A Lifetime of Service: Thank You, Wes Raddatz

[Link]Wes Raddatz posing with a Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation Centennial Celebration sign made for his farm, Cow Biz Farm.

Over the years, Wes Raddatz has served the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation in countless roles, in countless ways.

And yet, Wes will proudly say, "I've gotten so much more from Farm Bureau than I ever put into it."

Though Wes became an official member of Wisconsin Farm Bureau during the summer of 1975, his involvement with Farm Bureau began just four months after he was born. His father, Gordon Raddatz, was very involved with Farm Bureau as well as several other agricultural-related organizations including being an original charter member of the Winnebago Co-op Farm Supply. This co-op was an affiliated supply cooperative of the Winnebago County Farm Bureau.

[Link]The original Winnebago Co-op Farm Supply stock certificate that began Wes's involvement with Farm Bureau.

"My dad, as a concerned parent should be, was eager to get his newborn son off to a proper start in life, and therefore made the $50 investment for me in two shares of preferred capital stock in the fledging organization he was involved with," said Wes.

Since that moment, Wes has been involved with Wisconsin Farm Bureau in one way or another.

After spending his childhood working on the family dairy farm near Oshkosh, Wes went on to receive a bachelor's degree in dairy science from UW-Madison. The spring after graduation, Wes bought a farm seven miles from his father's. Cow Biz Farm consisted of a 100-cow milking herd that was supported by 600 acres and eventually four employees.

Fast forward a few months to one fateful July day in 1975, Larry Pfaffenroth, a Rural Mutual Insurance agent, drove down Wes's driveway and officially signed him up for membership.

[Link]Wes and his dog pictured in front of Cow Biz Farm in the 1970s.

In September of 1975, Wes's father, Gordon, who was serving on the Winnebago County Board of Directors, encouraged him to attend the county's annual meeting. It was there that Wes was asked to be the Young Farmer Chair for Winnebago County.

"I, without hesitation, said yes and my career with Farm Bureau began," Wes said.

Wes would go on to serve as the Young Farmer Chair on both the county and state levels from 1975 to 1984. During his time serving as chair, he participated in the Young Farmers Discussion Meet and made it to the state's Final Four three years in a row. Wes was also a finalist for the Outstanding Farmer Award.

Wes mentioned that his involvement and travel with Farm Bureau not only helped him take time off from the farm to avoid burnout but also allowed him to learn about new ideas to bring back to his farm.

"My philosophy has always been, if you find out just one thing that you can take back home and make a change on your farm - if you just find one thing - it paid for that entire registration fee or the time you had to hire somebody," said Wes.

[Link]Wes holding a plaque that a member of his Young Farmer Committee class made for him.

After serving as a Young Farmer Chair for nearly 10 years, Wes became a board member of the Winnebago County Farm Bureau. During that time, Wes took the opportunity to become even more involved in Farm Bureau and eventually served on just about every committee on the county and state level. In 1992, Wes was elected President of the Winnebago County Farm Bureau.

Wes began a new path in his life in 1993 when he began working as a Dairy Technology Specialist at Braun Dairy Equipment and sold a part of his farm in 1994. He worked as a Dairy Technology Specialist until 1996 until, once again, fate intervened, and he came across an ad in a statewide farm newspaper.

[Link]A few of the awards Wes received throughout his time with Farm Bureau, including a Retiring WFBF Young Farmers Committee plaque, one of the WFBF Young Farmers Discussion Meet Finals plaques and an award for being a "Friend of Manitowoc County Farm Bureau."

The ad was placed by Wisconsin Farm Bureau and was looking for a new Field Supervisor, a position that was transitioned into and is known today as District Coordinator. Wes called up Jeff Lyon and Dan Paulson, who were overseeing the hiring process, and asked if he should send in a resume. They told him instead to come in for an interview. And thus began Wes's 28-year-long employment with Wisconsin Farm Bureau.

Wes mentioned Orval Aulenbacher as an integral mentor of his throughout his involvement with Farm Bureau but especially as he transitioned into the Field Supervisor role. Orval had been a Field Supervisor when Wes was a Young Farmer representative and offered especially helpful advice to him as Wes eventually took on Orval's counties after his retirement.

"He was always an inspiration to me, before and after I was a WFBF employee," said Wes. "He was one of those guys you couldn't say no to and knew how to get people involved."

[Link]Several photos of Wes throughout his time working for Farm Bureau including a dinner at the Governor's mansion, volunteering for a farm safety display, working with the Women's Committee (now known as the Promotion and Education Committee) and a photo of Wes and Mr. Dog going for a tractor ride.

When asked how his own Farm Bureau involvement has impacted his life, Wes chuckled and said "Well, Farm Bureau has kind of been my life. Not totally, but Farm Bureau has played an extremely important part in my life from the very beginning. I imagine it will carry through into my retirement. I can't imagine not helping out even in some small way."

Wes spoke at length about the impact Farm Bureau had on his life. In truth, it was Farm Bureau that was impacted by Wes. Thank you, Wes, for your lifetime of dedicated service to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and its members.

We wish you a wonderful retirement filled with tractor rides with Mr. Dog, many trips down to North Carolina to visit your daughters and grandchildren and, of course, some much-deserved downtime for you and your wife, Cindi.

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