St. Clair County Farm Bureau has a very diverse board of directors and staff. We are diverse in our points of view, diverse in our regions and diverse in our commodities. We would like to tell you a little bit about whom we are individually so that you can see the dynamics of how we work together as a team.

The board of directors meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month.

President Ryan Schweihofer

Ryan works on his family's 1,000-acre centennial farm in partnership with his father, Jerry Schweihofer. The major commodities are beef cattle, corn grain, hay, soybeans, wheat, silage, dry beans, alpacas and llamas. He is married to Jeannine and is also a salesman for Cropland Genetics and Garst/NK Seeds serving Sanilac, St. Clair, Lapeer and Macomb Counties. Ryan serves on the county annual, membership, policy develoment, promotion & education, and young farmer committees. He is a director-at-large on your county Farm Bureau board.

Vice-President Travis Fahley

Travis farms more than 2,500 acres with his father, Ed, raising corn grain, soybeans and wheat. The family also runs a corn maze. Travis is married to Cadi and has two sons, Zachery and Jared. He currently serves on the MFB Young Farmer committee and the following county committees: candidate evaluation, communications, policy development, promotion & education, public policy and young farmers. Travis is the district 4 director on the board of directors representing Grant, Burtchville, Clyde, Ft. Gratiot, Kimball and Port Huron townships.

Third Member Mike Butler

Mike is the chairman of the young farmer committee and serves on the candidate evaluation, membership and  promotion & education committees. He lives in Emmett and is married to Jessica, our membership chair. Mike helps out part-time on his the Hudzinski dairy farm. He also works part-time on a cash crop farm and works full-time for Michigan Department of Transportation. Mike serves on the MSU Extension board and is a volunteer for the Emmett Fire Department.

Rob Rowley

Rob, wife Cheryl and son Bob live in Richmond on a 400-acre dairy and small feedlot farm. Rob farms with his father, Bob Rowley, also raising corn, soybeans, hay and rye.  He serves on the following county committees:  county annual, policy development, public policy and young farmers. Rob is the district 2 director on the board representing Brockway, Emmett and Riley townships.

Ron Beier

Ron runs a cash crop and beef farm in St. Clair, Macomb and Sanilac counties with his brother, Bill. He serves as the district 5 director on the board, which consists of St. Clair, Casco, China, Ira, Cottrellville and Clay townships. Ron serves on the building, candidate evaluation and county issues committees. He is a trustee and serves on the planning commmission in China Township. He is also a member of the St. Clair Area Fire Authority Board and a member of the Farm Service Agency County Committee.

Doug Fournier

Doug is chair of the building, candidate evaluation and communication committees. He also serves on the county issues, MAEAP legislation, policy development, promotion & education and the public policy committees. Doug and his wife, Esther, farm 240 acres in Richmond and Riley townships with their son, Doug Jr., and daughters, Anna Marie and Lisa. He was formerly president of the board from 1998 - 2000 and now serves as an at-large director.

Dave Wronski

Dave and his wife, Judy, live in Wales Township where he farms 900 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay with his sons Ed and Mark. This is Dave's second round on the board, as he served as president of St. Clair County Farm Bureau in the 70's. He is actively involved at Holy Rosary Church in Smiths Creek, where he serves as deacon. Dave also serves on the county issues, policy development and public policy committees. He is a director-at-large on the board.

Jessica Butler

Jessica's family has an 80-acre dairy operation located in Brockway and Lynn Townships.They grow hay and silage corn on 400 acres. Jessica has a bachelor's degree in business administration/accounting from Baker College and is currently employed at Baker College. She is the county membership committee chairman and is active on the young farmer and promotion & education committees.

Joe Theisen

Joe operates a 710-acre cash crop farm, raising corn and soybeans. They also maintain 5.25 acres (that's more than 200,000 square feet) of greenhouses, selling wholesale flowers including annuals, mums and poinsettias. He and his wife Barb are members of Holy Family Church of Memphis and participate in the Ohio Florist Association, Michigan Floriculture Growers Council, Small Business Associatoin of Michigan and Michigan Floral Association.

Chris Sulkowski

Chris farms in Wales Township with his father, John, and brother, John. They operate a 1,500-acre cash crop farm consisting of corn, soybeans and wheat. The family has also been selling seed for the past 35 years for Pioneer Hybrid. He serves on the membership and policy development committees. Sulkowski serves as the district 3 representative on the board, consisting of Greenwood, Kenockee, Wales and Columbus townships. In his spare time, Chris with his brothers, John, Michael and Matthew, campaign a NTPA farm-pulling tradctor covering Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

Janna Fritz

Janna is our Michigan Farm Bureau Regional Representative. She is the conduit of information from Michigan Farm Bureau's home office in Lansing to the local county members and staff here in St. Clair County. Janna is a 2002 graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned a degree in agriculture and natural resources communications. Janna and her husband, Joel, have two sons. Janna and Joel farm 300 acres in the Pigeon area and Joel works on his father's 1,200-acre farm. Please give Janna a call with any pressing issue or question you may have about Farm Bureau.

Debbie Stepnioski

That leaves yours truly, Debbie Stepnioski, your county administrative manager. I live in Ruby with my husband, Paul, and son, Cameron. I help out with my husband's lawn maintenance business by doing the bookwork and occasionally going out on a job or two. Since joining the Farm Bureau family, I have earned an associate's degree in business and will earn a bachelor of accountancy in March 2010. I serve on the communications committee as the newsletter editor and am a member of the promotion & education and young farmer committees. I am the person to contact for Blue Cross servicing and Medigap policies or for member services and county information.

The board of directors and staff are here for you. If you would like to get involved or need more information on any of our committees, programs or services, please feel free to contact any of us.