Meet the 2008 Promotion and Education Committee

As a members of the 10-person committee, these volunteers will help develop, implement and evaluate projects and programs that promote agriculture. The committee works to strengthen Missouri Farm Bureau and provides leadership development for all members.

2008 Promotion and Education Committee

Chairman
Jami Geske, New Madrid County
Jami Geske chairs the Promotion and Education committee. Locally, she has served as New Madrid County Farm Bureau treasurer, promotion and education committee chairman, membership chairman and county president. Geske and her husband, Mike, raise corn, soybeans, cotton and rice new Matthews. They have three grown children, Tim, Andy, and Fred.

Co-chairman
Barbara Wilson, Audrain County
Barbara Wilson co-chairs the state promotion and education committee. She is currently the Audrain County Farm Bureau President and serves on the Missouri Farm Bureau Board of Directors. Locally she has served as Audrain County Farm Bureau president, vice-president, treasurer and promotion and education chairman. Wilson and her husband, Bruce, raise corn and soybeans north of Mexico. They have two children, Allison and Matthew.

Those on the Promotion and Education Committee represent all areas of the state.
They are listed below by district.

District 1
Glen Waters/Ray County
Glen Waters, of Norborne, represents the northwest area of the state. Waters is Ray County Farm Bureau vice president, past president, and marketing/commodity and information chairman, as well as a county board member. He is employed by Land O'Lakes/Purina Feed as a cattle sales specialist. Waters and his wife, Kyla, live on their farm where he cares for about 600 acres of pasture for his commercial cow-calf enterprise. He also raises row crops.

District 2
Lynn Douglas/Knox County
Lynn Douglas, of Edina, represents the north central and northeast area of the state. Douglas has been a Knox County Farm Bureau board and committee member and is a past president. His involvement in Farm Bureau spans 20 years. Douglas spends much of his time working with antique tractors and machinery. He is a member of the Two-Cylinder Club, Old Iron Club, Old Threshers Club, and participates in many antique tractor events. Douglas and his wife, Nancy, have a grown daughter, Shannon, who lives in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

District 3
Teresa Carlson/Audrain County
Teresa Carlson represents the central and a portion of the northeast area of the state. She has been a livestock feed and animal health area sales manager for MFA, Inc., since 1983, but also owns 150 acres, 100 of which are tillable. Carlson is a 1983 graduate of the University of Missouri-Missouri with a bachelor's degree in animal science. Carlson has been active in the Audrain County Farm Bureau for the past eight years. She is involved in the local and state cattlemen's associations and also serves on the convention committees for Missouri Cattlemen's Association. Other positions include past PTA president, Extension Council representative, 4-H leader and member of the YMCA committee. She also serves as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Presbyterian Church in Mexico. Carlson and her husband Paul reside in Mexico. Teresa has a son Andrew, age 15, and a daughter, Kaitlyn, age 17 and a step-son, Phillip age 18.

District 4
Lisa Cloud/Pettis County
Lisa Cloud, of Green Ridge, represents the west central area of the state. Cloud and her husband, Brent, have a diversified farm operation. They own 20 poultry houses, raising broiler chickens for Tyson Foods, contract with MFA, Inc., to raise 800 feeder pigs annually, care for 200-head of Katahdin sheep, and grow 430 acres of organic corn, wheat, barley and soybeans. Cloud is a Sunday school teacher and co-game director at Camp Branch Baptist Church. The Clouds have two children, son Hayden, age 13, and daughter Erin, age 10.

District 5
Carrie Weber of St. Charles, Mo., has been appointed to Missouri Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education (P&E) Committee.
Weber and her husband, Jim, are part of a fourth generation family row-crop farm called Weber Brothers that also farms ground in Chariton County. She is a registered nurse. She is active in Farm Bureau as the St. Charles County Farm Bureau secretary and treasurer, and Jim is vice president. The Webers have received the County Extension Farm Family of the Year award and they are members of several commodity organizations. The couple has three children, Justin, age 14, Shannon, age 19, and Katie, age 21. Her appointment to the P&E committee was made at Missouri Farm Bureau’s annual meeting Dec. 3 at the Lake of the Ozarks. Weber represents District 5 in the east central area of the state. As a member of the 10-person committee, she will help develop, implement and evaluate projects and programs that promote agriculture. The committee works to strengthen Missouri Farm Bureau and provides leadership development for all members.

District 6
Kari Byrd of Sikeston, Mo., has been appointed to Missouri Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education (P&E) Committee.
Byrd and her husband Jason, are involved in a family farm operation with her brother-in-law and father-in-law. Together, they farm 4,000 acres in southern Scott County raising corn, soybeans and cotton. The family also owns and operates Irrigation Central in Sikeston. Byrd is Scott County Farm Bureau Young Farmer & Rancher (YF&R) co-chair and has been involved with Farm Bureau for more than six years. The couple has served on the State Farm Bureau YF&R committee. The Byrds were named Extension Farm Family of the Year and more recently in 2006 as Scott County Soil and Water Conservationist of the Year. Their farm is listed as a Century Farm. The couple has one child, Banks, age 3 ½, and are expecting a baby girl in February. Her appointment to the P&E committee was made at Missouri Farm Bureau’s annual meeting Dec. 3 at the Lake of the Ozarks. Byrd represents District 6 in the southeast area of the state. As a member of the 10-person committee, she will help develop, implement and evaluate projects and programs that promote agriculture. The committee works to strengthen Missouri Farm Bureau and provides leadership development for all members.

District 7
Deborah Coble of Walnut Grove, Mo., has been appointed to Missouri Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education (P&E) Committee.
Coble is a consultant for Southern Living at Home, and her husband, Mike, has a hay and beef cattle operation. She is a Polk County Farm Bureau board member and also a Polk County Cattlemen member. The couple has two grown children, Erica and Clayton. Erica is a past Missouri Farm Bureau Ambassador. Her appointment to the P&E committee was made at Missouri Farm Bureau’s annual meeting Dec. 3 at the Lake of the Ozarks. Coble represents District 7 in the southwest area of the state. As a member of the 10-person committee, she will help develop, implement and evaluate projects and programs that promote agriculture. The committee works to strengthen Missouri Farm Bureau and provides leadership development for all members.

District 8
Wes Lebahn of Mansfield, Mo., has been appointed to Missouri Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education (P&E) Committee.
Lebahn and his wife, Amy, operate a 109-head Holstein dairy. They have 330 acres of hay ground for their dairy and rent another 350 acres of pasture for their beef cattle. Lebahn is Wright County Farm Bureau vice president and has served on Farm Bureau’s state Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee. He has been a Farm Bureau member for 10 years. Lebahn is also involved with the Wright County Extension Council and is a deacon at the First Baptist Church in Mountain Grove. In 2004, the Lebahns were named Wright County Extension Farm Family of the Year. The couple has two children, Emily, age 9, and Jordan, age 11. His appointment to the P&E committee was made at Missouri Farm Bureau’s annual meeting Dec. 3 at the Lake of the Ozarks. Lebahn represents District 8 in the south central area of the state. As a member of the 10-person committee, he will help develop, implement and evaluate projects and programs that promote agriculture. The committee works to strengthen Missouri Farm Bureau and provides leadership development for all members.

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