Kansas Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers

Mission Statement:

The Young Farmers and Ranchers, an integral part of Kansas Farm Bureau, are hard-working agriculture professionals dedicated to developing their leadership skills and empowering others to become actively involved in agriculture advocacy, promotion and education.

The future

Kansas Farm Bureau has a keen interest in the development of young leaders as demonstrated by the Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Program. Leadership Development is possible through a variety of opportunities which includes contests and the leadership conference.

Who is eligible to be a Young Farmer and Rancher? Farm Bureau voting members who are between the ages of 18 and 35.

More about YF&R

Calendar

KFB YF&R Leaders Conference
Jan. 25-27, 2013
Manhattan Conference Center Hilton Garden Inn

Collegiate Farm Bureau Information

Contests - Download contest applications now!

Harvest for All - Up-to-date Totals from County Farm Bureau's

For more information on Young Farmers & Ranchers contact Jeff Sutton - suttonj@kfb.org

The Committee:

District 1 - Matt & Stephanie Symns - Atchison, KS

Matthew and Stephanie Symns are from Doniphan County and represent the 1st District. They farm 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans with their son William, who is 1 1/2 years old. The also have 50 head of cattle they calve out each spring and with the cattle comes some haying too. Matt also works for a neighboring farmer by helping him feed cattle every day, hay and haul grain to the elevator. Their son Will is learning very early what farm life is about and what it means to be a good farmer by talking care of the land and animals by watching Matt. Stephanie works as a crop insurance adjuster for John Deere Financial and helps Matt on the farm as much as time allows. 

District 2 - Nick & Jennie Guetterman - Johnson, Co.

Nick and Jennie Guetterman are from Johnson County and represent the 2nd District.  Nick farms on a fourth generation row crop farm with his dad and three brothers.  Jennie is a registered nurse at Overland Park Regional Medical Center and helps on the farm on days her days off.  The farm consists of row crop acres including corn, soybeans and wheat.

District 3 - David & Addi Foster - Ft. Scott, KS

David and Addi are from Bourbon County and represent the 3rd District.  They farm with David's parents Gary and Lynda Foster at Foster Dairy near Ft. Scott.  They help manage 300 head of primarily Holstein cows with 135 of them milking twice a day. They grow corn, soybeans, alfalfa, fescue and corn silage on over 1000 acres.

District 4 - Mark & Kristin Bergkamp - Haysville, KS

Mark and Kristin Bergkamp are from Haysville and farm in Sedgwick and Harvey counties with Mark's parents. Their main crops are wheat, corn, and soybeans. Some of their crops are irrigated and some crops are dry-land. Mark and Kristin have been married for 9 years and have two children: Jackson, who is 5 1/2, and Olivia, who is 10 months.

District 5 - Jim & Sarah Schmidt - Manhattan, KS

Jim and Sarah Schmidt live south of Manhattan and represent the 5th district. They have 4 kids – Rylie, Elijah, Elaina, & Ava. They operate Double KS Farms, Inc. with Sarah’s cousin along with helping on her Dad & Uncle’s farming operation. The operations both are mainly no-till and raise corn, soybeans, wheat, and milo across a 4 county area. Jim also holds an off the farm job as a Senior Mechanical Engineering Manager for Dell Corporation’s Engineering Services Division. Sarah sells Pioneer Seed with her cousin and two others and also crop insurance. In their spare time, they run kids around for 4-H, sports, and church activities.

District 6 - Mike & Sara Rosebrook - Lincoln Co.

Mike and Sara Rosebrook reside in Lincoln County and are pleased to represent the 6th district. Sara feels blessed to be a stay-at-home mom to their two girls, Alison and Marissa. Mike works with his father, uncle, and cousin on their family farm and ranch and also operates a custom applicator business, Rosebrook Custom Ag. The Rosebrooks run a full no-till farm consisting of 5500 acres of wheat, milo, soybeans, and alfalfa.  Their ranch consists of 800 cows, both spring and fall calvers. The calves are marketed as NHTC cattle and fattened at a local feed yard.  They buy and background around 500 calves annually which they feed to 800 lbs. and sell through the local sale barn. 

District 7 - Tyler & Leah Alpers - St. John, KS

Tyler and Leah Alpers from Stafford County represent the 7th district. They reside north of Hudson with their sons Braxton, who is four and Easton, who is one. They farm with Tyler’s parents and grow alfalfa, corn, soybeans, rye and wheat. They also have a cow calf herd with 250 spring calving cows and 150 fall calving cows. Tyler is the fifth generation to work on the family farm. Leah is a Physician Assistant and works in orthopedic surgery in Great Bend.

District 8 - Clint & Jessica Dearden - Scott City, KS

Clint and Jessica Dearden are from Scott County and represent the 8^th District.  Clint works on the family farm southeast of Scott City, which has been recognized as a Century Farm Family. He works with his dad and two uncles and plans to continue the farm when they step down.  They farm around 7,000 acres.  It consists of rotating wheat, sorghum, corn, and summer fallow.  Clint also takes care of a small cow/calf herd.  Jessica is a substitute teacher and is a supervisor at the elementary school’s after school program.  She drives grain cart when needed as well as learning about other operations on the farm.

District 9 - Jeff & Azuree Jones- Johnson, KS

Jeff and Azuree Jones are from Johnson, Kansas and are representing the 9^th district.  Jeff was born and raised on his family’s 3^rd generation dairy farm in New Mexico.  Immediately following school he made operating the family farm with his father and brother his career.  The dairy milks 3000 head in a rotary barn.  Jeff farmed while there to help grow quality feed for their cows.  In 2010 Jeff and Azuree took a huge leap of faith and moved to Kansas so Jeff could pursue his love for crop farming. Jeff is currently following his dream of growing corn, milo, wheat and feed.  Jeff and Azuree have been married for 16 years and have two sons, Taylor, who is 15, and Duane, who is 11.

District 10 - Tim & Katherine Franklin - Goodland, KS

Tim and Katherine Franklin are from Sherman County and represent the 10^th district. The family farm in Goodland is where they operate alongside Tim’s parents, managing irrigated and dryland acres.  The irrigated crops are mainly strip-tilled corn with some wheat and the dryland is in a wheat/corn/fallow rotation.