LANSING, Mich. – Although Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) had to hold its annual meeting this year entirely online, officials at the organization say it was successful.

The MFB annual meeting is usually held this time of year in Grand Rapids, said Carl Bednarski, MFB president. The online meeting took place Dec. 2. Due to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s restrictions on in-person gatherings of more than 10 people, however, it was impossible to have an in-person meeting this year.

“It worked out really well in my eyes, and I think everyone was satisfied with it,” Bednarski said. “It went pretty smoothly all things considered. The technical part of it was kind of a monumental task.” Bednarski is a farmer in the Caro, Mich. area in the state’s Thumb region; his sons are currently managing the farm where they grow sugar beets, soybeans, corn and dry beans.

According to Bednarski, a few people were gathered at his location during the annual meeting. Online participants could see Bednarski, but he couldn’t see them. People were able to vote for MFB officers via software called CloudVOTE and could ask questions using the available software. People “could raise a virtual hand,” he said. The awards that MFB gives out each year were done via virtual meetings in November.

The MFB Director of Field Operations Deb Schmucker said there were some technical challenges with the meeting. “The challenge is connectivity and how much experience people have using the technology,” she said. “Not everyone has been immersed in this Zoom meeting thing. We were able to do some in-person training earlier in the year for the upcoming annual meeting.” The training was done by MFB district, which for the most part means county by county.

Considering the challenges of a virtual meeting, this year’s event was well attended, with 353 people attending the entire event, Schmucker said. “We had great turnout the entire time, comparable to last year’s meeting, with only about 30 fewer people participating this year,” she added. “I feel like we did pretty good. I feel like we gave our members the opportunity to talk about our policy resolutions and build a policy book to represent our members for the 2021 year. Our members had the grassroots impact the entire time. There was a lot of revamping along the way, but things worked out pretty well.”

Among results of the board elections, Bednarksi was reelected to his fourth two-year term as MFB’s president. Bednarski was first elected to the position in 2014 as the organization’s 16th president.

Seventh generation Branch County farmer Paul Pridgeon was elected to represent MFB’s Young Farmer program on the board, succeeding Ottawa County apple grower Adam Dietrich. In partnership with his father, Bill, and brother Brian, Pridgeon raises hogs and 4,500 acres of corn, soybean and wheat.

St. Joseph County farmer Julie Stephenson was reelected to represent farm bureau’s promotion and education program on the board. Stephenson and husband Eric’s cash crop and seed corn operation also includes a farm market. The following district representatives were reelected to their positions: Jennifer Lewis, district 2; Jeff Sandborn, district 4; Travis Fahley, district 6; Michael Mulders, district 8; Leona Daniels, district 10; and Dave Bahrman, district 12. Rounding out the board are at-large members Andy Hagenow, of Kent County, and Douglas Darling, of Monroe County. Both were reelected to two-year terms at last year’s annual meeting.