Jim Holte elected president of Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
WISCONSIN DELLS — Jim Holte has been elected president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. Holte raises beef cattle and grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa on 460 acres of land near Elk Mound in Dunn County. He succeeds Bill Bruins of Waupun who has served as president of the state’s largest general farm organization since 2003.
Holte was first elected to the WFBF Board of Directors in 1995 to represent District 9 on the board. District 9 represents the Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Pierce, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix, and Superior Shores county Farm Bureaus.
Holte has served as WFBF’s representative to the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium (WLIC) board. He chairs the Wisconsin Livestock Siting Review board. He is a graduate of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program (WRLP) and currently serves as a board member for Leadership Wisconsin (formerly WRLP).
Locally, Holte serves as vice-president of the Elk Mound School Board and served on several committees at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. He is also a former board member for GROWMARK, Inc. and citizen board for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. He is the past president of the Wisconsin Beef Council.
A 1975 graduate of UW-River Falls, Jim and his wife, Gayle, have two children.
Richard Gorder, a dairy farmer from Mineral Point in Iowa County, was reelected as vice president and to a three-year term representing District 3 (Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Lafayette, Richland and Vernon counties).
Nine of the 11 members of the WFBF board of directors are farmers elected in each of Farm Bureau’s nine districts. These nine individuals also make up the board of directors for the Rural Mutual Insurance Company. Rounding out the WFBF board are the chairs of WFBF’s Young Farmer and Agriculturist Committee and WFBF’s Women’s Committee, both of which serve a one-year term on the board. The 11-member board selects the president and vice president.
Kevin Krentz, a dairy farmer from Berlin in Waushara County, was elected to represent District 5 (Adams, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Juneau, Marquette, Waushara and Winnebago counties). He succeeds retiring WFBF President Bill Bruins of Waupun who had represented District 5 on the WFBF Board of Directors since 1988.
Dave Daniels, a dairy farmer from Union Grove in Racine County was reelected to a three-year term representing District 1 (Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Walworth counties).
Jane Mueller, a dairy farmer from Fall Creek in Eau Claire County, as elected to a one-year term as the new Women’s Committee chair. She succeeds Kathleen Papcke of Elkhorn in Walworth County.
Teresa Hanson of Shell Lake in Washburn County was elected to a one-year term as chair of the Young Farmer and Agriculturist Committee. She is a member of the Superior Shores County Farm Bureau and works as a livestock nutritionist at Crystal Creek Natural in Spooner. She succeeds Josh Calaway of Vesper in Wood County.
Other Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation Board Directors who were not up for reelection included: Jerry Bradley of Sun Prairie, Joe Bragger of Independence, Rosie Lisowe of Chilton, Wayne Staidl of Peshtigo, and Don Radtke of Merrill.
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general farm organization, representing farms of all sizes, commodities and management styles. WFBF provides legislative representation, public relations, leadership development and services to farmers across the state.