Two new IFB directors elected

Two new members were elected Sunday to the Illinois Farm Bureau Board of Directors at the organization's annual meeting in Chicago.

Robert Gehrke, Elgin, Ill., was elected to a two-year term to represent District 1, which encompasses Boone, McHenry, Lake, DeKalb and Kane Counties. Gehrke and his wife, Beth, operate a grain, corn, soybean, wheat and hay operation.
 
Gehrke served as the Kane County Farm Bureau president from 2004 to 2010 and secretary-treasurer from 1992 to 2004. He also served on the IFB resolutions committee and completed a market study tour to China in 2009.
 
Gehrke is the financial secretary and chairman of stewardship for St. John's Lutheran Church in Sycamore, Ill., and has served as director of CONSERV FS since 2002. He and his wife have two children, Wayne and Carolyn.

Dennis W. Green, Lawrenceville, Ill., was elected to a two-year term representing District 13, which encompasses Coles, Clark, Crawford, Cumberland, Jasper, Lawrence and Richland Counties. Green and his wife, Debbie, own a corn and soybean operation.

Green presently serves on the Lawrence County Farm Bureau board and most recently served as the Lawrence County Farm Bureau president in 2009. He also served as president from 1981 to 1988 and served on the Lawrence County Farm Bureau board from 1976 to 1992.

Green served on the Lawrence County Unit 20 School Board from 1989 to 2002, and held the office of president for ten years. He is a member of the Pleasant Ridge Christian Church. He and his wife have three grown children, Jonathan, Sara and Jason, and have five grandchildren.