RMFU - Key Persons
Barb and her husband, Albert, farm north of Strasburg, raising corn, wheat, sunflowers, hay, cattle, pigs, and goats, along with their four children. As third-generation members, both their families have ties to the early days of the Farmers Union. Barb attended RMFU's youth programming and received her Torchbearer Award. She and her husband completed the Fellows program. Barb held an office with the Adams/St. Vrain chapter for many years before being elected to the board in 2006. Barb served on the state's policy committee and multiple committees for National Convention. She has been a part of the camp program since 2008. She also was appointed to the Colorado State Ag Commission. She is a founding Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council member and leads a 4-H club for Adams County.
Job Titles:
- Government Relations Advocate, Energy and Environment
Job Titles:
- Communications Director
- Communications
Chad Franke grew up as the fifth generation on his family farm and ranch near Akron, Colorado. His childhood memories include potluck dinners at local RMFU chapters and family trips to national conventions. His RMFU involvement began through the summer camp program, first as a camper, then as a camp counselor. By age 16, he was a delegate to state and national conventions. At 18, he received the Farmers Union Torchbearer Award. He and his wife Carolyn completed the Fellows program with the class of 2011-2012. Until recently, they owned a small farm near Roggen, Colorado, where they raised Berkshire pigs for Whole Foods, sold pork and beef direct to consumers, grew hay, operated a small feed mill, and raised their children. Chad joined the RMFU Board of Directors in 2016 as vice president. He has also served as the RMFU Policy Chair, facilitating debates. Chad and his wife now live in Lander, Wyoming, where Chad dedicates himself full-time to his role as RMFU president.
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, AgWell
Job Titles:
- Farmers Union Member
- Longmont CO
A longtime Farmers Union member, Dale grew up on a family farm on the Eastern Plains of Colorado. He owns and operates a family farm south of Yuma, CO producing wheat, millet, milo, alfalfa, and sunflowers. After earning degrees in agricultural education and vocational education, Dale used his position as Executive Director of the Colorado BOCES (Boards of Cooperative Educational Services) Association to strengthen agricultural education programs across Colorado. He also served as a teacher, principal, superintendent, and board chair. Dale joined the RMFU board as vice president in 2014 and was elected president in 2016, serving until 2022. He serves a one-year interim position as vice president until the 2023 RMFU Convention. Dale is a Colorado State University Extension Advisory Council member, president of the Colorado Area Vocational School Association, president of the Colorado FFA Foundation, and active in United Power Cooperative. He also sits on the National Farmers Union executive council.
Danny Wood lives and farms in the northeast corner of Colorado near the small town of Peetz. He, his wife Lorrie, and son Zach run a fourth-generation dryland farming operation growing corn, proso millet, winter wheat, and grain sorghum. A lifetime member of the Farmers Union, Danny grew up attending RMFU camps every year. As an adult, he continues to be an active member of the Logan County Chapter, serving multiple years as chapter president. In 2016, Danny and Lorrie completed the RMFU Fellows program, and he joined the Board of Directors in 2019. In addition to his responsibilities on the farm and with RMFU, Danny is also an active member of his community, having served on the board of directors for his local school district, the Logan County FSA, and the Centennial Conservation Board. He and his wife are also active in the Peetz Community Church.
Emily and her husband Kyler work with Emily's parents to run Elliot Farms in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, growing Russet potatoes with rotation crops of Coors barley and cover crops. They run a cow-calf grass-fed beef operation, which is being integrated into the farming operation. Before farming full-time, Emily's background was in public health. She remains active in her community's public health and agricultural realms. She serves on the Board of her local Critical Access Hospital, the Rio Grande Hospital, and as an advisory board member for the University of Denver's Center for Rural School Health & Education (CRSHE). She is active in the Quivira Coalition and participates in the Women in Ranching network. Emily assisted their farm in becoming a STAR Plus farm through the Colorado Department of Agriculture, is a graduate of the first SLV Annie's Project class and supports the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition.
Job Titles:
- Government Relations Advocate, New Mexico
Hana Fancher lives in Laramie, Wyoming, where she works in agricultural economics, focusing on perennial crop development. Hana spent part of her childhood working on her family's sixth-generation cow-calf operation in southeast Wyoming, which instilled a passion and appreciation for agriculture. After completing her undergraduate degree, Hana continued to pursue her passion for ranching by working for ranches in Colorado, New Mexico, and Hawaii. She served as the foreman at San Juan Land and Livestock in Colorado's San Luis Valley, where she became involved with the San Luis Valley Chapter of RMFU. After returning home to her family's ranch, Hana served as the Wyoming Membership Coordinator for RMFU. She is a graduate of the 2018 Fellows class and now serves as the Director for District III.
