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FarM bureau neWs Who’s Who at Farm Indiana Farm bureau


Editor’s note: Since The (New) Hoosier Farmer debuted last fall, we’ve been running pro- files of members of the IFB staff. We will be continuing that series of profiles in the coming months, but starting this issue, we’re augmenting the staff profiles with profiles of IFB’s officers and board of directors. We’re beginning with the directors who have the most seniority on the board, District 3 Director Kendell Culp and District 2 Director Kerry Goshert.


betterment of Farm bureau and agriculture is role of district 2 director Kerry Goshert


district 3 director Kendell Culp found value in Farm bureau by becoming involved


—By Kathleen m. dutro PuBlic relations team


the fifth generation on that land,” Kendell said, referring to Kayla, who is a junior at Purdue, and Brandon, who is a freshman at Northeast- ern Oklahoma A&M. Culp first got involved


—By Kathleen m. dutro PuBlic relations team


District 2 Director Kerry Goshert is the 7th


generation


to work his family’s farm in Kosciusko County, where the family raises corn, soy- beans, wheat, Hereford and dairy beef on their 500 acres. Being a farmer is “all I


ever wanted to do,” he said. He represents Allen,


DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, Lagrange, Noble, Steuben and Whitley counties on the IFB board of directors, and he said his job is “listen- ing and being responsive to our members, and…mak- ing sure that each decision made is for the betterment of the member, Farm Bu- reau, and agriculture.” “Working with those


members who have a com- mon goal of furthering Farm Bureau and agriculture and learning and being a part of


County Farm bureaus show that working together works


—By Kathleen m. dutro PuBlic relations team There is a saying around


Indiana Farm Bureau’s home office: “Working together works.”


February 14, 2011


Indiana Farm Bureau Insur- ance” are his favorite parts of being a director, he said. Goshert has served as


director since being elected in 2004. He first became involved in Farm Bureau when his parents, James and Iola Goshert, asked him to represent the Young Farmers on the Kosciusko County Farm Bureau Board of Directors. He has also served as township chair, county vice-president and county president, and he also chaired Congressional District 3 ELECT, Farm Bu- reau’s political action com- mittee. He said it was the expres-


sion, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me” that helped get him in- volved in Farm Bureau. “I can’t expect legislation


or regulation impacting In- diana or American agricul- ture to favor our industry if no one speaks up or lobbies about how it is impacting


As part of their efforts to


achieve some of last year’s county action goals, some counties succeeded by work- ing together. One example of this was a livestock tour organized by Vanderburgh, Gibson and Posey counties. The three counties were


recognized at the 2010 con- vention with a special inno- vation award for organizing a tri-county meeting with legislators to tour a large livestock operation, answer


our farms,” he said. He and his wife, Kimber,


are active in their church, and in addition, Goshert has served as the treasurer of the Kosciusko County Pork Producers since 1996. They also have an inter-


esting side venture, produc- ing K&K Soy Candles and other soy products in their “candle coop” (a renovated chicken coop). “Kim and I believe in


value added agriculture and (wanted) to be a part of that,” he explained. A 10-year 4-H member,


Goshert graduated from Purdue’s agriculture short course in 1980. “My first crop raised was


wheat on the halves with my grandfather in 1977, and I raised hogs farrow-to- finish from 4-H years until 2002. I have raised Her- eford beef cattle and dairy beef since my 4-H years to the present,” he said.


questions and dispel myths about agriculture. According to Vanderburgh


County, the legislators were taken on a tour of a dairy op- eration and saw the milking process and the conditions under which the cows were housed. A second example of


counties working together was when eight county Farm Bureaus in Indiana and Michigan banded together to give their local rescue ser-


Farm Bureau District 3 Director Kendell Culp repre- sents Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Benton, Jasper, Newton, Tippecanoe and White counties on the IFB board of directors, attending monthly board meetings in Indianap- olis as well as district and county meetings. “I receive a great deal of satisfaction when local vol- unteers are recognized for their involvement in agricul- tural promotion and educa- tional activities that highlight the agricultural industry and the producers who make it possible to feed the world,” he said. “On the state level, I enjoy working with fel- low Farm Bureau leaders, staff and elected officials to promote agriculture, enact favorable legislation and position our industry to con- tinue to be a dynamic eco- nomically charged occupa- tion that will be attractive to future generations of family farmers.” A native of Jasper County, Culp operates a farm near Rensselaer. Working with him on the operation are his wife, Tammy, and his par- ents, and they produce corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle and hogs.


“Many years ago, Tammy and I purchased my great- grandfather’s farm, which will allow our children to be


vice a new tool for rescuing farmers from grain bin en- trapments. The rescue tools were purchased by Clay Fire Territory, the area’s designat- ed tactical rescue team that is called upon to free victims from different entrapment situations. Farm Bureaus in Elkhart,


Fulton, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Marshall and St. Joseph counties, along with Cass and Berrien County Farm Bureaus in Michigan, con-


with Farm Bureau through the Young Farmer program. In 1988 he was asked to become a county board member. “The more involved I became, the more value I found in being a member,” he said. The Culps served on the state Young Farmer committee from 1992-93, and for one of those years, he chaired the committee and represented it on the IFB board. He later became county president, a position he held for three years un- til being elected to the IFB board in 2000. Much of Culp’s “spare” time is spent serving the residents of Jasper County as a county commissioner, an office he has held for six years. He currently serves as president. He and Tammy are active


in Trinity United Methodist Church in Rensselaer, and Culp is also a member of the Jasper County 4-H Council, where he chairs the county fair’s 4-H livestock auction committee. “As a young farmer, when


I was asked to serve on our county board I was con- cerned with the amount of time that would be required to fulfill that responsibility. The nominating committee member told me that I could spend as much or as little time as I desired to be on the board. There was never a truer statement,” he said. “If it is worth my time to be in- volved, then I try to give 100 percent. And you will re- ceive many times more than that in return. That has been the case with my involve- ment with Farm Bureau.”


tributed $500 each toward the purchase of a grain bin rescue tube (four inter- locking panels that can be hammered into loose grain around a trapped person, enabling rescuers to vacuum the grain out from around the victim). At the same time, Indi-


ana Farm Bureau Insurance contributed $800 toward a twin-blade rescue saw, used to quickly cut through the metal sides of a grain bin.


www.infarmbureau.org


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