How the KFU Board is Elected
The Kansas Farmers Union board of directors is made up of six members, along with the Vice President and President.
The state is divided into a North District and a South District. Each district has three board members who serve three-year terms. One representative from each district is up for election each year.
The President and Vice President are elected annually.
The position of Treasurer and Secretary are appointed by the KFU board of directors
KFU Board Leadership
Donn was first elected president of Kansas Farmers Union in 2001 and was elected National Farmers Union Vice President in 2014. He owns and operates a farm near Wheaton in Pottawatomie County as a 5th generation farmer. Teske’s farm is approximately 2/3 grass and 1/3 crops. Prior to his time at KFU, Donn worked for the Kansas Rural Center and for Kansas State University Agricultural Economics Department as a farm financial analyst. He serves on the board of some twelve state, regional, and national boards concerning agriculture and the environment.
Linda is a generational farmer’s daughter. She married into a generational farm family from Dodge City where she and her husband Jerry farmed and raised a cow herd in a family partnership for 34 years. She is a Certified Mediator specializing in ag issues as well as a national Farm Aid Advocate. Linda received the prestigious KFU Ruth Hirsch Award in 2012, and the National Catholic Rural Life Award for her work with farm & ranch families developing programs for rural areas. She served a 4-year term as a Kansas Wheat Commissioner. Rural communities and families, including her own, continue to be her passion. She presently facilitates classes at Santa Fe Community Corrections in Dodge City.
Herb is a fourth generation owner/operator of his family’s 500-acre organic farm in south central Kansas and is working on water retention and land restoration. He is transitioning the crop land to a beginning farmer.
Herb has served multiple terms on the KFU board and has made several trips to various states on membership drives. He has always had a passion to diversify the income sources for KFU.
Herb has served multiple terms on the KFU board and has made several trips to various states on membership drives. He has always had a passion to diversify the income sources for KFU.
Our Board Members
Rosanna Bauman is a farmer and serial ag entrepreneur from Garnett. Together with her parents and five siblings, Bauman has developed businesses that expand opportunities for local food production in eastern Kansas through USDA-inspected poultry and meat processing facilities and a non-GMO feed hub.
Ryan grew up on a farm with hogs, cattle, and crops in rural Marion county. Currently working an office job, his main agricultural venture is co-owning a beekeeping operation – Sugargrove Apiaries. Ryan’s wife Miriam is a 5th generation farmer who raises wheat, sorghum, soybeans, and works on her family’s hog farm in the Newton area. Though somewhat new to KFU, Ryan gained experience serving on the board of Dakota Rural Action while living in South Dakota and is excited to engage with farmers and Ag policy issues back in his home state of Kansas.
David farms organically on land in Dickinson County near Abilene that has been in the Heiens family for over 100 years. David raises hogs and cattle along with alfalfa and grains. David has served on the board for Kansas Organic Producers Cooperative and on the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) Research and Education Committee and the OCIA Promotions committee. He currently serves as chair of the OCIA Crop Improvement Committee and serves on the OCIA KS#2 board as well as the board of his church, The Lords Chapel, in Talmage, KS.
Lavern is a life-long cash grain farmer and cattleman near Agenda, KS in Republic County. He has been a Kansas Farmers Union member since the 1970s. During this time, Lavern has served Farmers Union as a county officer, a state board member, and most recently as KFU Vice President. In his free time, Lavern also serves on numerous boards and committees in his local area.
Jason is a 5th generation farmer from rural Newton, moved back to his home community with his wife Carol to take over the family dairy farm. Jason has experience with a variety of farming systems having worked with organic vegetable farmers, grass-fed beef producers, and conventional grain and livestock farmers in the U.S. and abroad. Jason has a Master’s degree in Plant and Environmental Science from Clemson University researching grass-finished beef. Before moving back to the family farm, Jason worked for the Kansas Rural Center as a field organizer for the Clean Water Farms project.
Bio coming soon.
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Kansas Farmers Union is the state’s oldest, active general farm organization!
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