Vote today! We're ready to add three new Board members. This is quite a crew of candidates. Bios below. Vote by November 16 at midnight.
Anyone who is not elected will be invited to serve on our committees and help grow our community of beginning farmers in Indiana.
Wondering who can vote? Since HYFC membership is free, anyone who self ID's as a member can vote - that's primarily folks who are beginning farmer or farm workers in Indiana, or folks who work to support beginning farmers and grow the food system in Indiana.
Anyone who is not elected will be invited to serve on our committees and help grow our community of beginning farmers in Indiana.
Wondering who can vote? Since HYFC membership is free, anyone who self ID's as a member can vote - that's primarily folks who are beginning farmer or farm workers in Indiana, or folks who work to support beginning farmers and grow the food system in Indiana.
What do Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition Board Members Do?
Our board members are doers. We:
Who's eligible?
- Meet bimonthly (via a one hour zoom call) to plan upcoming events for beginning farmers, talk through grants we might support, and help create programs that build a sense of community and connection among beginning farmers in Indiana.
- Meet once per year for our planning retreat (in person, full day in January). It's a ton of fun, we eat good food, and we get a bunch done.
- Help lead one of our major projects or committees and make things happen for beginning farmers: Outreach; Events; Grants
- Engage with NYFC's leadership, and chapter leaders from around the country
- Trade emails and texts as needed, especially when we're tackling big projects
- Are dues paying members of NYFC (Or join once elected. Membership is $35).
- Serve for two years.
- Are volunteers.
Who's eligible?
- Beginning farmers (that's anyone in their first ten years running their farm) of any scale, of any type (whether it's an urban veggie operation, a rural pasture-based livestock farm, a mushroom operation, etc).
- Folks who work on farms
- People who aren't farmers, but who care about beginning farmers (board must be majority farmers)
- We especially encourage underserved beginning farmers and farm workers to apply, including female farmers, BIPOC farmers, urban farmers, LGBTQ farmers, veteran farmers, and/or first-generation farmers.
Candidate Bios
In Alphabetical Order:
1. Rebecca Casarez - Green Dragon Acres - Northeast Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We're just a hobby farm, but we do a little bit of everything and hope to start selling or donating our excess at some point. What we'd really like is to be as self-sufficient as we can and then give back our extra to those in need in our community (just not sure how best to do it yet!). Right now we do vegetables (just installed a high tunnel!), chickens (eggs, not meat), and honey bees. Our orchard is still getting established, but will include fruit trees, grapes, and berries in the next few years. We're also looking at adding a goat or cow; we like to experiment with new fruits/vegetables, and may expand into flowers. Next year we'll probably have a farm stand and may have an occasional booth at the farmer's market in Mishawaka, and if we do that, we'll probably also start selling jellies/jams, baked goods, and dog treats.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
As a young farmer, I know how confusing and overwhelming it can be to start. I would love to help others in their journeys! I also think that the northern part of the state tends to be underrepresented in farming groups in general, and I'd like to help those in my area in particular to have our voices heard more and to increase the resources available for us.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I'm good with numbers (budgets, taxes, etc.) and business-related solutions (writing/evaluating business plans, marketing plans, etc.). I also enjoy copy editing/writing (I write proposals for a living). I'd be open to hosting or helping facilitate and plan on-farm events.
2. Lessie Frazier Lennon - Celtic Glen Heritage Livestock, by Lennon Farms - Southwest Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We provide high quality, gentle breeding stock. Offer rare breed livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits), as well as pasture-raised craft meats direct from farm and through stores and restaurants. We hold on-farm homesteading workshops. We sell rabbit soil amendment products. We produce Celtic themed prepared foods for retail sale.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
As a beginning farmer, I have appreciated HYFC programming and am excited to see it grow. I'd like to help in that growth and to network even more closely with other people committed to just and sustainable/regenerative food systems.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I am a professionally-trained researcher, particularly in participant-observation, and can bring those fieldwork and information skills to bear. As a professional writer, I'd be glad to copy-edit as needed. Hosting and helping with on-farm events would suit my skills and be a blast.
