DENVER, CO – There’s a race for National Farmers Union (NFU) Vice President that a South Dakota producers hopes to win at the group’s national convention this year in Denver. South Dakota farmer Jeff Kippley is challenging incumbent Patty Edelburg.
Kippley is a crop and cattle producer as well as a small business owner from Aberdeen, SD. He currently serves as a non-voting member of the NFU board and says if he is elected, he hopes to tackle a variety of competition issues that affect all producers.
He says that overall, he wants to work to pave the way for the next generation of young farmers.
“That’s kind of my motivation [for running] is that my kids maybe can come back to the farm and be able to make a living just doing the farming and not having to have two full-time jobs,” Kippley told Brownfield Ag News.
Edleburg, a Wisconsin dairy farmer and the first Wisconsin member named to the board, is running for her third term. She is campaigning on an increased membership platform and more state-by-state membership engagement.
She notes the organizations 200,000 family farm members as among the most diverse and believes there are more opportunities to influence Congress.
The National Farmers Union’s 120th Anniversary Convention opens in Denver on February 27. The election of national leadership is scheduled for February 28.
