MADISON – Brad Olson was re-elected president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. Olson is a crop farmer near Frederic in Polk County. Joe Bragger from Independence in Buffalo County was re-elected to serve as WFBF Vice President.
Brad and his wife, Vicky, farm more than 600 acres of crops and are members of Polk Burnett Farm Bureau. They have two children and two grandsons.
Olson was first elected to the WFBF Board of Directors in 2022 to represent District 9 (Barron, Dunn, Chippewa, Pierce, Polk Burnett, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer and Superior Shores Farm Bureaus). He was first elected WFBF President in 2023.
Brian Preder from Weyauwega in Waupaca County was elected president of Rural Mutual Insurance Company. Joe Bragger of Buffalo County was elected first vice president of the Rural Mutual Insurance Company Board. Bragger succeeds Robert Nigh of Vernon County.
Preder was first elected to the Board of Directors in 2019 to represent District 7, which includes: Langlade, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano and Waupaca counties. As a landowner and custom harvester, Preder harvests hundreds of acres in Northeast Wisconsin.
Nine of the 11 members of the WFBF Board are elected in each of Farm Bureau’s nine districts. These nine individuals also make up the Board of Directors for the Rural Mutual Insurance Company. Rounding out the WFBF’s Board are the chairs of WFBF’s Young Farmer and Agriculturist and Promotion and Education Committees, both of which are elected to serve a one-year term on the board.
Brian Preder of Weyauwega in Waupaca County was re-elected to a three-year term on the board representing District 7 (Langlade, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano and Waupaca counties).
Kim Bremmer of Loyal in Clark County was re-elected to a three-year term representing District 8 (Clark, Lincoln, Marathon, Portage, Price, Taylor and Wood counties).
Brad Olson of Frederic in Polk County was re-elected to a three-year term on the board representing District 9 (Barron, Dunn, Chippewa, Pierce, Polk Burnett, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer and Superior Shore counties).
Steve Mueller from St. Croix County was re-elected to a one-year term as the chair of the Promotion and Education Committee and will serve as the representative on the WFBF Board.
Ashley Lisowe from Calumet County was elected to a one-year term as the chair of the Young Farmer and Agriculturist Committee and will serve as the representative on the WFBF Board. She succeeds Kendall Riskedal of Jefferson County as YFA Chair.
Board members who were not up for re-election included: Joe Bragger of Independence in Buffalo County, Jim Renn of Hartland in Waukesha County, Arch Morton, Jr. of Janesville in Rock County, Robert Nigh of Viroqua in Vernon County, Pete Badtke of Ripon in Fond du Lac County, and Dan Meyer of Kiel in Manitowoc County.
