Manchester’s Joe Packard and John Bihlmeyer recognized at Washtenaw County Farm Bureau’s Annual Meeting
Left: Joe Packard is awarded Washtenaw County Farm Bureau’s 2024 Young Farmer of the Year Award. Right: John Bihlmeyer is awarded Washtenaw County Farm Bureau’s 2024 Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award. Photos courtesy of Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.
submitted by Kathy Siler, Washtenaw County Farm Bureau Communication Chair
More than 150 members and guests gathered to celebrate agriculture at the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau annual meeting on Monday, September 16, at the beautiful Historic Blum Barn. It was a magnificent setting and a truly multi-generational gathering! Attendees enjoyed a lovely evening mingling with community leaders, local farmers, business owners, and constituents, and shared a delicious BBQ dinner catered by Knight’s Steakhouse. During our resolution and reaffirmation section of the meeting, led by Washtenaw Farm Bureau President Travis Fusilier and Vice President Joe Packard, members learned about and voted on policies agricultural leaders are concerned about and heard their thoughts on issues affecting Washtenaw County. We also presented awards and voted in a new slate of board members. Thanks to EVERYONE who joined us for this inspiring event!
Young Farmer of the Year Award
Young Farmer of the Year is awarded to a Washtenaw County Farm Bureau member who is 35 or younger and whose efforts have made a difference to our local agriculture.
This year’s recipient of the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau Young Farmer of the Year Award is Joe Packard!
Joe has been an active Young Farmer in Washtenaw County for more than eight years. He started his involvement with participation in Discussion Meet in 2016. Since that first year, Joe has moved on from the district competition to the state-wide competition four times, in three of which he made it to the final four discussion.
Joe has been instrumental in the planning and execution of all six of the Young Farmer Charity Golf Tournaments. He has often acted as the current Young Farmer chair’s right-hand man, planning the event, advertising for teams, and securing sponsors.
Joe’s leadership in the Young Farmer program has gone beyond just Washtenaw County. He served as a member of the State Young Farmer Committee from 2019 to 2023. And he currently serves on the American Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Committee.
Joe’s involvement has extended beyond just the Young Farmer program. He served in an elected position on the county board from 2016 to 2022 and again since 2023. During that time, he served as our county president from 2018 to 2022. This past year, Joe has accepted the role of chairing both our county’s Candidate Evaluation Committee and our Policy Development Committee.
Joe has truly jumped into Farm Bureau full force during his time as a Young Farmer. The farming community is grateful for his dedication, commitment, and leadership!
Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award
The Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award recognizes someone who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to our local agriculture.
This year’s award recipient is John Bihlmeyer.
John has always been focused on farming and being active in the ag community. As a dairy farmer, he milked 75 cows in a double 4 parallel parlor. Built in 1974, it was one of the first of its kind in the country. He raised his own Holstein breeding stock and farmed over 500 acres of corn, hay, wheat, sorghum, oats, and soybeans. He has spent time as an active member of Michigan Milk Producers Association, Select Sires, the Dairy Herd Improvement Association, and more. He has always been a die-hard John Deere fan and even included “green” in the name of his farm: Greengo Dairy Farm. John has been a Farm Bureau member for many years and has served as a delegate at the state annual meeting several times.
John was a 4-H leader for 40 years. Early in his leadership he leased dairy calves to many 4-H kids, who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to learn about the dairy industry in that way. He is most known among 4-Hers for his leading of woodworking projects. He would help kids find their project plans and the wood for the project, and then allow them to use his equipment to complete the project.
Back when the only option for sanding a project was sandpaper or sanding blocks, John would draw a pencil line on the wood for a project and say, “Sand it until you cannot see the pencil line.” This would lead to projects that feel like satin after the multiple rounds of sanding, staining, and polyurethane. The current woodworking judge at the Washtenaw Youth Show still comments on John’s leadership of these 4-H projects and how nicely they were finished. He dedicated countless Saturdays to many youth.
Katelyn Packard (the Grants and Awards Committee Chair who announced the award) said she was fortunate enough to be one of the many 4-H youth he worked with. As she looks back, she finds the time he spent with her on her projects alone amazing, and it was common for him to have six to eight youths he was working with at any given time. Still today, the projects he helped Katelyn build over the years are staple pieces of furniture both in her parents’ house and her own home.
John’s love for woodworking extended beyond just his leadership here in Washtenaw. In Lenawee County he has been the woodworking judge for their fair for many years. John has also served on the Bethel Church Board and Cemetery Committee, and he was also on the Klager PTO board for many years.
Congratulations to John Bihlmeyer for his Outstanding Service to Agriculture in Washtenaw County!
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