Three new members joined the California Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and another seven were re-elected, during the organization’s 106th Annual Meeting in Monterey.

Richard Schmid, a beekeeper from Homeland, replaces Scott Hudson in serving District 2, representing Farm Bureau members in Inyo-Mono, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Schmid is the past president and a longtime member of Riverside County Farm Bureau. He has served on the California Farm Bureau Rural Health and Safety Committee for many years.

Steve Kafka, a forester from Avery, replaces Paul Sanguinetti in serving District 12, representing Farm Bureau members in Calaveras and San Joaquin counties. Kafka is a graduate of Leadership Farm Bureau, a longtime member and chairman of the Forestry/Public Lands Committee, and past president and a longtime board member of Calaveras County Farm Bureau.

Martin Spannaus, a hay farmer and cattle rancher from Corning, replaces Jim Morris in serving District 20, representing Farm Bureau members in Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties. He is a past president and current board member of Tehama County Farm Bureau.

Each will serve two-year terms.

Daniel Jones of Dixon was elected to a one-year term as chair of the Young Farmers & Ranchers State Committee. He is a member of the American Farm Bureau YF&R Committee, a Leadership Farm Bureau graduate and a member of Solano County Farm Bureau. He works full time as an insurance adjuster and raises cattle, almonds, hay and olives.

Re-elected to two-year terms on the California Farm Bureau board were Kevin Merrill of Los Alamos in District 4 (Santa Barbara and Ventura counties); Roger Everett of Porterville in District 6 (Tulare County); April England of Hollister in District 8 (Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo counties); Jan Garrod of Saratoga in District 10 (Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo counties); Joe Fischer of Auburn in District 14 (Amador, El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento counties); Garrett Driver of Woodland in District 16 (Colusa, Glenn and Yolo counties); and Daniel Suenram of Kelseyville in District 18 (Lake and Mendocino counties).

California Farm Bureau President Shannon Douglass and First Vice President Shaun Crook were elected to serve as delegates at next month’s American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention in San Antonio. Second Vice President Ron Peterson and Mary Lou Coffelt of Hollister, San Benito County, were elected to serve as alternate delegates.

The California Farm Bureau works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of more than 26,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of 5.8 million Farm Bureau members.