Outstanding Young Agricultural Leader Award

Bret Schapman is the 2011 winner of Michigan Farm Bureau's Outstanding Young Agricultural Leader Award. The 34-year-old Macomb County Farm Bureau member was selected by guest judges from a field of four award finalists and honored Nov. 30 at MFB's 92nd Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids.

The Outstanding Young Agricultural Leader Award recognizes a successful young farmer, between the ages of 18 and 35, for outstanding leadership roles in Farm Bureau, agriculture, and his or her local community. Contestants are judged on their ability to actively serve in leadership roles while managing a successful farm operation.

As the state winner, Schapman received a trip for two to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, sponsored by Great Lakes Hybrids; $500 from GreenStone Farm Credit Services; a prize from the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee; and a trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation 93rd Convention and Annual Meeting in Honolulu, Jan. 8-11, 2012. All finalists received a prize package sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee.

Schapman operates Ingleside Farms with his father, brothers and grandmother. The farm is home to a beef feedlot and acreage for corn, soybean, wheat and hay production.

Schapman's responsibilities include livestock care, equipment and facility maintenance, fertilizer applications, and soil and technology management. He also oversees recordkeeping as a state-certified operator of a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, and was instrumental in helping the farm become verified in the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program.

Schapman is equally devoted to his community. He organized a raffle to raise money to equip local fire departments with specialized rescue chainsaws. As of July, the effort had supplied six chainsaws to area fire departments. In a similar vein, Schapman organized local truck and farm safety seminars for farmers.

Within the Macomb County Farm Bureau, Schapman serves as vice president and Farmers CARE chairperson, and he volunteers on several committees including Young Farmer and Promotion and Education. He is a graduate of MFB's ProFILE leadership development program and a gubernatorial appointee on the Michigan Beef Industry Commission. Schapman earned a bachelor's degree in animal science from Michigan State University. He and his wife Laura have three children.

MFB is the state's largest general farm organization, representing more than 48,000 farm families. The MFB annual meeting kicked off on Nov. 29 and continues through Dec. 2 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place.