Meet The Board
How the KFU Board is Elected
The Kansas Farmers Union board of directors is made up of eight members, along with the Vice President and President.
The state is divided into a North District and a South District. Each district has three board members who serve three-year terms. One representative from each district is up for election each year.
The President and Vice President are elected annually, and the positions of Treasurer and Secretary are appointed by the KFU board of directors.
Donn Teske
President
Donn was first elected president of Kansas Farmers Union in 2001 and was elected National Farmers Union Vice President in 2014, serving in that role until 2018. He owns and operates a farm near Wheaton in Pottawatomie County as a 5th generation farmer. Teske’s farm is approximately 2/3 grass and 1/3 crops. Prior to his time at KFU, Donn worked for the Kansas Rural Center and for Kansas State University Agricultural Economics Department as a farm financial analyst. He serves on the board of some twelve state, regional, and national boards concerning agriculture and the environment.
Ryan Goertzen-Regier
Vice President
Ryan grew up on a farm with hogs, cattle, and crops in rural Marion county. Currently working an office job, his main agricultural venture is co-owning a beekeeping operation – Sugargrove Apiaries. Ryan’s wife Miriam is a 5th generation farmer who raises wheat, sorghum, soybeans, and works on her family’s hog farm in the Newton area. Though somewhat new to KFU, Ryan gained experience serving on the board of Dakota Rural Action while living in South Dakota and is excited to engage with farmers and Ag policy issues back in his home state of Kansas.
Jack Geiger
Treasurer
Bio coming soon.
Herb Bartel
At-Large Director
Herb is a fourth generation owner/operator of his family’s 500-acre organic farm in Marion County. He is transitioning the crop land to a beginning farmer in order to free up time to work on augmenting the farm’s ability to adapt to climate change. His land restoration includes increasing organic matter and improving water retention. He is returning a drainage course into pre-European settlement conditions.
Herb has served multiple terms on the KFU board and has made several trips to various states on membership drives. He has always had a passion to diversify the income sources for KFU. After serving many years as State Treasurer, Herb passed the torch in 2022, but remains on the board in an at-large position.
Rosanna Bauman
South District
Rosanna Bauman is a farmer and serial ag entrepreneur from Garnett. Together with her parents and five siblings, Bauman has developed businesses that expand opportunities for local food production in eastern Kansas through USDA-inspected poultry and meat processing facilities and a non-GMO feed hub. Term: 2021-2024
Jill Elmers
North District
Jill has owned and operated Moon on the Meadow farm near Lawrence since 2003 and raises 30-40 different kinds of certified organic vegetables, small fruits, herbs and flowers on her farm’s 3 acres and the 30-acre Common Harvest Farms she owns with partners. Farm products are sold through the Community Mercantile grocery and Lawrence Farmers Market, nine restaurants, and collaborates with other farmers to provide 265 CSA shares. Jill was a founding member of the KC Food Hub and served as a chair of the Douglas County Food Policy Council. Term: 2022-2025
David Heiens
North District
David farms organically on land in Dickinson County near Abilene that has been in the Heiens family for over 100 years. David raises hogs and cattle along with alfalfa and grains. David has served on the board for Kansas Organic Producers Cooperative and on the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) Research and Education Committee and the OCIA Promotions committee. He currently serves as chair of the OCIA Crop Improvement Committee and serves on the OCIA KS#2 board as well as the board of his church, The Lords Chapel, in Talmage, KS. Term: 2021-2024
Donna Pearson McClish
South District
Multi-generation urban farmer; owner, and operator of Common Ground Producers and Growers, Inc., a unique mobile food hub that serves both urban and rural families; Executive Board Member Sedgwick County K- State Research and Extension; K-State Research and Extension Professional Development Committee for Community Vitality Kansas Farmers Union board member, member, and delegate of the National Farmers Union, Farmers Aid Covid Selection Committee, member of PASA Sustainable Agriculture; president of Sedgwick County KFU charter, SARE Grant Review Committee member, appointed by Governor of Kansas as a member of the State Board of Agriculture. Term: 2022-2025
Jason Schmidt
South District
Jason is a 5th generation farmer from rural Newton, moved back to his home community with his wife Carol to take over the family dairy farm. Jason has experience with a variety of farming systems having worked with organic vegetable farmers, grass-fed beef producers, and conventional grain and livestock farmers in the U.S. and abroad. Jason has a Master’s degree in Plant and Environmental Science from Clemson University researching grass-finished beef. Before moving back to the family farm, Jason worked for the Kansas Rural Center as a field organizer for the Clean Water Farms project. Term: 2020-2023
