Following the organization’s 105th annual meeting in Grand Rapids, Dec. 3-4, the Michigan Farm Bureau board of directors completed its reorganization, led by newly elected MFB President Ben LaCross, seating a vice president, and three additional board members to serve on the board’s executive committee.
As part of the election process, the District 9 Director position is currently vacant and will be filled through an upcoming election process of delegates from Benzie-Manistee, Mason, Missaukee, Northwest Michigan, and Wexford County Farm Bureaus.
President: Ben LaCross
LaCross, elected to serve as the 17th president of MFB, is a second-generation farmer growing 850 acres of cherries in Leelanau County with his parents, Glenn and Judy. He and wife Kelsey have two sons, Keaton and Cameron, and a daughter, Lauren.
A Northwest Michigan Farm Bureau member, LaCross previously served four years on the MFB Young Farmer Committee, including two years as committee chairman and Young Farmer representative on the MFB board of directors. He has also served on the MFB Policy Development Committee.
Nationally, LaCross served a two-year term from 2010 to 2012 on the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Committee and was elected by his peers to serve as chairman of the YF&R Committee for a one-year term ending in February 2012.
Vice president: Mike Fusilier
District 3 Director Mike Fusilier of Manchester, representing Farm Bureau members in Livingston, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties, was elected to serve as the organization’s vice president.
Fusilier, his wife Kathy and family operate a greenhouse and produce operation in Washtenaw County consisting of bedding plants, 30 different vegetable crops, corn and soybeans. Most of the commodities are sold at the farm's roadside stand and to local farm markets. The farm also offers U-pick pumpkins, strawberries and hayrides.
Fusilier began farming with his father following his graduation from Michigan State University in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in animal science. He immediately built a 150-sow farrow-to-finish operation. In 1992, Fusilier bought out his father and expanded row crop production to 1,500 acres.
In 1996, he started a greenhouse. As urban sprawl continues to increase, he's since expanded the greenhouse and produce operation and begun phasing out the livestock and row crops.
Fusilier has been active with the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau and has served on executive committees of various boards, including the Federal Reserve Agricultural Advisory Committee.
Executive Committee member: Mike DeRuiter
District 7 Director Michael DeRuiter, an Oceana County fruit producer, representing Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana and Osceola counties, was elected to serve on the MFB board’s executive committee.
A third-generation farmer, DeRuiter works a 1,000-acre, MAEAP-verified fruit farm with his father, Richard, raising apples, peaches and tart cherries. They also process cherries and do custom harvesting.
Before joining the MFB board, DeRuiter served on the state Young Farmer and policy development committees, and study committees tasked with evaluating MFB staffing and the Michigan Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Association. In 2012, he served a one-year term on the MFB board of directors as chairman of MFB’s Young Farmer program.
Outside Farm Bureau, DeRuiter has been involved with both the Michigan Cherry Committee and the Cherry Marketing Institute.
DeRuiter graduated from Hart High School in 2000, then earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Grand Valley State University. He and his wife Amanda have two young boys.
Executive Committee member: Jennifer Lewis
Jennifer Lewis of Jonesville in Hillsdale County, serving as the District 2 director representing Farm Bureau members in Branch, Calhoun, Hillsdale, Jackson and Lenawee counties, was elected by her board peers to serve as a member of MFB board’s executive committee.
Lewis operates a third-generation beef and cash crop farm, Pleasant View Ag, with her husband Bruce and their two sons, raising beef, corn, soybeans, wheat and hay in addition to operating a farm market based at the farm.
An active Farm Bureau member, Lewis served on the MFB Promotion and Education Committee for six years and previously served on the board as a director at-large and as the Promotion and Education representative.
She currently serves on the Michigan Beef Industry Commission board, is a Jonesville United Methodist Church member, a past Dairy Communicator for the Michigan Milk Producers Association, a treasurer of the Hillsdale County Dairy Promoters, and a member of the Hillsdale County 4-H Council.
Executive Committee member: Paul Pridgeon
Seventh-generation Branch County farmer Paul Pridgeon, first elected to the MFB board in 2021 to fill an at-large vacancy, was also elected to serve on the board’s executive committee.
Pridgeon’s previous Farm Bureau involvement includes serving on the state Young Farmer committee, culminating with a one-year term as chairman and a seat on the MFB board representing the young farmer program. In 2015, he graduated from ProFile, MFB’s elite leadership development program.
Earning his undergraduate degree from Central Michigan University, Pridgeon added an MBA from Michigan State University and worked in the corporate world before returning to the family farm. In partnership with his father Bill and brother Brian, the operation raises hogs and 4,000 acres of corn, soybean and wheat.
Outside of Farm Bureau, Paul supports both his local church and Crossroads Farm, a rural youth outreach ministry serving young people in various locations in Michigan and Ohio. He and wife Nikki have three young daughters.
District directors
Every year half of the MFB board of directors are up for election or re-election: even-numbered districts in even years, odd districts in odd years. Directors reelected to their positions this year included:
- Jeff Sandborn — District 4
- Michael Mulders — District 8
- Leona Daniels — District 10
- Dave Bahrman — District 12
Sanilac County Farm Bureau member Mike Noll was elected by delegates from Huron, Lapeer, Sanilac, St. Clair and Tuscola county Farm Bureaus to serve as district six director, replacing former board member Travis Fahley of St. Clair County, who did not seek reelection.
A fourth-generation Croswell-area farmer, Noll and his brother Mark operate a diversified farm operation that includes dairy, beef, pickling cucumbers and row crops including corn, soybeans, alfalfa and sugar beets. A 2013 finalist in MFB’s Young Farmer Achievement awards program, Noll and his wife Jordan have four children: Jacob, Joseph, Rece and Riley.
Not up for reelection this year were directors representing odd-numbered districts, including:
- Larry Walton — District 1
- Stephanie Schafer — District 5
- Patrick McGuire — District 11
- Abe Pasch — At-Large Director
State committees
St. Joseph County’s Riley Brazo succeeds Lenawee’s Abby Vittore as chair of MFB’s State Young Farmer Committee. Brazo works for Fawn River Farms, raising seed and commercial corn, soybeans and 6,000 head of hogs. He lives near Sturgis with his wife Ashley and their son Theo.
Taking the reins of MFB’s State Promotion & Education Committee is Alysa Sanford, who raises corn, soybeans, pumpkins, wheat, hay, laying hens and turkeys on a 200-acre centennial farm in Jackson County. She takes over from two-year chair Jess Erler of Osceola County.