(AREA) — Poised to take the helm of the state’s diverse and prospering agriculture industry, Michigan’s young farm leaders will weigh their accomplishments and industry involvement on December 1 at Michigan Farm Bureau’s 2015 Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids. Fifteen finalists, ages 18-35, will compete in four contest categories–Young Agriculture Employee, Excellence in Agriculture, Young Agriculture Leader and Young Farmer Achievement. All finalists receive a prize package sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Michigan Foundation for Agriculture. Competing in the Young Agriculture Leader category is Janna Fritz of Bad Axe and Betty Joe Krosnicki of Yale. Janna is a fourth-generation farmer with her husband Joel. They operate JDF Farms, a MAEAP verified centennial farm comprising of 1,200-acres of corn, soybeans, and edible dry beans. Betty Joe and her husband Bill own a 1,000-acre grain farm, raising soybeans, wheat and corn. The award recognizes a successful young farmer for outstanding leadership roles in Farm Bureau, agriculture, and his or her local community. Contestants are judged on their ability to actively serve in leadership roles while managing a successful farm operation. The winner will receive a lease on a New Holland compact tractor with loader or a New Holland Rustler utility vehicle, a$1,000 Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizer credit, and a trip to the AFBF 2016 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.
Janna and Joel Fritz
Betty Joe Krosnicki
