Member LoginWayne H. Wood, President
Wayne H. Wood is a dairy farmer and the 16th president of the Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB). Wood farms with his wife Diane, brother Randy, son Mark and nephew Greg. The 1,600-acre family farm milks 300 cows and grows corn and alfalfa.
Wood has served as the MFB president since December 2000. Prior, he served 12 years as the organization’s vice president. He was first elected to the MFB Board of Directors in 1984 as a director-at-large, and later elected a District Six director, representing Farm Bureau members in Michigan’s Thumb region. Wood served as the Sanilac County Farm Bureau president for five years before joining the state board.
In addition to his state leadership, Wood is involved in Farm Bureau nationally as a director representing the Midwest Region on the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Board of Directors. He joined the board in January 2009 and was re-elected to a two-year term in January 2011. Wood is one of eight directors representing a dozen Midwest states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Wood’s prior AFBF leadership includes serving on the AFBF Labor Advisory Committee and chairing the AFBF Dairy Advisory Committee for four years.
Wood serves on and formerly chaired the Michigan Agriculture Preservation Fund Board, a nine-member board, appointed by the governor, which oversees the state Purchase of Development Rights program and grant funding. He also spent four years presiding over the Michigan Farmland and Community Alliance (MFCA), an MFB affiliate organization dedicated to farmland preservation. MFCA activities have since been folded into the Michigan Farm Bureau Public Policy and Commodity Division.
In 2003, Wood became the sole agricultural representative on two high-profile councils. First, Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed Wood to her Michigan Land Use Leadership Council, which was charged with studying urban sprawl and making recommendations to the governor on how to minimize the impact of current land use trends on the state’s environment and economy. Second, the director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) appointed him to a newly formed Environmental Advisory Council. The Council is responsible for advising the department on major issues that may affect DEQ programs, policies and operations.
In 2004, the general manager of the Michigan State Fair appointed Wood to co-chair a commission charged with studying and making recommendations regarding changes and improvements to the annual state fair. In 2005, Governor Granholm appointed him to a newly formed Michigan Food Policy Council, which is charged with making recommendations on ways to increase economic development opportunities in Michigan’s food sector while improving agricultural production, community well-being and public health across the state.
Nationally, Wood was appointed by former Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz to the Rural Environmental Conservation Program Advisory Board.
At home, Wood has served his community in many capacities. He chaired the Sanilac County Mental Health Board for nearly 20 years, and spent nearly two decades as the Marlette Township supervisor. He also is a member of the Marlette Second Presbyterian Church and has served as a trustee, treasurer and elder.
