missions, and agriculture education.

The Huntington chapter currently has approximately 35 members. The students have bi-weekly meetings and participate on the Huntington County Farm Bureau board. Their two main fundraising and campus awareness events are the Fall Harvest Festival and Spring Petting Zoo.

Leap Into Leadership

Madison Riggle is a Collegiate Farm Bureau alum and 2018 Huntington grad (one of the first from the Haupert Institute for Agriculture) who now works for Bayer Crop Science. She recently talked to The Hoosier Farmer about what the collegiate program  meant to her. (Photo by  Adrianna Holst of Holst Photography.

Indiana Farm Bureau has been an organization that has challenged me professionally and personally. When I look back on my college career, INFB was my first leap into leadership. The organization has provided me with a strong backbone to be an advocate for agriculture both locally and nationwide.

My first travel experience with INFB was the collegiate trip to Washington, D.C., where I, along with other collegiate members, experienced the USDA crop report lock-up. But it was much more than that.

I gained knowledge and confidence on the policies that benefit and impact our farmers. I became experienced in sitting down with government officials and sharing what’s on the minds of our people. Additionally, attending the USDA crop report allowed me to gain a better understanding of what goes into the crop report, which has assisted me as I have pursued a career in the agriculture industry. I also gained a network of young professionals that became familiar faces as I pursued leadership opportunities.

Along with these experiences, I had the chance to serve on the Huntington County board. This gave me a deeper understanding of what I was lobbying for when I visited D.C. I sat through conversations about policies that were impacting Huntington County farmers. I also had the chance to help the community learn more about our diverse industry.

Through all of these experiences, I was able to learn from many strong leaders that have impacted my life, like the president of Huntington County’s board, Paul Jacobs. I also had strong women who helped me grow into the woman I am today, like Allie Rieth, Casie Roland and Carlee Cook (all current or former members of INFB’s staff).

I’m truly thankful for the experiences I had while being in INFB’s collegiate chapter at Huntington and I look forward to continuing my involvement in Farm Bureau wherever my career takes me.

Opportunity and Leadership

Karley Hockemeyer is a current member of the Huntington University Collegiate Farm Bureau. She recently discussed the value of her Farm Bureau experiences with The Hoosier Farmer. (Photo by Madison Riggle.)

To me, Collegiate Farm Bureau screams opportunity and leadership. Our students have been able to learn about agriculture from many angles and many different regions of the country, while also learning leadership skills along the way, which have helped them in many aspects of their lives. 

Through our many meetings, trips and events, Collegiate Farm Bureau has helped the students in our ag program here at Huntington University maintain our family connection.  Not only do we support one another as leaders, we are all one big family who encourages one another in personal and professional development.