Central Grace Farms LLC partner and Branch County Farm Bureau member Jennifer (Leininger) Wortz has received the Michigan Farm Bureau AgriPac’s “Friend of Agriculture” in her bid to serve as state representative for Michigan’s 35th House District, which covers portions of Lenawee, Branch and Hillsdale counties.
Wortz, who grew up on a cash-crop and beef farm in Hillsdale County, is seeking election to make sure rural communities and small businesses are protected from governmental overreach — like zoning — and agriculture can afford its workforce.
“I believe we need to regain right to work and protect independent contractors, which a lot of times are connected to agriculture,” Wortz wrote in her AgriPac questionnaire. “I also support local control, especially in zoning and schools and will work to protect and maintain that.”
Among her roles, Wortz has served as Branch County Republican Party vice chair, Quincy Community Schools board member, and FFA coach, judge and volunteer. She’s also served as Michigan FFA state secretary from 1998-99 and a national officer for Ag Communicators of Tomorrow from 1999-2000.
In 2016, her family started Central Grace Farms, expanding from a 5-acre operation in Branch County into full production agriculture raising 500,000 chickens a year for Miller Poultry. An issue in her district continues to be governmental overreach, she said.
“From the Prairie River reclassification threat to the Michigan EDC taking over zoning, to health directors deciding when a child could be in school during covid, we have too many bureaucrats making rules and regulations that limit our freedoms and abilities to take care of our families,” Wortz said.
“Essentially federal and state overreach is getting to the point where most producers need lawyers to defend their right to farm.”
Outside of farming, Wortz has served as the district manager for the Branch County Conservation District, agriscience teacher for Camden Frontier Schools, and campaign staffer for State Rep. Andrew Fink.
“Although the number of farms have declined dramatically in the past 10 years, we still have just over 2,000 farms and 3,000 people involved in production agriculture in our district,” Wortz said. “We have 518,000 acres of production agriculture and 96% of those farms are family farms.”
Support Friends of Agriculture
AgriPac needs your contributions to support candidates like Jennifer Wortz who have the wisdom to listen, an eagerness to learn, and the dependability to advocate for our way of life.
Help AgriPac elect candidates who are capable of crafting bipartisan, common-sense, and science-based policy, and recognize the importance of asking for input and feedback from farmers instead of making assumptions about farms, families and businesses.
Contributions in any amount are accepted and can be sent to: AgriPac, 7373 W. Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917. Personal checks can be made out to MFB AgriPac and farm or business checks can be made out to MFB FarmPac. Credit or debit card contributions can be made by calling 517-323-6740.
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