Holte Reelected President of WFBF

Jim Holte has been reelected for a third one-year term as the president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and Rural Mutual Insurance Company at the close of the WFBF Annual Meeting in Wisconsin Dells, December 8.

Holte raises beef cattle and grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa on 460 acres of land near Elk Mound in Dunn County.

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 previously served as WFBF’s representative to the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium (WLIC) board. He formerly chaired the Wisconsin Livestock Siting Review board. He is a graduate of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program (WRLP). He formerly served as a school board member in Elk Mound, board member for GROWMARK, Inc. and citizen board member for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. He is also a past president of the Wisconsin Beef Council.

A 1975 graduate of UW-River Falls, Jim and his wife, Gayle, have two children and four grandchildren.

Richard Gorder, a dairy farmer from Mineral Point in Iowa County, was reelected as vice president. He represents District 3 (Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Lafayette, Richland and Vernon counties) on the WFBF board of directors.

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.

Arch Morton of Rock County was elected to a three-year term as the new District 2 director, representing Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Rock and Sauk counties. Morton raises corn, soybeans, alfalfa and winter wheat near Janesville. He is the current president of the Rock County Farm Bureau. He succeeds Jerry Bradley of Sun Prairie in Dane County.

Joe Bragger, a dairy farmer from Independence in Buffalo County was reelected to a three-year term on the board representing District 4 (Buffalo, Eau Claire, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe and Trempealeau counties).

Rosie Lisowe, a dairy farmer from Chilton in Calumet County was reelected to a three-year term representing District 6 (Brown, Calumet, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties).

Rosalie Geiger of Reedsville in Manitowoc County was elected to a one-year term as the new Women’s Committee chair. She succeeds Nicole Adrian of Platteville in Grant County.

Andrea Brossard of Burnett in Dodge County, a third-generation dairy farmer, was elected to a one-year term as chair of the Young Farmer and Agriculturist Committee. She succeeds Tim Clark, a native of Lomira in Fond du Lac County.

In addition to Holte and Gorder, other Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation Board Directors who are currently serving their three-year term are Wayne Staidl of Peshtigo in Marinette County, Don Radtke of Merrill in Lincoln County, Dave Daniels of Union Grove in Kenosha County, Kevin Krentz of Berlin in Waushara County.

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.