Jan and her husband Virgil farm and ranch in Elbert County near Matheson, where they raise hard red winter seed wheat, white wheat, corn, proso millet, feed millet, and forage sorghum on their dry land operation. They also have 200 head cow-calf herd. Jan is a lifetime member of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. She completed RMFU's youth programming, culminating in becoming a Torchbearer. Jan met her husband at a Young Adult Weekend hosted by the National Farmers Union Education Center. She and Virgil participated in the National Farmers Union American Farm Project in 1977-1980 and the first Fellows Class in 1986. She has served as an active leader in the Elbert/Lincoln County Chapter and was first elected to RMFU's Board of Directors in 1988, where she has served since.
Job Titles:
- Membership Coordinator, Western Colorado and New Mexico
Jennifer Dews began her journey in growing food with a Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition and Food Systems. Her focus shifted from dietetics to food security to explore the world of small-scale farming as an opportunity to positively impact our healthcare system through preventative nutrition. She immerses herself in grower-to-consumer relations to improve and support our food system. She has grown up in various environments, from the rural Blue Ridge Mountains to the urban gardens of New Orleans. Being able to produce a farm-to-fork product and support hyper-local agriculture are the qualities of the trade that motivate her to keep learning.
Job Titles:
- Director, Rocky Mountain Famers Union Foundation
Job Titles:
- AR / AP Accountant / Membership Database Manager
John is a fourth-generation rancher from the western slope of Colorado. He and his wife, Linda, run a commercial range sheep operation caring for around 1,600 head of commercial whiteface ewes. They also farm around a thousand acres growing hay for their operation and to supply equestrian centers, training stables, and other equine operations across the country. John has been an active agricultural community member his entire life. He served as state FFA president and local FSA county committee chairman. He graduated from the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Program, served on the BLM Resources Advisory Council, and holds the position of Vice President of the Colorado Wool Growers Association. John joined the Board of Directors of RMFU in 2013 and served on state and national policy committees for the Farmers Union.
Job Titles:
- Accounting
- Benefits Administrator
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator, RMFU / AgWell
Job Titles:
- Foundation Administrative Assistant
Job Titles:
- Co - Director With UpRoot Colorado
Rita Mary Hennigan is a co-director with UpRoot Colorado. This nonprofit organization increases the nutrition security of Coloradans by harvesting and redistributing surplus, nutrient-dense food while supporting the resilience of farmers in our state. Rita oversees UpRoot's work along the Western Slope, where she has spent most of her time since 2016. She is passionate about helping to create a more just food system that contributes to people's and the environment's health. Her deep appreciation for farmers and food stems partly from her experiences working on farms in urban and rural areas. She has also worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA and in other capacities for nonprofit organizations aiming to increase equity in food access. Rita holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Wellesley College and a Sustainability Certificate from Babson, Olin, and Wellesley Colleges. Rita is a 2023 Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) Fellow. In her free time, Rita enjoys hiking in the magnificent mountains around her, reading, spending time with as many dogs as she can, and delighting in cooking, eating, and all things food.
Job Titles:
- Director, Cooperative Development Center
Job Titles:
- Membership Coordinator, Eastern Colorado and Wyoming
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Quivira Coalition
Sarah Wentzel is the executive director of the Quivira Coalition and has worked in food and agriculture planning for over a decade with a focus on supporting young and beginning farmers and ranchers. She was the editor of Edible Santa Fe from 2011 to 2017. From 2013 to 2015 she worked for the National Young Farmers Coalition as an organizer and is currently on the board of the Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. She is a committed champion of the local food movement and of resilient and regenerative agriculture. In her free time, you can find her feeding pigs, turkeys and cows, checking the compost pile, or possibly weeding a patch of beans at Polk's Folly Farm where she lives.
Job Titles:
- Director of Communication Strategy
Job Titles:
- Drought Advisor Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Director of Government Relations
Tyler Garrett is the Director of Government Relations for Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. Tyler developed a love and appreciation for agriculture at a young age when spending time with his grandparents on their small farm in Oklahoma. His appreciation for agriculture grew through his time working on his aunt and uncle's cattle and poultry farm from elementary school through college. He earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science and a master's degree in Public Administration and Nonprofit Studies from the University of Arkansas. He also has a master's degree in Political Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. With a deep understanding of public policy and our political systems at all levels, Tyler is excited to advance the policy initiatives of family farmers, ranchers, and rural communities in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming and to represent Rocky Mountain Farmers Union when working with elected officials and bureaucrats at the local, state, and national levels.
Tyson Caviness is a rancher operating a grassfed beef business alongside his wife Evanne and his two children in Fort Collins, Colorado. As a first-generation rancher leasing land from the City of Fort Collins, it is his goal to regenerate landscapes through rotational grazing, while feeding his community the highest-quality beef available. Tyson is an academic success coordinator for the Department of Animal Sciences in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University.
Tyson holds a degree in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University and previously taught both elementary and middle school for five years. He has spent the last three years under the guidance of his friend and mentor Alan Tone, where he has learned the ins and outs of the hay and cattle business while growing his own herd.
Tyson's goal as an RMFU fellow is to gain skills and leadership experience to help aid other farmers in his agricultural community so that Colorado can continue to be home to small family farms like his for generations to come.