Montana Farm Bureau Delegates Elect Officers During Annual Convention

The Montana Farm Bureau Federation delegates elected officers during the organization’s 2022 Annual Convention in Missoula.

Cyndi Johnson, a Conrad small grains farmer, has been re-elected as president and Gary Heibertshausen, an Alzada sheep rancher, has been re-elected as vice president.

J.M. Peck, a cattle rancher from Melrose, has been elected as the new District 2 Director. Peck has served as the MFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee Chair for the past three years. Re-elected to the board were Casey Mott, District 4, a cattle rancher from Custer; Don Steinbeisser, Jr., District 6, a diversified farmer from Sidney; Ed Bandel, District 8, a wheat farmer from Floweree, and Jim Willis, District 10, a cattle producer from Wilsall.

Nick Courville, a Charlo rancher is the newly elected Young Farmer & Rancher Chair. Carla Lawrence from Boyd was re-elected as the organization’s Women’s Leadership Committee Chair.

The MFBF Convention takes place Nov. 14 through 17 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Missoula. MFBF works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of its 20,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 5.9 million Farm Bureau members.

Following are the elected district chairs for the Women’s Leadership Committee and the Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee:

District Women’s Leadership Committee:

District 1: Beth Blevins - Ronan / Myla Yahraus - Stevensville

District 3: Mary Hill - Raynesford/ Leslie Cavill - Ryegate

District 5: Laureen Lackman - Hysham / Cathy McDowell - Powderville

District 7: Joy DePuydt - Saco /Nancy Bowman - Hinsdale

District 9: Loretta Burnham – Helena / Pam Converse - Conrad

District Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee:

District 1: Houston Blevins - Ronan / Vern Cheff – Missoula

District 3: Vic Lewis – Ryegate / Bronya Willmore – Denton

District 5: Lea Aye – Broadus/Fiona Mott – Miles City

District 7: Gwynn Simeniuk – Glasgow / John Walker - Nashua

District 9: Katharine Taylor - Helena / Klayton Lohr – Shelby

District 8: Karissa Floerchinger - Cascade