Farm Bureau awards Outstanding Service to Agriculture

Katelyn (center) and Joe Packard receive their award from Washtenaw County Farm Bureau member Steve Thelen.

The Outstanding Service to Agriculture award recognizes someone who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to our local agriculture. This year’s recipients are Joe and Katelyn Packard.

The leadership roles they have served over the last several years has shown true devotion to the agriculture industry. This past year Joe served as the Washtenaw County President as well as the District 3 representative on the State Young Farmer Committee. He was a member of the Michigan Farm Bureau Grant Review Committee for District 3 for two years, and for the past two years has made it to the final four at the Michigan Farm Bureau Young Farmer Discussion Meet. At these events, he brainstormed many ideas to bring back to the county. Katelyn has continued to coach the 4-H Dairy Quiz bowl and Judging teams, serves as the adult president of the 4-H Dairy and Livestock Committee, and treasurer for the 4-H Advisory council. She is also the dairy superintendent and dairy judging superintendent for the 4-H Youth Show.

This past year Katelyn served as chair of the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau Grants and Awards Committee and Vice Chair of the Promotion and Education Committee. Both Katelyn and Joe have furthered their leadership skills by attending the State Annual Meeting, Promotion & Education Conference, Young Farmers Leaders’ Conference, Growing Together Conference, Fusion Conference, and the American Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.

In addition to their leadership roles, Joe and Katelyn are always looking for ways to promote and serve the agriculture industry. In fact, for their wedding they created baskets for out-of-town guests full of Michigan agricultural products with notes describing each commodity and its importance to the Ag sector. They have helped to plan and run new county Farm Bureau events such as the P&E Kick Off Event, Treat of Ag, The Fall Harvest Dinner, Young Farmer Golf Outing and the Proud Farmer Centennial Display. They have volunteered at numerous agriculture promotional events including the community fairs, Ag trivia at Fan Fest, Dairy Day at the Manchester Farmers’ Market, Breakfasts on the Farm throughout all of Michigan, and running for Team Chocolate Milk. Joe and Katelyn are continuously supporting and promoting agriculture through farm tours, social media posts, and TV and radio interviews.

These two truly have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to our local agriculture; thank you, Joe and Katelyn Packard!

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.