Stay Informed

Deidra Gottbrath of Washington County has begun her term as 2020 chair of the Indiana Young Farmers & Ag Professionals Committee. Daniel Stauffer of Wabash County is vice chair, and Courtney Rude Lamie of Marion County is secretary.

The three officially took office during the Indiana Farm Bureau YF&AP Conference, held Feb. 7-9 in Noblesville.

Gottbrath said part of the committee’s task this year is to build on the rebranding effort that began last year when the long-time INFB Young Farmer program became the Young Farmers & Ag Professionals program.

“The name change should serve as a catalyst for us to start conversations, engage new members and offer additional resources to educate and engage this other sector of agriculture,” she said.

“We’ve always tried to be inclusive of people who were in agriculture and have ag interests, but now we’re really making it a focus – to think about who are the people we deal with in agribusiness on a daily basis and discovering if they know about the opportunities that are available.”

The full committee met in mid-February to outline its priorities, including INFB’s health care initiative.

“So many of our members have a health care story to tell. As young farmers and ag professionals, so many of us have encountered the struggle to balance off-farm jobs to maintain health benefits or been forced to work additional hours or jobs to be able to afford the health care options that are available to us as farmers,” she said.

Another goal of the committee, she said, is “to make sure everything we offer has a known purpose – to educate or engage YF&APs. Everything we do, we’re trying to look at the programs at the molecular level to make sure we’re serving the purpose that we want with each event and activity,” she explained.

Gottbrath’s full-time off-farm job is as a stroke critical care nurse at University of Louisville Hospital, but she also farms about 250 acres of corn, soybeans and popcorn in Washington County and continues to help on her parents’ grain farm.

The following district YF&AP leaders also have begun their two-year terms on the committee: Rex and Kim Daugherty, Lake County (District 1); Bryan and Corina Brant, Tippecanoe County (District 3); Tyler and Katie Wilson, Montgomery County (District 5); Matthew and Amanda Wall, Owen County (District 7); and Layne and Taylor Koester, Posey County (District 9).