Meet Your YF&Rs
State Committee
Sarah Reynolds, Chair
sjrfarming@yahoo.com
Sarah was born and raised in Butte County. After graduation, she moved to Gridley where her family has deep roots in agriculture. She's a proud fifth-generation agriculturist and is currently working with her family at California Ag Transport. She's well versed in both conventional and organic farming and ranching, and farms rice with her family in nearby Colusa County. Sarah is an avid canner in the summer, loves farmers markets and considers herself a foodie. Sarah is a 2009 graduate of the CFBF Leadership Farm Bureau program and past Chair of the Butte County YF&R.
District 1:
Alysha Stehly
Counties represented: Imperial, San Diego
alysha@vespervineyards.com
District 2:
Vacant
Counties represented: Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo-Mono
District 3:
Kevin Robertson, 1st Vice Chair
Counties represented: Los Angeles, Orange
calagr@gmail.com
Born and raised in San Joaquin County on a family farm, Kevin attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and Purdue University. Since college he has been continuing in the family tradition of progressive, diversified farming and community involvement. Kevin is a 2008 graduate of the CFBF Leadership Farm Bureau program and is currently the manager at Del Terra Farms in Tracy.
District 4:
Chris Garmon
Counties represented: Santa Barbara, Ventura
cgarmon@venturacountyfair.org
Born and raised in Ventura County on his family ranch, Chris assists in the day-to-day tasks as they farm barley and raise cattle. He is currently the exhibits representative for the Ventura County Fair and is responsible for contracting judges, receiving entries and arranging volunteers. In his spare time, he enjoys promoting agriculture as a 4-H leader, educating schools about Ventura County agriculture, serving as a Junior Fair Board Advisor, and, of course, surfing in the Southern California. “Where else can you farm and enjoy the surf and sunshine than the great Ventura County?” –Chris G.
District 5:
Jenny Holtermann
Counties represented: Kern, Kings
jkbholtermann@gmail.com
Jenny was born and raised in Butte County on her family’s almond and walnut farm. After graduating from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in agribusiness marketing and fruit science, she moved to Kern County where her husband farms almonds. Together, they own a custom almond harvesting business. Jenny also works for Sun World, a grower, packer and shipper of table grapes and sweet peppers, as an Outside Grower Relations and Export Specialist. Jenny participated in the 2010 Almond Board Industry Leadership Program. She revived the Kern Young Farmers and Ranchers program in 2010 and is currently the Chair. Jenny is also on the Board of Directors of the Kern County Farm Bureau.
District 6:
Karen Whaley
Counties represented: Tulare
Karen.joy.whaley@gmail.com
Karen Whaley was raised on her family's dairy farm in Texas where she developed a passion for agriculture at an early age. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in finance from Hardin Simmons University, she moved to California to accept a job that combined her skills in finance with her love for agriculture. She currently works for AGR Partners, a private equity firm that invests in agricultural assets around the world. Karen also works as the club coordinator for the Dairy Club, Inc. whose members are key players in the dairy industry nationwide. Karen and her husband Jordan run a cow-calf, beef cattle operation together.
District 7:
Michael Efird
Counties represented: Fresno
michael.efird@gmail.com
Michael works with Pearson Realty specializing in the sales of agricultural properties ranging from permanent plantings, row and annual crops, dairy facilities, wineries, and other agriculture related properties. He graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in business and an emphasis in real estate and urban land development. Michael’s agricultural experience is derived from working on his family’s multi-generational farm in Fresno County that produces almonds, walnuts, pistachios, wine grapes and raisins. Michael’s life is driven by helping and serving others, while building meaningful relationships.
District 8:
April Mackie2nd Vice President, American Farm Bureau Committee Member
Counties represented: Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo
aeengland@hotmail.com
See Todd and April Mackie, AFBF Committee Member below for biography.
