Added on October 26, 2015 Sara Swanson

Manchester Township’s Grant Reiff Elected to Washtenaw County Farm Bureau

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Grant Lisa and Garrison Reiff with woolly mammoth bones. Photo courtesy Kathleen A. Siler
Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.

by Christina Lirones, Board member of the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau

Grant Reiff and his wife Lisa and six month old son Garrison recently put down roots in Manchester Township, on a 10 acre homestead where they plan to raise some sheep, with a pig and cow for freezer meat, and grow field crops. Grant is currently District Manager for Dairyland Seed Company, covering 7 counties in Michigan and 3 in Ohio. He was elected to the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau (WCFB) Board as an at-large Director during its county annual meeting held on September 21, 2015. He joined WCFB last year, and participated in the District 3 Young Farmer Discussion Meet; qualifying for a spot at the state competition which will take place during the Michigan Farm Bureau annual meeting in December.

When asked why he is a member of Farm Bureau, Grant stated, “My family has always been a member of Farm Bureau; I want to be an advocate for agriculture and promote the longevity of our livelihood.”

Reiff’s Ag and Farm Bureau roots began on his parents’ farm in Burnettsville, White County, Indiana, near Monticello where his parents, Howie & Cheryl, operate “Reiff Farms Inc., a 400 acre dairy farm with 90 to 100 head registered Holsteins and also grow corn and alfalfa. Grant and his 3 siblings are the 6th generation to live on the farm, which has been in the family for 160 years.

Grant was a 10 year member of 4-H in his youth, and says, “I always knew I would have a career in agriculture.” He entered Purdue University after graduating from high school in 2003, with a focus on veterinary medicine, but soon found an interest in the business end of agriculture. He earned his BS degree in Agricultural Economics and, after graduating in 2007, took a job with Monsanto in Monticello, Indiana, working with the seed company Fielder’s Choice Direct.

In addition to farming, music was always his passion as well. His father, Howie, was a professional piano player, and Grant began playing piano at the age of 5. While maintaining a full course load at Purdue, Grant was a member of the Varsity Glee Club, performing 525 concerts in 4 years, including notable performances at Carnegie Hall, Crystal Cathedral, the 2nd inauguration of President George W. Bush, and, Grant joked, “for balance,” at the Playboy Mansion.

Grant worked for Fielder’s Choice from 2007 – 2011; remotely for a year when musical pursuits beckoned him to Nashville. After accepted a promotion from Dekalb/Asgrow he moved to St. Louis, Missouri. In 2012 he left his seed job and returned to Nashville to pursue a full-time music career. There he produced an album of original work, entitled “Eighty-Eight Reasons,” with the help of well-known country guitarist Johnny Garcia; the lead guitarist for Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood. The album is available on Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play. His award winning song, “The Distance,” received airplay in 5 states and caught the interest of Lady Antebellum which considered recording the song.

It was in St. Louis that Grant met his future wife Lisa Scramlin, a 2005 MSU graduate with a degree in Agricultural Communications. She moved from St. Louis to Nashville with him, where she worked as the Agricultural Editor for Journal Communications. Lisa’s roots are in Michigan where she grew up on her (Farm Bureau) family’s sheep farm in Holly: “Scramlin Southdowns.”. Lisa served as the first intern for State Senator Joe Hune, and has held a number of positions in agricultural communication. Since January of 2014, she is the Executive Director of Michigan Association of Fairs and Exhibitions.

Lisa travels throughout Michigan to fairs, and her position allows her to advocate for both agriculture and the fair industry. Lisa’s father was also active in the fair industry. Her brother, Matt, is well known in the Farm Bureau family: He has worked for both the AFBF and MFB; serving as a Regional Representative for District 3, and is currently president of the Oakland County Farm Bureau.

Grant and Lisa married in 2014 and their six-month-old son Garrison already shows an interest in the piano, as evidenced in a video on his proud father’s Facebook page.

At age 31, Grant’s life continues to be full of interesting adventures. Most recently, Grant photographed and video recorded the historic find of a woolly mammoth in Lima Township near Chelsea where farm owner Jim Bristle and his neighbor Trent Satterthwaite discovered the enormous skeleton while excavating for a field tile project. Grant conveyed the excitement of the find: “They said, when the bucket hit it, the ground shook!”

Grant’s YouTube wooly mammoth video was picked up by Reuters news agency, and when CNN aired it, Grant received messages from friends far and wide. He was thrilled to be part of the historic discovery and explained that the mammoth was likely killed by hunters, which may change the known history of Michigan, if it places humans here much earlier than previously thought. The bones were generously donated by Bristle to the U-M Museum of Paleontology where they will be studied and eventually displayed.

Grant’s diverse interests, dynamic personality, and deep roots in agriculture and music ensure that he and his family will enjoy an interesting and successful future. Lucky for us they have chosen to put down roots here in Washtenaw County, and we look forward to following their adventures! Grant is assembling a band in Michigan. You can contact and follow him on Facebook HERE.