Colorado Foundation for Agriculture

2007 CFA Board of Directors

President	Bob Warner
Vice President	Glenn Sanger
Secretary & Treasurer	Erin Barkey
At Large	Jerry Alldredge
	Tom Fey
	Ivan Grein
	Angela Ryden
	John Sepich
	Loretta Pineda
Advisory Board	Jody Davis

	Patty Kenny
	Dorothy Mergelman
	Julie Moore
	Randy Schwalm
Executive Director	Bette Blinde

	President Bob Warner was born and raised on a farm/ranch near Fort Lupton. He presently operates a small cow/calf herd and feeds out his calves. He has joined CFA’s board as he would like to promote Colorado Agriculture. (return to top)
	Vice President Glenn Sanger and his wife, Gale, have a small beef cattle operation where they feed out steers and sell them to individuals. He also is a truck owner/operator. His reason for joining CFA’s board is that he felt it would be an opportunity to promote, learn about, and increase people’s knowledge of agriculture in Colorado. (return to top)
	Secretary & Treasurer Erin Barkey has been involved with agriculture all her life. She and her husband run a small dairy outside of Windsor, Colorado. According to Erin, “Life revolves around agriculture. I feel it’s important to educate others about being a good steward of God’s creations. By working with other agricultural-related individuals to help preserve, educate and exhibit the importance of agriculture, we will demonstrate the unity of faith and good stewardship possessed by agriculture people.” (return to top)
	Ivan Grein is a retired dairy farmer. Ivan has be an active promoter of Ag in the Classroom since it was first formed in Colorado. Ivan has been recognized for his work promoting agriculture at both the state and national level. Ivan is activity in Colorado Farm Bureau and many other agriculture groups. (return to top)
	Jerry Aldredge was born and raised in Fort Collins. He attended Colorado State University and received a B.S. and Masters in Entomology. He worked for Bayer Ag Chemicals and then with ConAgra United Agri Products. He then served for 14 years as the soils and crops agent for Weld County Extension. He has worked with CFA over the years on a variety of projects and helps coordinate the “Food, Fiber & More Summer Ag Institute” in Fort Collins. (return to top)
	Jody Davis is a Colorado native, born and raised rancher. For 42 years she and her husband have raised cattle near Matheson Colorado. A 4-H leader for over 35 years, Jody has a genuine desire to teach, share knowledge, create interest and stir imaginations in children. She wants to extend her education efforts to Ag in the Classroom to help students develop an understanding of agriculture. (return to top)
	John Sepich is a retired science teacher who taught in Colorado public schools for 33 years. With John’s state and national involvement in science education, he provides insights into how the science education system views agriculture. By knowing the science education culture, he helps tailor information from CFA to the public school community. He is also involved in the Colorado Science Educator Network which connects science educators across the State of Colorado. He is also a member of the Colorado Science forum, a group which works to educate the Colorado decision makers on the importance of science to Colorado’s economy. (return to top)
	Loretta Pineda is currently the outreach and administrative manager for the State of Colorado’s Division of minerals and Geology. She comes from a family that farmed near Windsor. “When I was young and lived on the farm with my family I wanted to live in the city. Now I live in the city and I yearn for the farm. I feel that as a ‘farmer’s daughter’ and my communication experience I can help CFA continue the great projects and work already being done to highlight the importance of agriculture and natural resource.” (return to top)
	Angela Ryden enjoys telling agriculture’s story and helping to educate the public and children. She is the Colorado Farm Bureau Women’s Chair and in that capacity she has the opportunity to gather ideas and information from other states to share in this state. She and her husband, Charles, are third generation owners of a cow/calf operation. They raise all of their own feed. The have forest and BLM grazing permits. In addition, they raise Emus and design, plant and run a corn maze called “AG in the Corn Field.” (return to top)
Advisory Board
	Tom Fey was born and raised in Kansas and graduated from Kansas State University and received an animal science degree. Tom earned a graduate degree in vocational education from Colorado State University. Tom taught vocational agriculture at Valley and Holyoke High Schools. In 1993 join Colorado State University Cooperative Extension as 4-H agent for Adams County. (return to top)
	Patty Kenny is the Director of Office Services for the Colorado Farm Bureau. In that capacity, she directs the office operations and coordinates the women's and Ag in the Classroom programs for the orginization. Those programs include raising money through an annual ag education auction, holding Farm Days on the county level, sponsoring the Senior Field Studies program where high school seniors spend ten days on a farm or ranch each April, promoting Food Check-Out Day in early February each year and supporting and promoting the ag education programs and resources developed by the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture and the American Farm Bureau. (return to top)
	Julie Moore is the Director of Consumer Affairs for the Colorado Beef Council. Julie grew up on a diversified farming/ranching operation in Nebraska. Working for the Colorado Beef Council keeps her tied to agriculture while living in Denver. “If I can help promote agriculture, then I am helping Colorado producers as well as my family to continue their way of life.”
	Randy Schwalm is a former CFA board presidemt. He farms in partnership with his wife, Beth, father, Lloyd and mother, Shirley. They farm about 700 acres. They raise sugar beets, pinto beans, seed wheat, grain corn and alfalfa. Randy was involved with the Vo Ag Program in high school and is active in Young Farmers.
	Dorothy Mergelman is an educator from Cedaredge. Dorothy has spent 30+ years in the classroom. According to Dorothy, “As a teacher, I see the importance of teaching children about agriculture. I took Ag in the Classroom and was so impressed with the class and CFA that I would like to be part of the group.” (return to top)
	Executive Director A graduate of Colorado State University with a degree in history education. Bette Blinde is the Executive Director of the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture. She has held the position from the time the foundation was formed in 1991. As Executive Director of Colorado Foundation for Agriculture she is responsible for the production and distribution of educational materials about agriculture and natural resources. This includes publishing the Colorado Reader series. Topics published include: Livestock; Dairy; Integrated Pest Management; Corn; Wheat; Water; Forests; Wildlife; Grocery; Produce; Recycling and Cooperatives, Food Safety, Protecting Our Soil, Colorado Ranching and many more. She has also written activity books on Wildlife Management and Colorado's Wool and Sheep Industry. She works with The Denver Post Newspaper in Education program providing resources and materials for Colorado Kids Page and she writes their Stock Show curriculum. She is also responsible for Colorado's Agriculture in the Classroom program which includes classroom presentations, farm day programs, AgriCULTURE in the Classroom Summer Institute and water festivals. She works with a variety of agriculture, wildlife, environmental groups and their board of directors along with working with educators and curriculum coordinators from across the state. Under her leadership Colorado's Agriculture in the Classroom program has expanded across the state and reaches over 50,000 students each month. Many of the materials she has developed for Colorado are being used in other states.

Support Ag Literacy by sponsoring a Classroom

Would you like to become involved in the activities of the CFA? Contact Executive Director Bette Blinde to learn about volunteer and sponsorship opportunities.

Colorado Foundation for Agriculture
P.O. Box 10 | Livermore, CO 80536
970-881-2902 | Fax: 970-881-2587
info@growingyourfuture.com