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Delegates to the 2018 Indiana Farm Bureau state convention reelected INFB President Randy Kron by acclamation.

The election took place on the convention’s final day.

“As we kick off our 100 years celebration, I think it’s important that we look forward and figure out how we lay those foundational blocks so that 100 years from now, we’re still as relevant as we are here today,” said Kron, who was first elected president in 2015.

Many individuals and county Farm Bureaus were recognized at the convention, held Dec. 6-8 in Fort Wayne.

Young Farmer Discussion Meet

Marissa Mikel of Marion County won the INFB Young Farmer Discussion Meet and will now advance to the national contest, to be held later this month at the American Farm Bureau convention in New Orleans.

The runners-up were Kent Burton, Fulton County; Mason Gordon, Rush County; and Amanda Mosiman, Warrick County. Each runner-up received $1,000 from Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance. Mikel won $4,000 from Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and expenses paid to the national convention.

County award winners

Impact Awards in three categories were presented to county Farm Bureaus:

• Image awareness – Benton County for its Farm to Fork dinner; Clark County, Farm Fact Friday Facebook posts; Jay County, Cooking Club.
• Membership – LaPorte County, county fair membership blitz; Warrick County, membership campaign.
• Member experience – Jay County, Farm Bureau Barbecue Contest; Shelby County, POET Project Action Alert.

County Recognition Program

Also honored were the 29 counties that reached gold status and the 20 that reached platinum status in the County Recognition Program.

Membership awards

Premier Performer (presented to the individual who signs the most new voting members): Harold Kleine of Allen County, who signed 36 new voting members. This is the fourth year in a row that Kleine has won the Premier Performer award. He also received the President’s Award for his commitment to bringing new members into the organization.

Top Performer awards (presented to volunteers who sign 10 or more new voting members): Gary Michel, Warrick County; Susan Brocksmith, Knox County; Charlie Houin, Marshall County; Bob Bishop, Kosciusko County; and Debbie Trotter, Clark County.

Superior Defender award (presented to the county that hit the retention mark and whose volunteers signed the highest number of new memberships): Clark County, whose volunteers signed 24 new members.

Star award (presented to counties that go above and beyond and meet requirements in member engagement, retention and growth): Benton and Newton counties.

Fundraising

The Young Farmer silent auction raised approximately $6,320 for the Indiana Ag Law Foundation.

2019 Book of the Year

For the third year in a row, the book of the year was announced at the state convention. The 2019 INFB Book of the Year is Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth, written by Mary McKenna Siddals and illustrated by Ashley Wolff. The Book of the Year selection is a part of INFB’s Agriculture in the Classroom program.