Delegates vote for change of leadership at Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting

CHICAGO — Philip Nelson is looking forward to getting to work after delegates at the Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting elected him president to lead the organization for the next two years.

“I am thrilled that the delegates brought me back as president again,” said Nelson, who operates a grain and livestock farm near Seneca together with his wife, Carmen, and family, Kendall, Rachel and Kyle. “I love this organization.”

Nelson served as the IFB president from 2003 to 2013, vice president from 1999 to 2003 and as the La Salle County Farm Bureau president.

For the American Farm Bureau Federation, he was a member of the Board of Directors for 10 years and served as the chair of the Trade Advisory of AFBF for two years. In 2015, Nelson was the Illinois director of agriculture.

The IFB president and vice president are elected in odd-number years for two-year terms. Nelson defeated Brian Duncan, a Polo farmer and the 16th president, who served one term.

Nelson received 55.6% of the votes, and 42% of the delegates cast a vote for Duncan.

For vice president, the delegates reelected Evan Hultine, a grain farmer from Princeton for his second term. Hultine operates the family farm with his dad, where they grow corn, soybeans and seed corn.

“Thank you very much for the opportunity and putting your trust in me,” Hultine said. “I look forward to continue working on your behalf and moving things forward.”

Hultine received 52% of the votes for vice president, defeating Mark Litteken, who received 47.9% of the delegate votes.

Litteken is the Clinton County Farm Bureau president who operates a custom farming, beef backgrounding, cow-calf operation and row crop farm near Aviston.

Back To Work

Nelson noted that there are a lot of challenging issues at this time.

“We have to work on getting more profitability into agriculture, especially looking at some of the rules and regulations,” he said.

For Farm Bureau members, Nelson said, it is important to show them more value in their membership.

“I heard that statewide, so we need to turn around the trend we presently have and restore relationships at all levels,” he said. “That is going to be one of my first priorities.”

In addition, the fourth-generation farmer will focus on more transparency in the Farm Bureau organization.

“I heard that loud and clear on the campaign trail,” he said. “Counties want to know what’s going on before something happens, and with today’s technology, we should be able to provide that.”

Rising Leaders

Young farmers are another priority for Nelson.

“I’ve watched for 10 years the cream of the crop of this organization move up through the channels and some of them leave the organization,” he said. “I don’t know why, but we’re going to find out and try to fuse these young leaders into the organization.”

“I’ve said it many times — they’re not future leaders, they are the present leaders,” he added. “If we’re going to have a strong, viable organization long term, we have to tap into that talent and get them to stay and be integrated into the organization.”

There are a lot of great opportunities for young people in the Farm Bureau organization, agreed Hultine.

“This weekend, we had over 140 collegiate members attend this annual meeting, which is the first time that has ever happened,” the vice president said.

“I addressed the Young Leaders dinner and I told them we can utilize them more in things like the policy process and advocacy efforts,” he said. “When we go to Washington, D.C., a lot of the congressional aides are young people — much like the college kids that are coming here.”

Hultine has heard a “host of new ideas” from the IFB Young Leader Committee about ways to engage these members.

“Then we have to look beyond that because meaningful development is a process across all ages,” he said. “We want an engaged and excited membership.”

National Ties

Nelson discussed the importance for Illinois members to be involved with the AFBF.

“We have to be at the table,” the president said. “We have a lot of damage to repair at the AFBF level and with other states, which is a tall order.”

“You work your entire life to build up a reputation whether it is for yourself or an organization, but it can go away real quick,” he said. “And we have just found that out. So, we have a full plate, but I am excited to be back and tackle these challenges.”

New Board Members

Also during the annual meeting, with the theme “Harvesting Success,” five new members were elected to serve two-year terms on the IFB Board of Directors:

• Joe White, Kane County, will represent District 1, which includes DeKalb, McHenry, Kane and Lake counties.

• Brian Corkill, Henry County, will represent District 3, which includes Henry, Mercer, Rock Island, Stark and Whiteside counties.

• Brian Dirks, McLean County, will represent District 7, which includes Marshall, McLean, Putnam, Tazewell and Woodford counties.

• Dennis Green, Lawrence County, will represent District 13, which includes Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Jasper, Lawrence and Richland counties.

• Jason Balding, Edwards County, will represent District 17, which includes Edwards, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Wabash, Wayne and White counties.