2026 Iowa Farmers Union Board of Directors
Aaron is a fifth-generation family farmer from rural Polk County, where he and his family raise corn, soybeans, oats, and hay in both organic and conventional rotations. Aaron was elected to serve as the IFU president in 2016 and had served as the IFU vice president immediately prior to his election. He also has served as the executive director and legislative director for IFU and on the National Farmers Union Policy Committee. Aaron’s father Phil is a past IFU vice president and board member, and Aaron was active in Farmers Union youth programs growing up. Aaron is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and Treasurer of the North Polk School Foundation. He is a graduate of North Polk High School in Alleman, Iowa and earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Aaron has previously served on the North Polk School District Board of Directors, the Iowa Citizen Action Network Board of Directors, and various school and church communities. He is a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Iowa chapter of the National Farmers Organization. Aaron and his wife Nicole have two children, Jordan and Benjamin. [email protected], (515) 291-2656
Ryan Marquardt is a fifth-generation Madison County Farmer. He owns and operates Wild Rose Pastures, LLC with his wife and high school sweetheart Janice and their two children. They have raised and direct marketed grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken and turkeys and free-range eggs for over a decade in Central Iowa. In addition to the serving on the Iowa Farmers Union Board, Ryan also serves on the Iowa Food Cooperative Board, Madison County Development Foundation Board, and the Practical Farmers of Iowa Savings Incentive Program Selection Committee. In the past, Ryan has run for the Iowa House, and served as president of the Iowa Network for Community Agriculture, church council president, and township trustee. Ryan graduated from Iowa State University with MA in Sustainable Agriculture, a BS in Community and Regional Planning, and a certificate in Public Administration. Ryan is an ardent supporter of open markets and transparency for farms of all sizes, streamlining regulation for small and medium producers, and opposing monopolies in the agricultural supply chain.
Karen Varley grew up on an Allamakee County dairy farm and studied agronomy and plant breeding at Iowa State and Cornell University. She has worked in the seed industry and for ISU Extension and was involved in several ag-related entrepreneurial ventures. Since 1989 she and her husband, Warren, have worked on the family farm in Adair County, raising cattle, poultry, and sheep, as well as four humans. In 2015 Karen graduated from Drake Law School and joined Warren’s law practice in Stuart. Karen has led a couple of community garden projects and served as poultry superintendent of the Adair County Fair. She enjoys escapes on the Raccoon River Valley Trail with her bike, Mulberry.
Anna Pesek is the co-owner of Over the Moon Farm, a thriving direct-to-consumer meat business based in rural Delaware County, Iowa. Together with her wife, Shae, Anna raises farrow-to-finish Berkshire hogs, lamb, pasture-raised chicken and turkey, and partners with young and beginning farmers to offer customers grass-fed beef and other locally sourced products.
For over a decade, Anna has been dedicated to building an ethical, transparent, and community-rooted food system. She is a proud and active member of the Iowa Farmers Union and an advocate for policies that support independent family farms, fair markets, environmental stewardship, and a stronger rural economy.
Her leadership, storytelling, and commitment to farmer-driven solutions continue to push the Iowa food and farm movement forward.
Suzan co-owns and manages Draco Hill Nature Farm, an outdoor educational venue in Cedar County that offers a free event series promoting agroecology and community. Draco Hill’s diversified farming operation includes Asian pears, chestnuts, honeyberries, heartnuts, eggs, dried prairie grasses, prairie seeds, firewood and camping. She is the author of the Substack newsletter Postcards from the Heartland: The Radical in Rural America Project , as well as several books and hundreds of newspaper, magazine and academic journal articles.
(Photo by Emily Kestel)
Mike Carberry of Iowa City was elected to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors in 2014.
Mike was raised in Newhall, Iowa, in a large, fifth generation Iowa family. His family moved to Johnson County in 1976, and Mike graduated from Iowa City Regina High School, then earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Iowa in 1983. He held several positions in the fields of renewable energy and sustainability, including as the Executive Director of the Iowa Renewable Energy Association; Midwestern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for Friends of the Earth; Senior Regional Field Director with the Iowa Global Warming Campaign; Campaign Manager for Citizens for Public Power; and Director of Green State Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in advocacy, outreach and campaign organizing around environmental issues. Mike also worked as the Benefit Director at Iowa City’s Englert Theatre.
Mike’s volunteer efforts also reflect his interest in the environment. He has served many roles with the Sierra Club, including Chairperson for the Iowa City Area Group, and member of the State of Iowa Chapter Executive Committee. He was awarded the 2013 Environmental Activist of the Year award from the State Chapter of the Sierra Club. Mike currently serves on the boards of the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Iowa Wind Energy Association and 1000 Friends of Iowa .