3. Danielle Guerin - Soul Food Project Indy - Central Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We are an urban farm, located in predominantly black communities. I take vacant lots and transform them into farms. Currently, I have 3 lots in Indianapolis that I farm on. I mainly grow vegetables but we do have a small flock of chickens whose eggs we sell. We are very involved in the community and host a community event at our farm each month.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
This past year, I have become more engaged with the National Young Farmers Coalition as a Land Advocacy Fellow and my time has made me think of how I can be helpful in my own state. I've always loved the various programs that HYFC has put on and I want to be a part of it. I have also just launched an apprenticeship program at my farm so I believe I have a lot of insight into the needs of young farmers as well.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
Since my farm is a nonprofit, I actually have to balance being a farmer and doing all the tasks that an Executive Director would do. I am pretty good at writing and editing grants, I can understand budgets and I have some event planning experience. Also, since I report to a board of directors and currently serve on another board, I have experience in working in that realm as well.
4. Marie O'Neill - Outlier Farmstead - Southwest Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We grow specialty crops, mostly vegetables, but we also have been getting more into fruit and nut growing and we have a small flock of chickens. We grow in high tunnels as well as outside and we mostly provide food to the People's Market Cooperative in Bloomington, Indiana. We volunteer with the People's Market regularly, packing CSAs and organizing produce from all the various farms which grow for the market. I've been interested in farming and have been involved in the farming community since I started school at IU in 2017 and studied Sustainable Food Systems. We've also sold to Mother Hubbard's Cupboard and we vended in person for a season at the Gold Leaf Farmer's Market.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
I am currently working on a research project analyzing different policy mechanisms across the country that aim to provide land access for beginning farmers, such as Beginning Farmer Tax Credits, and the barriers these beginning farmers still face. I was inspired by one of the chapters of YFC in Minnesota who was able incentivize legislators enough to pass a Beginning Farmer Tax Credit in the state that had been tabled year after year before 2017. In my own community, I'm inspired by the People's Market which was just awarded LFPA money to distribute to farmers up front, and the food will be provided to people who may not otherwise have access to healthy local food considering the cost and barriers to access. I'm really happy to work with the People's Market each week.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I'm excited to get more involved in the young farming community in Indiana. I feel like I've been pretty insular, just focusing on what's going on on the farm and at farmers markets in Bloomington, but I'm excited to learn about what else is going on in the state. I also feel like the coordination between farmers and the People's Market are so extraordinary that I would love to share my experience to provide an example of a model that's been working for my partner (24) and I (23) to get our farm really started. The prospect of talking to a more diverse group of farmers is also really important to me, I believe I'd find it really inspiring in my own work, and I'd love to approach more projects going forward, both in terms of farm planning and management, but also in food system organizing knowing how to better collaborate with a wider range of perspectives.
5. Erin Shockley - E-Love's Garden - Central Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
I own E-Love’s Garden and have been operating for over 3 years. My specialty crop is luffa where I use it in different ways, while I also focus on several varieties of tomatoes and peppers (mainly hotties). I grow 95% of my items from seeds and sell starter plants in the spring. We have also been expanding our asparagus patch. I grow many other crops and sell our leftovers of those (after we provide for ourselves). I sell at farmers markets (Tipton, Arcadia and sometimes others) and special events. I run the Tipton County Farmers & Artisans Market, where I’ve turned it into its own 501c3 (still need to do federally), created a board, and focus on adding learning opportunities when folks visit the market. So both these ventures have gone hand in hand and now it’s just been the process of growing both into long term successes.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
Growing and connecting excite me and I’ve finally put myself into a position to focus more on my business, E-Love’s Garden, and running our local farmers market. I’d love to connect with like-minded people who want to see more of what we’re all doing (farming, learning, sharing) and be an example for those who come after all of us. I’m a strong leader in my community and this would be a wonderful organization to delve deeper into and utilize my skills. I’m passionate about farmers and artisans, those who create and grow, those are my people.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I have a background in pretty much everything….even my friends/family joke about how many skills I have. 21st renaissance woman! Marketing/communications/social media/video editing, event planning, advocacy, grant writing, mentorship/leadership. I’ve been farming for 3 seasons now as my own business, with expanding every year in crops or adding something to make growing easier. This year we are starting more no-till methods.
