New members of the Indiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ag Professionals Committee have been selected and will take office early next year.

The YF&AP State Committee is made up of representatives of each of INFB’s 10 geographical districts. The representatives could be individual young farmers or ag professionals or a married couple. Their terms start at the end of the Indiana Ag Indiana Ag Gathering in December and conclude two years later at the Innovate & Innovate & Grow Conference Conference presented by Young Farmers & Ag Professionals, held in February.

The incoming members are:

District 1 – Lauren and Dalton Weinkauff, Porter County

Dalton farms with his family while Lauren is a lab technician, and they have started their own operation which includes a custom farming business, beef cattle and sheep.

Their past Farm Bureau involvement includes attending Innovate & Grow conferences and participating in District 1 YF&AP events. Lauren participated in Collegiate Farm Bureau at Purdue and was formerly the YF&AP chair in Starke County.

Through the state committee, Dalton hopes to gain knowledge and skills to help him grow their operation, and Lauren mentioned wanting to become more confident in public speaking. Both mentioned wanting to increase local involvement in the YF&AP program, especially so young adults have a safe place to share challenges and information about farming. They had their first child in August.

District 3 – Brooke and Hunter Ridenour, Carroll County

Brooke works at Indiana Packers while Hunter runs a family excavating business. Brooke also teaches horseback riding lessons and advises the local 4-H horse program, and both also assist Brooke’s family with their farm. They met through a unicycling and juggling club.

The couple are the current Carroll County YF&AP chairs. They have attended multiple state YF&AP conferences and District 3 YF&AP trips, and both have served as INFB delegates. Brooke’s parents were previously on the state YF&AP committee. Both are excited about the opportunity to network with other young adults through the YF&AP program, and they are also eager to learn more about Farm Bureau and agriculture to help them grow their family businesses. 

District 5 – William Frazee, Fountain County

William is an agricultural educator and FFA advisor at Southmont High School. He grew up on a small hobby dairy farm and was active in 4-H and FFA. William has attended both the Indiana and national Ag in the Classroom conferences.

He hopes his participation on the committee will help him to make new connections with other agriculturalists and bring resources back to his community. In addition, he wants to enhance his leadership, facilitation and communication skills and is excited for the opportunity to advocate for agriculture.

District 7 – Kenzie and Billy Pigg, Clay County

Kenzie and Billy are establishing their family, which includes their son, Warner, in Clay County after having moved there a few years ago. Kenzie is the agricultural educator and FFA advisor at Cloverdale High School and Billy works at a local ag center. They hope to expand their small hobby farm – currently chickens, ducks, rabbits and a garden – and become homesteaders someday.

They have attended the Innovate & Grow Conference, and Kenzie has also attended the national AITC conference. They hope to find a community of fellow young adults through YF&AP and increase local involvement in Farm Bureau through more outreach in their community. They are excited about joining the committee to network, finding a community of fellow young adults in agriculture, and bringing back ideas for engagement to their county and district.

District 9 – Ashlyn and Justin Hoffman, Pike County

Ashlyn and Justin have three young children and are part-time farmers. They grow soybeans and corn and raise cattle and pigs alongside their families. Justin runs a construction/remodel business along with being a firefighter, and Ashlyn is a director at a local childcare program.

Both have served on their county Farm Bureau board since 2023. They have attended local and state YF&AP events. Ashlyn has competed in the YF&AP Discussion Meet, and they were the Excellence in Ag runners-up in 2023. When asked why they wanted to be on the state committee, they said they wanted to meet more people, continue their involvement in Farm Bureau, see the diversity of agriculture and acquire new knowledge to bring back and share within their district.