District 9:
Ranetta Bron
Counties represented: Madera, Mariposa, Merced
ranettavk@yahoo.com
Ranetta received a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business from Fresno State and is a 2007 graduate of the Leadership Farm Bureau program. She has a lifetime of experience working on the family farm in Madera County, and continues to assist with farm operations. Also a licensed real estate broker, she specializes in farm and ranch properties. Ranetta and her husband, Mark, live in Madera with their sons Barrett and Henry.
District 10:
Rita Scurich
Counties represented: San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
ritascurich@gmail.com
District 11:
Karissa Alarcon
Counties represented: Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano
karissa.aa@gmail.com
Karissa's family roots span over five generations in rural Dixon, California. Growing up she raised sheep and poultry throughout high school and proudly holds the American Farmer degree with the National FFA Organization. After graduating with a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis, Karissa worked in Sacramento politics for a number of years managing political action committees. Karissa has since returned to Dixon to her family's insurance agency, Rohwer Insurance Agency, and is one of the licensed insurance specialists selling and servicing the agency's Farm & Ranch and Commercial accounts. In 2010, Karissa assisted in establishing the Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee in Solano County and currently lives in Woodland with her husband, Derek, and their chocolate lab, Drake.
District 12:
Tyler Blagg
Counties represented: Calaveras, San Joaquin
tablagg@gmail.com
Tyler graduated from California State University, Fresno, with a degree in animal science with emphasis in dairy production management. Tyler is a district manager of the West Region for Delaval, Inc. His main responsibilities include overseeing an independent dealer network in CA, NV, and AZ. Assisting with sales, training and capital sales of milking and herd management solutions. He lives in Lodi with his wife, Amy, and their two sons, Nathan and Henry. They raise dairy heifers on pasture, grow winter forage and are planting a small vineyard.
District 13:
Corinne Santos
Counties represented: Stanislaus, Tuolumne
csantos@bankofstockton.com
Corinne has been involved with the Stanislaus County YF&R program since 2005 and the San Joaquin County YF&R program since 2007. She was awarded the Excellence in Agriculture Award for 2010 from CFBF. Corinne is currently employed a as business banking officer with the Bank of Stockton and work closely with farmers and ranchers on a daily basis. Her responsibilities consist of providing financing for farmers for land, livestock and equipment purchases, operating lines of credit, analyzing their financial position and advising them on making sound business decisions. Corinne grew up on a family dairy in Turlock and currently raises and exhibits registered Hereford cattle. She is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics.
District 14:
Amber McDowell
Counties represented: Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento
deltarabbit@live.com
Amber graduated from Cal Poly, SLO, with bachelors and master degrees in agricultural education and a minor in agribusiness. Currently, she is a high school science teacher. During her free time, Amber assists with her husband's farm of pears, corn, wheat, alfalfa, and pheasant hunting preserve and new expansion into agritourism. She lives with her husband, Michael, and daughter, Sierra, on their family farm in the Delta.
District 15:
Regina Stafford
Counties represented: Butte, Nevada, Yuba-Sutter
cr_stafford@earthlink.net
District 16:
Garrett Driver, Secretary
Counties represented: Colusa, Glenn, Yolo
garrettwdriver@gmail.com
Garrett was born and raised in Yolo County and grew up working on his family's farm. He helped his family farm walnuts, rice, wheat, safflower, milo and alfalfa. He attended Woodland High School and earned his bachelor of science in agriculture with an option in education from Chico State in 2009. After graduating from Chico, he began working for DuPont Pioneer in their sunflower group. He currently lives in Knights Landing with his wife, Miranda, and moonlights with the family farm. He has been an active member in Young Farmers & Ranchers for three years and is currently the secretary on the YF&R State Committee.
District 17:
Johnnie White
Counties represented: Marin, Napa, Sonoma
johnniejr@pinavineyards.com
Johnnie is a sixth generation Napa County farmer. He resides in St. Helena where he currently works for Pina Vineyard Management as an operations supervisor. He is also an engineer for St. Helena City Fire Department. In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, fishing and farming.