6. Sierra Tusa Reed - Farm Worker - Southwest Indiana
Describe your farming experience. Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
I am excited to represent the young farm worker demographic, because so often farm employees are ignored in the farming community because they don't own/have access to land. As a farm laborer first and foremost, I have a unique perspective to bring to the group, especially as a young female. Having worked at a farm in Maine under MOFGA, I am anticipating what HYFC can do to bring farmers together with a similar impact as MOFGA has for farmers in Maine.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I work at IU in the Vice President's Office for Marketing & Communications as a Content Specialist for my other vocation, so put me to work on the copy writing, editing, and content strategy! I also love bringing people together — it is so fulfilling — which I would love to do for HYFC in whatever form it needs to take.
7. Adrienne Wagner - MiddleWest Mushrooms - Central Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
I am originally from Indianapolis, but lived in Portland and Pittsburgh for a number of years before returning to Indianapolis. When I returned to Indy, I was looking for a community to get involved with, and this is how I got involved with Growing Places Indy. This really sparked my urban farming interest - it connected me to a community of knowledgable and passionate people that taught me a lot, and encouraged my interest which has only grown. I’ve maximized the production in my backyard, and am looking for ways to continue to grow, while at the same time contributing back to the communities that helped me get off the ground.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
This seems like a great next step for my growth as an urban farmer, and a way to continue my personal mission to contribute back to the communities that have gotten me to where I am today. I got my start with Growing Places Indy as an apprentice in the year-long Grow Getters program 2021-2022 (I was a workshare volunteer before that). I love problem solving. I have a hunger for working with those with “start-up” mindsets. I have a passion for defining processes, creating efficiencies, and finding ways to apply solutions to problems big and small.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I’m good with strategy, budget, process, and operations - ultimately doing more with less. After my undergrad in 2015 I freelanced and created my own video production company. During Covid I took a full time position in production for a creative agency - where my primary role became making sure the plan is consistent with reality in an effort to produce products that are on track with the budget/timeline/goals side of things. In the background - my interest in small farming has continued for years. The farming world I have thrown myself into in the past couple years have just created a new process for me to work with - the real skill I bring is organization and anticipation of barriers to achieve goals.
1. Rebecca Casarez - Green Dragon Acres - Northeast Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We're just a hobby farm, but we do a little bit of everything and hope to start selling or donating our excess at some point. What we'd really like is to be as self-sufficient as we can and then give back our extra to those in need in our community (just not sure how best to do it yet!). Right now we do vegetables (just installed a high tunnel!), chickens (eggs, not meat), and honey bees. Our orchard is still getting established, but will include fruit trees, grapes, and berries in the next few years. We're also looking at adding a goat or cow; we like to experiment with new fruits/vegetables, and may expand into flowers. Next year we'll probably have a farm stand and may have an occasional booth at the farmer's market in Mishawaka, and if we do that, we'll probably also start selling jellies/jams, baked goods, and dog treats.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
As a young farmer, I know how confusing and overwhelming it can be to start. I would love to help others in their journeys! I also think that the northern part of the state tends to be underrepresented in farming groups in general, and I'd like to help those in my area in particular to have our voices heard more and to increase the resources available for us.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I'm good with numbers (budgets, taxes, etc.) and business-related solutions (writing/evaluating business plans, marketing plans, etc.). I also enjoy copy editing/writing (I write proposals for a living). I'd be open to hosting or helping facilitate and plan on-farm events.
