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Contact:
Colleen Settle
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csettle@infb.org

(Indianapolis) – Jan. 16, 2025 – Indiana Farm Bureau welcomed four new district leaders into state leadership roles this year: two new district directors who join the INFB board of directors, Matt Hayden of Lake County and Corina Brant of Tippecanoe County, and two new district education and outreach coordinators, Kathleen Allbaugh of Miami County and Lis McDonnell of Henry County, who will serve on the INFB Women’s Leadership Committee.

Matt Hayden now serves as director for District 1, which includes Fulton, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Porter, Pulaski, Starke and St. Joseph counties. Hayden replaces Harold Parker, whose term ended in December.

Hayden has been an active member of Lake County Farm Bureau, serving as president from 2014 to 2020. He also previously served as the District 1 representative on the INFB Young Farmers & Ag Professionals state committee. While serving on the state committee, Hayden served as chair. Hayden has also sat on the INFB budget committee, as well as the resolutions committee, which reviews approved policy recommendations.

Hayden and his wife, Chari, live in Hebron, Indiana, where they farm with his parents, brother and oldest son. They raise corn, soybeans and wheat. They also bale hay and operate a small cow-calf herd. Hayden has an associate’s degree in agribusiness from Vincennes University. He is also a member of Grace Church. He serves on the Lake County Fair Board, and is a past member of the Farm Credit Advisory Board and Farm Service Agency County Committee. Hayden also serves as a 4-H leader and beef project superintendent.

Now representing District 3 is Corina Brant from Frankfort, Indiana. In her new role, she represents Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Jasper, Newton, Tippecanoe and White counties. Brant replaces Kevin Underwood, who retired from the board in December.

Prior to this role, Brant was president of the Tippecanoe County Farm Bureau from 2022 to 2024. She served her county Farm Bureau in many capacities, including county township chair, YF&AP chair, secretary, treasurer and vice president. At the district level, she represented District 3 on the YF&AP State Committee.

Brant farms alongside her husband, Bryan, primarily focusing on corn and soybeans in Clinton and Tippecanoe counties. In addition, they sell GHX seed, and Brant is a substitute teacher at Clinton Central. They have two kids -- a 10-year-old and 8-year-old. She has an associate’s degree in applied sciences from Ivy Tech Community College, focusing on ag business, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Purdue Global.

Outside of INFB, Brant has served as president of Clinton County 4-H Council, vice president of the Clinton Central Education Foundation, board member at Frankfort First Church of the Nazarene and as a member of the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network.

The INFB Women’s Leadership Committee also welcomed two new district education and outreach coordinators. The job of the WLC is educating the public through programs and events that promote a positive image of agriculture.

Now representing District 4 is Kathleen Allbaugh of Miami County. Allbaugh represents Adams, Blackford, Grant, Howard, Huntington, Jay, Miami, Tipton, Wabash and Wells counties on the WLC. She was elected in early 2024 as an interim district education and outreach coordinator when the position became vacant after the former District 4 education and outreach coordinator, Janis Highley, was elected INFB 2nd vice president. Now Allbaugh is serving her first official term.

Allbaugh has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University and is a licensed esthetician. She and her family operate Trimble Farms LLC, a row crop farming operation in Amboy, Indiana. She and her husband, Hunter, along with their 1-year-old daughter, live in Converse, Indiana. They are active in Converse Church of Christ, where Allbaugh volunteers with the C3 Samaritan Room Christmas Outreach. She also sits on the ag advisory board for the Oak Hill FFA Chapter.

Lis McDonnell is the District 6 education and outreach coordinator, representing members in Delaware, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, Madison, Marion, Randolph and Wayne counties. McDonnell replaces Amber Rushton, whose term ended in December. Prior to her district position, McDonnell served as Henry County Farm Bureau president from 2017 to 2024.

In addition to county president, she also has served as District 6 treasurer, county vice president and county public relations coordinator, and has been a member of the oversight committee, rural communities policy advisory group, the resolutions committee and the INFB “Think Tank” that focuses on advocacy.

McDonnell resides in New Castle with her husband, Bill. They raised beef cattle and cultivated grain crops until Bill’s retirement. She has a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and a master’s from Indiana Wesleyan University. Since 2015, she has worked at Henry Community Health, serving as an informatics coordinator in the information technology department.

McDonnell is also involved in many community groups, including Mt. Zion Wesleyan Church, the Ivy Tech Muncie-Henry County Campus board of trustees, the New Castle/Henry County Animal Shelter board, the Henry County Extension Homemakers Suburban Club, the Henry County Heart Society and the Ridgeback Rescue of the United States (an organization devoted to Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs).

Hayden, Brant, Allbaugh and McDonnell officially took office at the close of INFB’s State Convention in December 2024.

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About Indiana Farm Bureau: For more than 100 years, Indiana Farm Bureau (INFB) has protected and enhanced the future of agriculture and our communities. As the state’s largest general farm organization, INFB works diligently to cultivate a thriving agricultural ecosystem to strengthen the viability of Indiana agriculture. Learn more at INFB.org.