Farm Credit Services concentrates on annual September elections

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Farm Credit Services of Mid-America voting stockholders will elect members of the board of directors through mail-in ballots during the association’s annual elections this fall.
Ballots will be mailed to more than 58,000 members in mid-September with results posted on the organization’s Web site, www.e-farmcredit.com, in mid-October.
The board of directors is comprised of 16 elected directors – four from each state the association serves which includes Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee – plus one independent director.
Board members meet monthly to set policy and provide overall direction for the association. Board terms are generally four years.
Three Ohio farm producers – incumbent director Roger Earley of Hillsboro, Paul Miller of Washington Court House and Kenny Rufener of Suffield – have been nominated for the Ohio director position.
Roger Earley. Earley operates a 1,846-acre corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, and hay operation in Hillsboro, Ohio, along with his wife, Stella, and son, David.
Under the name Earley Farms, they also raised tobacco and have 150-plus cow herd. He was a director for the Highland County Farm Bureau and was a director and vice chair for the Highland County Landmark.
Additionally, he is a member of the Ohio Corn Growers Association, the Ohio Soybean Association and the American Angus Association.
He is an Elder at Hillsboro Church of Christ. Earley graduated Greenview High School and has two grown children, David and Cathryn Jean.
Earley is running for reelection on the board, serving since 1994. He is a former Federal Land Bank director for Hillsboro, and has formerly served on the Hillsboro Farm Credit Services advisory committee, the nominating committee and has represented Ohio on the Farm Credit Council board.
He is currently a member of the Farm Credit Service audit committee.
Paul Miller. Miller is a partner in Miller Farm Ltd., a family partnership; Miller & Son Partners, a farming operation; and Miller 3 & 37 LLC, a commercial real estate business.
The farm enterprise is an 1,150-acre grain operation in Fayette County. He and his wife, Kay Pfeiffer, have three sons, Jeff, Doug and Mark. They also have four grandchildren.
He sits on the boards of the Fayette County Republican Central Committee and the Fayette County Farm Bureau and is a member of Grace United Methodist Church.
He is a former member of Delaware County Farm Bureau (trustee and president); Big Walnut Education Foundation; Delaware County Mental Health Board; Delaware County Regional Planning Commission; and Country Mutual Insurance Company.
He graduated from Big Walnut High School in Sunbury, Ohio, and received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from The Ohio State University.
Kenny Rufener. Rufener, along with his two sons, is the owner of Congress Lake Farms, a 2,500-acre family operation consisting of wheat, corn, beans and alfalfa. They have a 440-Holstein dairy with 60 dry cows and 500 replacement heifers.
Additionally, they feed out 250 Holstein steers annually. He is the owner of Congress Lake Trucking.
He and his wife, Linda, live in Suffield, Ohio, and have four children: Michael Rufener, Christina Campbell, Kenneth Rufener II and Lynda Gallagher; and seven grandchildren.
Rufener is a member and officer in several agricultural organizations including the Portage County 4-H, advisor for 25 years; Portage County Farm Bureau; Portage County Dairy Committee, president; Ohio Holstein Association; National Holstein Association; Portage County Soil and Water Conservation District, supervisor; Ohio Soybean Association and Ohio Corn Growers Association.
Board positions. Additionally, three board positions in the states of Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee will be on the September ballot.
Those members Include: Mike Allyn, Mt. Vernon, Ind.; Art Timberlake, Mauckport, Ind.; Bob Barton, Lexington, Ky.; Joan Hayden, Philpot, Ky.; Ernie Diggs, Paris, Tenn.; and Emmett Vincent, Middleton, Tenn.
Nominating committee. On the same ballot, voting stockholders will elect members to the 2007 Farm Credit Services Nominating Committee. This committee is comprised of 20 members – five members from each state the association services – and will meet next June to select candidates for the 2007 board positions.
Those on the ballot for the Ohio Nominating Committee include: Kenneth Ankerman, St. Marys; Andy Fadorsen, Quaker City; Joe Garland, Washington Court House; Rusty Goebel, Stryker; Donald Hays, West Mansfield; Carl Higbea, Defiance; Max McMichael, Spencerville; Brent Rhoads, Circleville; Allen Ruggles, Norwalk; Harvey Seitz, Ashville; Tim Stebbins, Englewood; and Jeff Wuthrick, Alliance, Ohio.