Taking on a county Farm Bureau presidency while still part of the Young-Farmer demographic is not for everyone, but Gratiot County’s Logan Crumbaugh seems unfazed — like jumping into the deep end only to touch bottom sooner than expected.
“It’s been almost a year in now,” he said one spring morning before Mother Nature let him start planting thousands of acres of corn, soybeans and sugar beets alongside his dad and brother.
“So far it’s been really eye-opening,” he added, checking the weather on his phone.
Eye-opening in a good way?
“In a very good way,” Crumbaugh said. “Members recognize how much truly goes on — but I don’t think they fully understand everything. There’s a lot more behind the scenes than what gets recognized.”
His own preparation for the role included a stint on Gratiot’s Policy Development team and several years on its board of directors, but the president’s gavel came with more immediate insight and perspective than he anticipated.
“Once you go to New Presidents’ Training and Council of Presidents’ Conference, you really see, from Point A to Point Z, how things play out,” he said. “You see the full scope of what a county Farm Bureau really is: All the behind-the-scenes work… You really see the great work staff does, that county members put in, the boards, that our CAM and Regional Manager put in — all the work put into making things tick.”
Fortunately for Logan, things normally tick pretty smoothly in Gratiot, where a strong farming community carries a big stick in the local economy. Farm Bureau involvement is a breeding ground engagement throughout the ag industry. Generations of involved Gratiot County Farm Bureau members share a priority on rolling up their sleeves and pitching in.
“People are heavily involved. You see their parents are in leadership roles in Farm Bureau, Michigan Sugar and other co-ops. It’s definitely a cultural thing: Be involved, step up, do your part somewhere — just get involved.”
Passing that involvement ethic to the next generation requires special focus on the young stock.
“We’ve had a strong Young Farmer program in Gratiot County for a long time,” Crumbaugh said. “Attend one Young Farmer event — especially like a bus trip or something — and there’s your $50 dues right there.
“It’s a pretty cheap investment in yourself, and into farming as a whole. I don’t think there’s a better way to spend $50, to be honest.”
Like many Young Farmers, Crumbaugh’s take on Farm Bureau’s “value proposition” focuses quickly on the vast network of like-minded peers, resources and industry professionals that come bundled with those membership dues.
“The biggest thing I get is idea sharing,” he said. “One of the hot topics now is artificial intelligence (AI) and — through Farm Bureau — I’ve met Loren King, who’s really involved with it. We’ve been talking about ways to use AI on my farm — bouncing around ideas and just working with him.”
But Crumbaugh isn’t hogging all that value for himself, nor is he skirting around the challenges that come with leadership.
“We’re really working on trying to call our inactives — putting a little bit more on our membership committee and focusing on those who have been involved in the past, saying, ‘There’s more here than what you realized. What made you stop participating and how could we fix that?”
That emphasis on the organization’s inherent flexibility, and the role individual members play in stretching it, betrays a wisdom beyond Young Logan’s years.
“It’s on all of us to help put the organization’s best foot forward and get members involved. That’s what’s great about it — pick your poison: Networking? Leadership development opportunities? Politics? You can get it all from a Farm Bureau membership.
“If you’re into farming at all, there’s a spot for everybody.”
“You know, no matter where I go — Farm Bureau events or not — if I’m attending an ag event, I’m seeing people I’m involved with in Farm Bureau.
“It just opens up a wide door to opportunities to learn things that will work for your farm.”
