2026 Board of Directors Elections

Age: 36

Farming Operation

Steph farms with her family on their fourth-generation grain operation in North-Central Indiana, raising corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. They have a contract swine operation, raising hogs from wean to finish and a cow/calf herd finishing their beef for direct-to-consumer sales.

Education

Indiana Wesleyan University, B.S. in Business, Purdue University, A.S. in Ag Economics

Board Experience

• Farm Credit Mid-America Board of Directors
  • Director, 2021 to present
  • Human Resources Committee
    • Chair, 2022 to present
    • Member, 2021-2022
  • Political Action Committee, Chair, 2022 to present
  • Community Investment Committee, Member, 2022 to present
  • Risk Committee
    • Member, 2022 to present
    • Vice-Chair, 2023-2025
• AgriBank Director Farm Credit Council Alternate, 2021 to present
• Farm Credit Foundations Board of Directors, Director, 2023 to present
• CC’s Closet, non-profit organization, Board Member, 2017 to present
• Glen Jones Memorial FFA Ag Scholarship Committee, 2013 to present
• Miami County Farm Bureau Board, Member, 2021 to present

Community and Industry Involvement

• Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Small Business and Agriculture Advisory Council
• Indiana Beef Cattleman’s Association
• Indiana Corn Growers Association
• Indiana Soybean Alliance
• Miami County 4-H Volunteer
• Purdue Farm Policy Study Group

Biographical Information

Growing up in North-Central Indiana on my family’s grain and hog farm, agriculture was a primary part of my upbringing. Between work on the farm, judging and competitions in FFA, and my 10 years in 4-H at the local and state level, I knew without any doubt that Agriculture would be the focus of my life’s mission and purpose. Shortly after arriving at Purdue University within the Agricultural Economics department, it was clear to me that I wanted to return to my rural community and family farm as the next generation. In 2012, I married my husband Jamie. Since then, we have added two children Alden – 12 and Maely – 9. In the last 16 years, we have been able to diversify the operation, transition the management of the farm from the senior generation to us and grow our operation as we prepare a way for the fifth generation to join us one day.

Why do you want to serve on the Farm Credit Mid-America Board?

As a young farmer serving on the Board of Directors, and after having graduated from the Growing Forward program, I believe I fill a vital role as a representative and advocate for that customer sector that has continued to grow each year at Farm Credit Mid-America. Growing this sector allows us as a cooperative to purposefully live out our purpose of securing the future of rural communities and agriculture by helping the next generation of farmers find their place in the industry.

As directors on the board, our goal should be to always keep our customers at the heart of everything we do. Being on the board has proven to me how equipped we are to face the challenges in agriculture by the strength that lies within our cooperative system, including our Farm Credit Mid-America team, our stockholders and the diversified portfolio we hold.