Brice Christopherson | Northwest District Candidate

Dave Hill| Northwest District Incumbent

1. Why is it important to you to serve the cooperative members?
I would like to serve another term on the board to help hire our new general manager.

 2.  What should Key Cooperative’s top three priorities be in the next two years?

• Keep Key’s competitive advantage in agronomy by continuing to update facilities and equipment 
• Work with the new general manager to keep Key Co-op a strong, successful company
• Hire and retain the best employees available                           

Lucas Tjelmeland| Northwest District Incumbent

Lucas and his wife, Krista, have an eight-year-old son and two-year old daughter. Lucas farms and raises pigs & cattle in Central Story County. His row crop operation consists of corn, soybeans and hay. Lucas started farming while still in high school with his first rented farm and cattle on feed; then slowly grew by adding more owned and rented land while trying to raise more cattle. Lucas is also a Milford Township trustee, helping and donating time and efforts to improve the township. Lucas is seeking another term as a director for Key Cooperative and has been serving since 2023.

1.  Why is it important to you to serve the cooperative members?
I believe it's important for me to serve the Key Cooperative members because as a farm, we’re a diversified operation which is very important in agriculture today. It takes diversification to be successful, even at the cooperative level. As a current director, it’s also important to listen to the concerns of our member-owners and employee team.

• Customer relations - communication is everything being upfront and honest
• Strong balance sheet - a good business needs to have a strong position
• Growth - staying steady is great but growth is very important in agriculture

Logan Voga| Northwest District Candidate

Logan is a 4th generation farmer who has the opportunity to farm alongside his father. Logan and his wife, Morgan, live on a multi -generational family farm between Story City and Gilbert. They have three young daughters who are very involved in sports and dance. Logan’s family farm has a diverse history including raising turkeys, farrow to finish hogs, a small beef herd and row crops. He bought his first cows in 2014 and rented his first farm in 2015. Today, his operation leans on diversificati on to be successful. He also manages a 3,000 head wean-to-finish hog site, 40 head of cows & background calves and grow corn and soybeans with his father. 

1.  Why is it important to you to serve the cooperative members?
It’s important for me to serve all cooperative members, big and small. In this fast-moving farm industry, I feel it extremely important for not only the cooperative to be profitable but also for its member-owners. 

2.  What should Key Cooperative’s top three priorities be in the next two years?

• Key Co-op needs to maintain a strong financial position, while providing services and returns to its member-owners.

Bryce Arkema| Southeast District Incumbent

Bryce and his wife, Donna, have four adult children, three sons-in-law and one daughter-in-law living in various states. They are blessed with one grandson and five granddaughters. Bryce and Donna are members of the Sully Christian Reformed Church. They live ten miles south of Sully where they have a general farming operation of corn, soybeans and alfalfa hay. Bryce has been doing business with Key Cooperative (and formerly SCE) since he started farming 44 years ago. He has served on the Key board for the past 12 years and currently holds the role of president. Bryce also serves as a director on the Pella Cooperative Electric Board, a director on the Hawkeye Pension Board for Iowa Electric Co-ops and is chairman of the Pella Christian Schools Endowment/Foundation Committee. 

1.  Why is it important to you to serve the cooperative members?
A cooperative is organized to serve the members who own it. The members have a voice through the board of directors who hire the general manager and set policy for the company to focus on. I believe in the cooperative mindset and have tried to carry that out and will continue to try to do that if re-elected.

2.  What should Key Cooperative’s top three priorities be in the next two years?

• Hiring a new general manager who will continue to lead our company forward to be financially strong in today’s agricultural environment and lead our employees who provide services to the member-owners.
• As a company, we need to be competitive in the products we sell and offer a fair market value for the crops the member-owners produce.
• We must be able to employ qualified personnel to keep up with the ever-changing farm trends.