2. Lessie Frazier Lennon - Celtic Glen Heritage Livestock, by Lennon Farms - Southwest Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We provide high quality, gentle breeding stock. Offer rare breed livestock (cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits), as well as pasture-raised craft meats direct from farm and through stores and restaurants. We hold on-farm homesteading workshops. We sell rabbit soil amendment products. We produce Celtic themed prepared foods for retail sale.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
As a beginning farmer, I have appreciated HYFC programming and am excited to see it grow. I'd like to help in that growth and to network even more closely with other people committed to just and sustainable/regenerative food systems.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I am a professionally-trained researcher, particularly in participant-observation, and can bring those fieldwork and information skills to bear. As a professional writer, I'd be glad to copy-edit as needed. Hosting and helping with on-farm events would suit my skills and be a blast.
3. Danielle Guerin - Soul Food Project Indy - Central Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We are an urban farm, located in predominantly black communities. I take vacant lots and transform them into farms. Currently, I have 3 lots in Indianapolis that I farm on. I mainly grow vegetables but we do have a small flock of chickens whose eggs we sell. We are very involved in the community and host a community event at our farm each month.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
This past year, I have become more engaged with the National Young Farmers Coalition as a Land Advocacy Fellow and my time has made me think of how I can be helpful in my own state. I've always loved the various programs that HYFC has put on and I want to be a part of it. I have also just launched an apprenticeship program at my farm so I believe I have a lot of insight into the needs of young farmers as well.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
Since my farm is a nonprofit, I actually have to balance being a farmer and doing all the tasks that an Executive Director would do. I am pretty good at writing and editing grants, I can understand budgets and I have some event planning experience. Also, since I report to a board of directors and currently serve on another board, I have experience in working in that realm as well.
4. Marie O'Neill - Outlier Farmstead - Southwest Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
We grow specialty crops, mostly vegetables, but we also have been getting more into fruit and nut growing and we have a small flock of chickens. We grow in high tunnels as well as outside and we mostly provide food to the People's Market Cooperative in Bloomington, Indiana. We volunteer with the People's Market regularly, packing CSAs and organizing produce from all the various farms which grow for the market. I've been interested in farming and have been involved in the farming community since I started school at IU in 2017 and studied Sustainable Food Systems. We've also sold to Mother Hubbard's Cupboard and we vended in person for a season at the Gold Leaf Farmer's Market.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
I am currently working on a research project analyzing different policy mechanisms across the country that aim to provide land access for beginning farmers, such as Beginning Farmer Tax Credits, and the barriers these beginning farmers still face. I was inspired by one of the chapters of YFC in Minnesota who was able incentivize legislators enough to pass a Beginning Farmer Tax Credit in the state that had been tabled year after year before 2017. In my own community, I'm inspired by the People's Market which was just awarded LFPA money to distribute to farmers up front, and the food will be provided to people who may not otherwise have access to healthy local food considering the cost and barriers to access. I'm really happy to work with the People's Market each week.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I'm excited to get more involved in the young farming community in Indiana. I feel like I've been pretty insular, just focusing on what's going on on the farm and at farmers markets in Bloomington, but I'm excited to learn about what else is going on in the state. I also feel like the coordination between farmers and the People's Market are so extraordinary that I would love to share my experience to provide an example of a model that's been working for my partner (24) and I (23) to get our farm really started. The prospect of talking to a more diverse group of farmers is also really important to me, I believe I'd find it really inspiring in my own work, and I'd love to approach more projects going forward, both in terms of farm planning and management, but also in food system organizing knowing how to better collaborate with a wider range of perspectives.
5. Erin Shockley - E-Love's Garden - Central Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
I own E-Love’s Garden and have been operating for over 3 years. My specialty crop is luffa where I use it in different ways, while I also focus on several varieties of tomatoes and peppers (mainly hotties). I grow 95% of my items from seeds and sell starter plants in the spring. We have also been expanding our asparagus patch. I grow many other crops and sell our leftovers of those (after we provide for ourselves). I sell at farmers markets (Tipton, Arcadia and sometimes others) and special events. I run the Tipton County Farmers & Artisans Market, where I’ve turned it into its own 501c3 (still need to do federally), created a board, and focus on adding learning opportunities when folks visit the market. So both these ventures have gone hand in hand and now it’s just been the process of growing both into long term successes.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
Growing and connecting excite me and I’ve finally put myself into a position to focus more on my business, E-Love’s Garden, and running our local farmers market. I’d love to connect with like-minded people who want to see more of what we’re all doing (farming, learning, sharing) and be an example for those who come after all of us. I’m a strong leader in my community and this would be a wonderful organization to delve deeper into and utilize my skills. I’m passionate about farmers and artisans, those who create and grow, those are my people.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I have a background in pretty much everything….even my friends/family joke about how many skills I have. 21st renaissance woman! Marketing/communications/social media/video editing, event planning, advocacy, grant writing, mentorship/leadership. I’ve been farming for 3 seasons now as my own business, with expanding every year in crops or adding something to make growing easier. This year we are starting more no-till methods.
