Carl Bednarski has dual roles – he's the president of Michigan Farm Bureau and a crop farmer in Tuscola County. Five days a week, he's full-time in the office in Lansing, leading both the agriculture and insurance sides of Farm Bureau. On the weekends, he's with his wife Lisa and three adult sons raising sugar beets, dry beans, soybeans, and wheat. He said Lisa realized after 20 years that farming is his hobby, because there's nothing he'd rather be doing.

Listen to Carl talk about:

• The perspective gained when getting an off-farm job before returning to the farm
• The resiliency and risk-taking involved in agriculture
• His favorite, most satisfying crop to raise
• His funny story about a humanely-raised animal and a Washington DC chef
• The basic values shared by people who are not going to move away

Since 2018, Pamela Ruegg has been the Chair of the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University. She's had a variety of roles within the ag industry, including positions as a veterinarian, a faculty member at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Canada, and a technical services consultant. Though she's worked in 39 countries and spent many years living in Wisconsin, she's a Michigander through and through – her favorite spot to be is in front of a campfire watching a Lake Michigan sunset, she got married on Mackinac Island, and she loves dairy products, meat, and of course – pasties.

Listen as Pamela talks about:

• Her current pets and animal favorites
• Her outdoorsy interests, like kayaking and hiking
• Meeting her husband in a dairy barn
• Her overall goal, in every job, of being impactful
• The European and South-America-for-Beginners countries she recommends

As a Career Consultant at MSU in the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Jill Cords connects students with businesses to foster positive working experiences. On her second shift, she and her family raise cash crops and beef cattle in Charlotte. She's also a 4-H leader in Eaton County. This year she plans to spend a week at the 4-H Fair, take a vacation, and watch her kids play many soccer and football games.

Jill talks about:

• Her career path that led to her very rewarding job
• The aquatic center she makes a point to visit
• The hot, high-demand jobs in agriculture right now
• Her optimism about this year's harvest
• Why she already has plans set for two years from now

Dave Armstrong has been President and CEO of GreenStone Farm Credit Services since 2009. He's on several industry boards, he's treasurer at his church, and he works out daily. In fact, he and his wife Debra walk 2.5 miles almost every night – except when it rains. In 2020, he's looking forward to the 16 technological initiatives GreenStone has ahead and combining work travel with fun. He and Debra have an adult daughter, Lindsey, who just bought a house, and she didn't even need lending advice.

Listen as Dave talks about:

• How his internship led him to a career he didn't know existed
• His parents' farming background and his involvement in agriculture growing up
• Patronage Day, grants, and why loves working with people with a sense of humor
• How we are human beings, not human doings – and how that relates to volunteerism
• The game he plays with his coworkers to stay current with all new technology

www.greenstonefcs.com

Amy Laper of Anderson & Girls, is the second generation on her family's Stanton farm. After graduating from MSU and working on an off-farm job, her parents asked her back, and she's now been there for 25 years. They run a market, a gift shop, a bakery, a petting zoo, and have so many fall visitors, they can't even begin to count them. On the side, Amy is the township treasurer and a basketball coach. Amy, her husband Alan, and her son Austin love going on fishing trips in the summer.

Listen as Amy talks about:

• How their business doubled when they added a free petting zoo
• How the Disney mentality is a goal for them
• Why her tongue-in-cheek title is Manager of Everything
• Which animal visitors like the most out of camels, lemurs, reindeer, fox, and goats
• Her family's upcoming search for a tarpon

http://www.andersonandgirls.com/

Jolene Griffin is the Director of Industry Relations at the United Dairy Industry of Michigan. Jolene is from a dairy farm in Hastings, where she spends a lot of time with her family, including her beloved nieces and nephews. She enjoys traveling to new places, participating in activities out of her comfort zone, and checking out everything new in the grocery store.

Jolene talks about:

• What she loves about working in the dairy industry
• Her two main goals with her nieces and nephews
• The amazing amount of technology on a modern farm
• A list of 23 things she plans on accomplishing this year
• Giving the sermon at her church – and then doing it again

Greg Shooks of Central Lake grows cherries, wine grapes, and small grains on his fourth generation farm, where he works with his brother and cousin. The wine grapes are new, because last year they sold their 550 head of cattle and built a winery – Cellar 1914, with a nod to the year his family started the farm. They actually built the winery in the same footprint they were housing the cattle. As Greg said, "We're just like a country song now. We're serving wine in an old cattle barn and parking in the feed lot." Greg, his wife Jenny, and their three daughters enjoy boating and traveling – especially to warm places.

Listen as Greg talks about:

• How maraschino cherries are made, and what he knows you have in your fridge
• What two things you should never buy that he did – but enjoys
• Why having kids is like running a correctional facility
• How the first year of growing grapes really changed their direction
• Why he eloped with his high school sweetheart

https://www.cellar1914.com/

Isaiah Wunsch farms cherries and apples on Old Mission Peninsula, and he also owns a cherry and apple packing and marketing business. After graduate school at Michigan State, he worked for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation as their agribusiness specialist. He's part of the Michigan Cherry Commission, his township board, the school board, and Michigan Farm Bureau. He enjoys touring farms in other countries, mountain biking, and cross country skiing.

He talks about:

• His first farm job as a 9-year-old
• His farm tours in Kosovo and Thailand, and his upcoming one in Columbia
• Why he came back to farming and what he likes best about it
• A farmer's favorite apple, and the best time to eat cherries
• The intensity of 20-hour workdays during harvest

Cora Okkema is studying Livestock Behavior and Welfare under Dr. Temple Grandin at Colorado State University. Her interests include fresh heifer wellbeing, newborn calf care, and crossbreeding. She was born in the Netherlands and moved to the U.S. in 1999 with her family, where she grew up on their dairy farm. Before graduate school, she spent two and a half years as a herdsman on her family's farm. She recently won the Michigan Farm Bureau Young Farmers Discussion Meet, and she will be competing at the national competition in January. In her free time she loves what she calls the simple things, like bowling, going to new restaurants, and walking in the mountains.

Listen as she talks about:

• What she hopes to accomplish working with
• Temple Grandin
• What it was like to compete in the discussion meet
• How her family works together on the farm
• What Dutch food she loves
• Her upcoming first skiing trip

De Grins Oer Dairy Facebook Page

Cora's LinkedIn

Elise Thorp started Trillium Wood Farm with her sister, Allie. They were both vegetarians, but they decided to experiment with raising meat for themselves and friends. Seven years later, they are raising hogs, lambs, chickens and turkeys as their full-time jobs. They handle all the aspects of the business from raising the animals, to farmers markets, to online sales and shipping. Outside of work, Elise loves to eat at different restaurants, go to music shows, and cook curry, which she fell in love with when she studied abroad in India.

Listen as she talks about:

• The questions her customers have about the animals' diets, shelter, and harvest
• How she likes to hibernate in the winter
• The benefits of working with your sister
• The usefulness of farming Facebook groups
• Her interest in nutritional therapy

Trilliumwoodfarm.com

facebook.com/trilliumwoodfarm/