John and his wife, Beverly, farm with one of their sons, and one of his brothers and their wives in north central Iowa’s Hardin County. They are the county’s last dairy, and have been selling their pigs to Niman Ranch since 1998. John has been a long time Iowa Farmers Union member, and is in his second term as a board member. His late parents, William and Mary, were also members for most of their lives. John and Beverly have two sons and one daughter, and two grandchildren.
As the 4th generation on his family’s farm near Elkhart, Tony cares deeply about this place we call home. After traveling around the world to build houses with Habitat for Humanity and obtain his Ph.D., Tony came back to his family’s farm Iowa in 2013. In addition to a career working with data, Tony has been working to grow the market for local foods in Iowa via the online food hub co-located on the family’s century farm. What Tony has seen over the past decade troubles him, and he wants to work with you and other citizens from around the state to make it the kind of place we want to raise our kids, and then our kids want to stay when they are adults.
Beth Hoffman has been reporting on food and agriculture for more than twenty-five years, and moved to Iowa with her husband to work on his family’s 530 acre farm in 2019. She blogged for Forbes and studied the food system in depth as a student, fellow and co-lecturer at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism. She has completed several documentary projects including a year cooking with immigrant women in their homes and telling their stories. She was an Associate Professor in Media Studies at the University of San Francisco and wrote the book Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America about the economics of farming, told through the story of moving to the farm. You can reach her at [email protected]
Joshua Manske grew up in Algona, IA. He attended Grand View University in Des Moines, where he studied history and was a three-time All-American golfer. After college, Josh played professional golf around the globe. He currently sits on the Iowa Farmers Union board of directors. He has served as the Next Generation Advisory Representative on the National Farmers Union board. Joshua is a 5th-generation farmer who farms and manages farmland in Iowa and Minnesota. He also sells Farm Real Estate. Joshua is the author of the Corn Belt Newsletter on Substack.
I am a lifelong Tama County resident, raised on our family farm in the northern part of the county. Our farm resembled the majority of past small diversified farming operations with a strong emphasis on conservation practices. Our family also operated a small evergreen nursery on the farm, growing many plants from seedlings.
Shaffer Ridgeway is a conservationist with the USDA who has dedicated his career to helping farmers care for their land and build healthy, sustainable operations. A native of Alabama, he grew up on a small cow/calf operation owned by his father and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness from Alabama A&M University.
In 2000, Ridgeway moved to Iowa to work as a Soil Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), where he has served in several roles over the years, including his current role as District Conservationist in Black Hawk County. After many years advising farmers on conservation practices, he began applying those same principles outside of work.
In 2019, Shaffer and his wife, Madelyn, founded Southern Goods LLC, a produce farm focused on bringing Southern vegetables to Midwestern tables. The Ridgeways market their products through the Waterloo Urban Farmers Market and the We Arose Co-op, and their operation also includes feeding cattle that are directly marketed to local consumers.
Over the last several years, Ridgeway has become a strong advocate for regenerative agriculture and for teaching producers the importance of following the five soil health principles. Shaffer and Madelyn live in Waterloo, Iowa, with their three sons — Solomon, Max, and Jacoby.
Elle ElleGadient grew up on her family’s diversified farm in eastern Iowa raising livestock and crops. She recently returned to Iowa as the fifth generation in her family to farm in the Midwest. In addition to farming, Elle serves in the unique position of Niman Ranch farmer advocate, providing support, education and community building among the brand’s network of hundreds of small to mid-size, independent family farms and ranches across the country. She was included on Forbes’ 2023 prestigious 30 Under 30 list, recognizing her leadership to “redefine the way we eat, drink and think about consumption.”
Thomas Burkhead is a second-year law student at Drake University Law School with a deep connection to agriculture, food systems, and rural communities in Iowa. A fifth-generation Iowan, Thomas grew up between his family’s Century Farm in rural Calhoun County and the city of Des Moines. Those experiences continue to shape how he understands the relationship between land stewardship, food production, and public policy.
Thomas’s interest in agricultural and food law is grounded in practical experience and civic engagement. As an undergraduate at Drake, he worked at the Agricultural Law Center, where he helped organize farmers and contributed to the development of the Greater Des Moines Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign. After graduation, he worked across multiple parts of the food system, from sustainable farming and local food production to environmental and agricultural services, gaining firsthand insight into the challenges facing farmers and communities.
Thomas has been privileged to be involved with the Iowa Farmers Union for many years, and the organization has played a formative role in shaping his understanding of agriculture as a shared civic responsibility. As a student representative, he is grateful for the opportunity to learn from farmer-led dialogue, democratic policy development, and a tradition rooted in fairness, education, and mutual care. These experiences now directly inform his legal studies, which focus on sustainable agriculture, food systems, and water quality.
As a student and advocate, Thomas is particularly interested in how legal frameworks allocate responsibility for environmental impacts, food access, and rural wellbeing, and in how law can better support long term community resilience. He approaches food and agricultural law as work that is both practical and principled, grounded in lived experience and guided by an ethic of care for people, land, and water together.