6. Sierra Tusa Reed - Farm Worker - Southwest Indiana
Describe your farming experience. Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
I am excited to represent the young farm worker demographic, because so often farm employees are ignored in the farming community because they don't own/have access to land. As a farm laborer first and foremost, I have a unique perspective to bring to the group, especially as a young female. Having worked at a farm in Maine under MOFGA, I am anticipating what HYFC can do to bring farmers together with a similar impact as MOFGA has for farmers in Maine.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I work at IU in the Vice President's Office for Marketing & Communications as a Content Specialist for my other vocation, so put me to work on the copy writing, editing, and content strategy! I also love bringing people together — it is so fulfilling — which I would love to do for HYFC in whatever form it needs to take.
7. Adrienne Wagner - MiddleWest Mushrooms - Central Indiana
Describe your farming experience:
I am originally from Indianapolis, but lived in Portland and Pittsburgh for a number of years before returning to Indianapolis. When I returned to Indy, I was looking for a community to get involved with, and this is how I got involved with Growing Places Indy. This really sparked my urban farming interest - it connected me to a community of knowledgable and passionate people that taught me a lot, and encouraged my interest which has only grown. I’ve maximized the production in my backyard, and am looking for ways to continue to grow, while at the same time contributing back to the communities that helped me get off the ground.
Why are you excited to serve on the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition board?
This seems like a great next step for my growth as an urban farmer, and a way to continue my personal mission to contribute back to the communities that have gotten me to where I am today. I got my start with Growing Places Indy as an apprentice in the year-long Grow Getters program 2021-2022 (I was a workshare volunteer before that). I love problem solving. I have a hunger for working with those with “start-up” mindsets. I have a passion for defining processes, creating efficiencies, and finding ways to apply solutions to problems big and small.
What skills are you hoping to put to use, for beginning farmers?
I’m good with strategy, budget, process, and operations - ultimately doing more with less. After my undergrad in 2015 I freelanced and created my own video production company. During Covid I took a full time position in production for a creative agency - where my primary role became making sure the plan is consistent with reality in an effort to produce products that are on track with the budget/timeline/goals side of things. In the background - my interest in small farming has continued for years. The farming world I have thrown myself into in the past couple years have just created a new process for me to work with - the real skill I bring is organization and anticipation of barriers to achieve goals.
Our 2021-2022 Board Members
President - Liz Brownlee, Nightfall Farm (Liz will be rolling off this year)
Vice President - Genesis McKiernan-Allen, Full Hand Farm
Secretary - Nate Brownlee, Nightfall Farm
Treasurer - Andrew Raridon, sociology professor
Member at Large - Taylor Hartson, graduate student and farm worker
Member at Large - Tadd Peterson, farmer, Narrow Road Farm
Vice President - Genesis McKiernan-Allen, Full Hand Farm
Secretary - Nate Brownlee, Nightfall Farm
Treasurer - Andrew Raridon, sociology professor
Member at Large - Taylor Hartson, graduate student and farm worker
Member at Large - Tadd Peterson, farmer, Narrow Road Farm
Serving on the HYFC Board energizes me. I feel connected to other farmers, and I know I'm working for something bigger than myself. Plus, it's fun. I love this excuse to hang out with other farmers, learn from them, and just spend time together."
- Liz Brownlee, HYFC President