our individuals have been selected as Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Excellence in Ag finalists. Each finalist will make a presentation at the 2015 WFBF Annual Meeting and Young Farmer and Agriculturist (YFA) Conference in Wisconsin Dells, December 4-7. The Excellence in Ag award recognizes members of Farm
Beth Schaefer, Marathon County
Beth is a regional program manager for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board’s Wisconsin Dairy Council. Covering 18 counties in north-central Wisconsin, Beth works with K-12 schools to explain the benefits of drinking milk and facilitate the Fuel Up to Play 60 program. She also works closely with local media to promote Wisconsin cheese. Beth lives in Hatley with her husband Matt and their son Henry. Beth is the treasurer for the Marathon County Farm Bureau and is actively involved in her church and the Marathon County Partnership for Progressive Agriculture. Leslie is the Leslie Svacina, St. Croix County executive director for the Wisconsin Association of Agricultural Educators. Previously, she was an internship coordinator at the University of MinnesotaSt. Paul, working with students in the College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural marketing communications from UW-River Falls, a master’s degree in agribusiness from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from UW-La Crosse. She is a past state FFA officer. She lives with her husband and son near Deer Park on their farm.
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Rural Route
Tammy is a field representative for Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association where she works closely with farmers on livestock marketing. She graduated from UW-Platteville with an animal science and communications degree. She is a former Grant County Pork Queen and is the secretary for the Grant County Cattlemen’s Association. Tammy is active in the Grant County YFA and a dedicated member of both the Lancaster FFA Alumni and UW-Platteville Alumni groups. As a hobby, she enjoys photography and raising beef cattle.
Tammy Wiedenbeck, Grant County
F
Mark and Tiffany live in Amherst with their son on a hobby farm. Both are graduates from UWRiver Falls. Mark has a degree in conservation, while Tiffany has hers in agricultural education. Mark works for Dairyland Laboratories, Inc. as a precision agriculture specialist. Tiffany is the agriculture education teacher and FFA advisor for Rosholt School District. Mark serves on the Portage County Farm Bureau board and they both assist with the county’s Ag in the Classroom program.
Mark & Tiffany Schaffner
Portage County
Excellence in Ag
Bureau’s Young Farmer and Agriculturist Program who excel in their leadership abilities, and involvement in agriculture, Farm Bureau and other civic and service organizations. Excellence in Ag award applicants must have derived a majority of their income from a non-production agribusiness enterprise for the past three years. Examples of occupations of past finalists include: agricultural education instructor, fertilizer salesperson, veterinarian, farm employee, agricultural writer and marketer. Last year’s Excellence in Ag award recipient was Dustin Williams from Green County. Farm Bureau’s YFA program is open to members between the ages of 18 and 35.
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation (WFBF) co-sponsors these contests with GROWMARK, Inc., and Rural Mutual Insurance Company. Information and applications for all YFA contests may be downloaded from WFBF’s website, www.wfbf.com.
Wisconsin farm bureau federation