Chris Davidson| Southeast District Incumbent

Chris and his wife LaFonda, live in Pella and have two children, Brendan who’s a sales agronomist at Key Cooperative and Lily who’s a junior at Grandview University. Chris has been part of the Pella community for over 30 years, including having graduated from Central College. His farming operation is based out of Brooklyn and includes the areas of Grinnell & Barnes City. Chris farms primarily corn and soybeans with some local custom harvesting. Over the years he’s expanded his operation through the purchase of land and working with good landowners. Working alongside his uncle and cousin in their operation has allowed him to stay in touch with the livestock side of farming. Additionally, Chris has built a home construction business which specializes in custom homes. Chris has taken several mission trips to La Mission, Mexico to help build homes for families. Being on city advisory boards is also something he has enjoyed. Chris has served as an associate director on the Key board for the past two years.

1.  Why is it important to you to serve the cooperative members?
For me, it’s important to be a voice for the members. It’s our opportunity to help guide the co-op in a manner that is beneficial to its members. That is what makes the co-op environment so unique. As members, we get to have a seat at the table to oversee and help guide the co-op.

2.  What should Key Cooperative’s top three priorities be in the next two years?

• In today’s world of volatility, inputs and market decision making has become as challenging as ever. I believe that one of the things that Key has done well is to present customers with knowledge and resources to help make decisions easier. Continuing to improve upon this type of relationship with producers of every size is important. This type of relationship is what brings in new customers & members and in turn strengthens the co-op. 
• Being able to recruit and retain individuals who are the backbone of the co-op is a challenge. We need to maintain a culture and environment that individuals want to work in and feel the value they provide to the co-op.
• Finally, I believe that public education and awareness is becoming increasingly important to the success of everyone involved in agriculture. As a society, we’re becoming less connected with where and how our food is being put on our tables. The disconnect creates misunderstanding and concern about how our food is being produced, which in turn makes it more challenging for everyone in the ag world. We are constantly changing how we grow our crops and raise our livestock and we need to inform the public how these changes are beneficial to everyone.

Mike Engbers| Southeast District Incumbent

Mike and his wife, Hillary, have two sons Grayson and Gavin and live three miles north of Sully. Mike’s farming operation is located just south of Interstate 80, west of Grinnell. They grow corn and soybeans and manage custom feed pigs as well. Mike & Hillary are very active in their church and the Sully Christian School. Mike has served on the Key Cooperative Board for the past six years and currently holds the role of vice president.

1.  Why is it important to you to serve the cooperative members?
Member-owners have a voice in the co-op system and that it is an honor to be that voice for them. It’s important that I continue to share this message to our members.

2.  What should Key Cooperative’s top three priorities be in the next two years?

• Retain competitive pricing and services
• Become a leader in innovative and sustainable farming practices
• Listen to the members on their needs to make their farms successful

Kevin Van Maanen| Southeast District Candidate

Kevin and his wife, Melanie, have three children and live just south of Sully. All of Kevin’s land is located in Jasper county. He took an early interest in helping his dad with livestock and row crop farming. Kevin purchased his first piece of land the summer he graduated from high school and has slowly been growing the operation since. He took over the full operation after his dad passed. He continues to maintain a small head of feeder cattle, some hay ground and corn and soybean acres. He enjoys researching best practices for preserving the soil and currently applies cover crop on a majority of his crop acres. Kevin previously served on the Sully Christian School Board and currently serves as deacon and youth leader at Sully Christian Reformed Church. He’s currently an assistant varsity boys basketball coach at Lynnville-Sully School.

1.  Why is it important to you to serve the cooperative members?
I’ve been a member of the cooperative for over 30 years and have truly appreciated the local services and support it provides. Since members are the foundation of the cooperative, it’s essential that they feel heard, valued and have confidence in the people making decision on their behalf. When members are satisfied and engaged, they are more willing to contribute to the cooperative’s financial stability, growth and long-term sustainability.

2.  What should Key Cooperative’s top three priorities be in the next two years?

• Strengthen member engagement and satisfaction by improving communication so members feel heard and stay informed.
• Ensure financial stability and operational efficiency by reducing unnecessary costs without sacrificing service quality.
• Expand and modernize services to meet future needs.