District 18:
Vacant
Counties represented: Lake, Mendocino
District 19:
Annie Tipton
Counties represented: Lassen, Modoc, Plumas-Sierra
amaddalena@mail.csuchico.edu
District 20:
Christa Miguel
Counties represented: Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity
cmiguelsoranch@aol.com
After growing up in a non-agricultural area for most of her young life, Christa's family moved to Redding in 1999 and purchased a small ranch where Christa is now the ranch manager. Her family is raising a small commercial cattle herd and performance American Paint and Quarter horses. She is currently working on her AA in agricultural science at Shasta Junior College and is hoping to transfer to California State University, Chico to receive her bachelors degree in animal science with a minor in sociology. She also hopes to further her education by earning a masters degree and receiving her teaching credential.
District 21:
Vacant
Counties represented: Del Norte, Humboldt
Shannon Douglass, Past Chair
shannondouglass@hotmail.com
Shannon is a graduate of California State University, Chico and coordinator of the Pathway to PCA program. She and husband Kelly and son Heath live in Orland where they raise commercial beef cattle, specialty crops and direct market their beef. Shannon is a past winner of the CFBF Discussion Meet and is a 2008 graduate of the CFBF Leadership Farm Bureau program.
American Farm Bureau Committee Members, Todd and April Mackie
aeengland@hotmail.com
Todd and April Mackie reside in Todd's hometown of Hollister located on the beautiful central coast of California. They met while attending Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where April graduated with her B.S. in animal science with a minor in ag business and a M.S. in ag business economics and policy. Todd graduated with his B.S. in ag business. After graduation, Todd and April stayed in the San Luis Obispo area where Todd continued working for a petroleum distribution company and April commuted to her job as a water resources planner for the Kern County Water Agency. After dating for more than eight years, they finally got married in 2007.
Upon moving back to Todd's hometown of Hollister he became the Fleet and Fuel Manager for Dassel's Petroleum, a company which was founded by his grandfather back in 1939. A majority of the business caters to agriculture customers utilizing gasoline, diesel and propane. The other portion of the company delivers propane to rural communities. Todd manages their entire fleet including delivery and transport trucks as well as their propane rail car terminal.
April then began working for the Monterey County Farm Bureau as a water quality coordinator and policy specialist. She assisted growers with regulatory compliance issues in relationship to water quality and helped develop current food safety regulations after the e. coli outbreak in spinach in 2006. While in this position she and Todd became involved in the local YF&R committee and April has been on the CA Young Farmers and Ranchers committee for 4 years. After working for the Farm Bureau for two years, April went to work for a medium-sized family farming company as their food safety and farm programs manager, where she spent five years managing their leafy greens and vegetable food safety, water quality and organic programs. April then completed a contract as the director of food safety and environmental stewardship for Ocean Mist Farms in Castroville, CA; a large diversified family farming company that is known for growing, packing, harvesting, processing and shipping artichokes, lettuce and other leafy greens. Currently, April is operating her own consulting company for growers on the Central Coast who need assistance with agriculture compliance and policy-related issues including food safety and water quality.
April and Todd were founding board members of a local political action committee. April is the recent past-chair of Ag Against Hunger, current vice chair of fundraising and scholarship chair for the Monterey County Farm Bureau, vice chair of Salinas Valley California Women for Ag, and secretary for Monterey County Ag Education.
In the Mackie's spare time they enjoy entertaining friends and family, snow skiing in the winter, wakeboard/kneeboard in the summer, attending S.F. Giants baseball games, collecting classic cars, hunting and fishing. They have two dogs; Cali an 11-year-old Leopard Catahoula, and a four-year-old Australian Sheppard/Boxer mix named Boots.
YF&Rs in the News
- Shannon & Kelly Douglass
- Dan and Meghan Dresselhaus
- Jesse Lopez
- Portraits of a new generation of farmers (California Country September/October 2009)
- Roll models: Rice farmer and sushi chef create unique partnership (California Country May/June 2010)