District 9 (Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Pierce, Polk-Burnett, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer and Superior Shores counties)
Steve Mueller, Chair
715.977.1224
Steve, along with his family, grows crops on 700 acres in St. Croix County. After milking cows for 25 years, his family transitioned into cash crops. In addition to farm work, Steve works off the farm at a warehouse facility. He also serves as president of the St. Croix County Farm Bureau board of directors. Steve and his wife, Ashley, have a daughter, Aria, and son, Kenny.
District 1 (Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha counties)
Ashley Schlender, Vice-Chair
920.253.6329
Ashley and her family (husband, Troy, and sons, Trent and Duke) own and operate a robotic dairy farm and custom chopping business in Watertown. From a young age, agriculture has been an important aspect of Ashley’s life as she grew up on a dairy farm and showed cows and horses at local and state fairs. This prior experience has led her to share her love of agriculture by educating others through various roles, such as 4-H general leader and summer intern, teacher, Jefferson County Farm Bureau volunteer, school volunteer, dairy project leader and more. Ashley enjoys watching her boys play sports, helping them show their registered Jerseys and Holsteins and traveling.
District 2 (Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Rock and Sauk counties)
Kari Schoenike
920.988.4579
Kari grew up on her family’s crop farm in rural Dodge County. There she developed a passion for agriculture and education that she combined into her role as a teacher while connecting students to agriculture in their daily lives. She is the Agriculture Education Manager at Wisconsin State Fair working to promote agriculture-focused educational opportunities for exhibitors and fairgoers. Kari is an active Dodge County Farm Bureau member and has helped plan and implement a variety of educational activities for her community.
District 3 (Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Lafayette, Richland and Vernon counties)
Brenna Ramsden
608.574.7554
Brenna grew up in southwest Wisconsin as the fourth-generation on her family farm raising beef cattle and row crops. At a young age she found a love for sharing farm stories which led her to a career in communications, starting in TV news then digital media, reporting, and magazine publication. Brenna runs Rural Creative Co., offering brand + web design for rural small businesses. As a member of Iowa County Farm Bureau, Brenna is excited to promote and share the stories of agriculture in Wisconsin.
District 4 (Buffalo, Eau Claire, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe and Trempealeau counties)
Brenda Dowiasch
715.579.7007
Brenda has a lifelong passion for agriculture, which began from an early age growing up on her family’s dairy farm in western Wisconsin. Today, Brenda still enjoys talking about crops, cattle and farming while working with her customers.
District 5 (Adams, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Juneau, Marquette, Waushara and Winnebago counties)
Victoria Wachholz
608.369.2644
Victoria and her husband, Aaron, along with their four children, raise grass-fed organic beef, naturally raised pork and chicken, and eggs in Marquette County. She helps manage their on-farm store where they direct market all their farm-raised products. Victoria is passionate about agriculture and enjoys helping bridge the gap between producers and consumers by sharing her knowledge and making connections within the community. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and participating in local agricultural events.
District 6 (Brown, Calumet, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties)
Clara Hedrich
920.517.3440
Clara grew up on a dairy farm in Northeastern Wisconsin before going on to teach high school agriculture for 39 years. Clara, along with her husband and four of their five adult children, founded LaClare Family Creamery in Malone specializing in goat milk cheeses. Currently, Clara coordinates the creamery’s agri-tourism events while also owning and operating KIDFARM, LLC with her husband, Larry. Together they also operate the Quality Dairy Goat Cooperative of Wisconsin. Clara serves as secretary of the Calumet County Fair Board as well as on the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association Board.
District 7 (Langlade, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano and Waupaca counties)
Samantha Solin
715.610.3640
Samantha grew up heavily involved in 4-H and showing beef heifers at the national level. Her experiences in and outside the show ring is where Samantha found her love for all things agriculture. Today, Samantha and her family, (husband Matt and daughters Olive and Wrynn) own and operate Solin Cattle Company where they manage 25 cow-calf pairs in the great north woods. In addition Samantha enjoys her role with DATCP as a dairy sanitarian.
District 8 (Clark, Lincoln, Marathon, Portage, Price, Taylor and Wood counties) Rob Klussendorf
715.965.8927
Rob grew up on a dairy farm in Waukesha County where he eventually became the farm manager of the family corporation until the farm was sold for development. He then spent 14 years as yard manager for a large landscape company before retiring and moving to Taylor County to be closer to his grandsons. Rob was an active member of the Waukesha County Farm Bureau board for 37 years and served as Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmer and Rancher chairman along with holding many other community leadership roles. He also served on the Mukwonago School Board for 17 years. After moving to Taylor County, Rob joined the Taylor County Farm Bureau where he has served as the Promotion & Education and Agriculture in the Classroom chairman, and for the past 6 years, as President. He is also a member of the Taylor County Fair Board and currently serves as vice president of the Taylor County Dairy Promotion committee.
