Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5 p.m. July 13.
SALEM, Ohio — Chris Hoffman has resigned from his role as president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, ending a nearly four-year tenure as leader of the state’s largest general farm organization.
Farm Bureau spokesperson William Whisler confirmed the news for Farm and Dairy. Lancaster Farming first reported on July 12 that Hoffman was leaving his position for a new job that prevented him from continuing as president. Hoffman could not be reached for comment before press time.
Lancaster Farming reported this past April that the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau board had considered voting to remove Hoffman from office following “an internal investigation about staff turnover,” according to a memo the paper reviewed. Instead, the board limited the president’s communication with staff to a handful of senior employees and removed his office from Farm Bureau’s building.
Whisler described that development as a “board matter” but said he could not provide further details.
Hoffman owns and operates Lazy Hog Farm, a 1,200-sow farrow-to-finish operation in McAlisterville, Pa., and Lazy Chick Farm in Juniata County, Pa., where he raises 250,000 chickens annually. In 2019, he was named America’s Pig Farmer of the Year by the National Pork Board.
He joined the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s State Board of Directors in 2006 and its Executive Committee in 2008. Hoffman was elected Vice President of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau in 2014 and became its ninth President in 2022. In January 2023, he was also elected to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Board of Directors.
“He’s given service to the organization for a long time. He’s been involved for about 20 years, so we thank him for his service to the organization as vice president and the president, and we wish him the best in his new role,” Whisler said.
Tommy Nagle of Cambria County is the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s 10th president. He previously served three years on the PFB State Board of Directors before being elected vice president and brings more than a decade of Farm Bureau leadership experience to the role.
Nagle owns and operates a diversified farm in Patton, Cambria County, where he raises 200 head of Angus beef cattle and grows grain on 1,000 acres, primarily corn and soybeans.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to serve as the spokesperson for Pennsylvania Farm Bureau,” Nagle said in a press release. “This is a truly humbling experience, and I look forward to working with our members to move the agricultural industry forward.”
