2025 Annual Meeting & Director Elections
There are four open director seats to be filled in 2025: One 3-year seat from the Eastern Region, one 4-year seat from the Eastern Region, one 4-year seat from the Central Region and one 4-year seat from the Western Region.
Annual Meeting
Farm Credit East's 2025 Annual Meeting to be held on Monday, March 24 starting at 9:00 a.m. The 45-minute meeting will be hosted from Farm Credit East’s headquarters located at 240 South Road in Enfield, CT, or you may participate virtually via a webinar or telephone.
Nominated from the Eastern Region | 3-Year Seat
Seat One: Two candidates are running for a three-year term.
Barry Allen Buck (age 50) of Mapleton, Maine, is a partner of Buck Land Company, LLC, which owns 1,000 acres of farmland and wood lots. Barry oversees land rentals and timber harvest. Learn more about Barry
James V. Crane (age 63) of Exeter, Maine, is co-owner and manager of Crane Bros. Inc., growing 2,200 acres of grain corn and 1,750 acres of chipping potatoes throughout six Maine counties. Learn more about Jim
Hit play on the corresponding video to learn more about both candidates.
Nominated from the Eastern Region | 4-Year Seat
Seat Two: Two candidates are running for a four-year term.
LouAnne King (age 61) of Waddington, New York, is an owner of Mapleview Dairy LLC, a family owned and operated farm which provides forages and grains from 5,600 acres to feed the dairy herds of Mapleview Cattle Company LLC and Forest View Heifers LLC. Learn more about LouAnne
James Andrew Smith (age 59) of Lebanon, Connecticut, is the operations manager at The Cushman Farms Limited Partnership, a dairy farm with 1,800 cows and 2,300 acres of land. Learn more about James
Hit play on the corresponding video to learn more about both candidates.
Nominated from the Central Region | 4-Year Seat
Seat Three: Two candidates are running for a four-year term.
Wayne Charles Reichle (age 51) of Cape May, New Jersey, is the President of Lund’s Fisheries, Inc., a family owned, vertically integrated seafood harvester, processor and distributor of sustainable seafood. Learn more about Wayne
Joel Robert Viereck (age 41) of Logan Twp, New Jersey, is the farm operations manager of Viereck Farms LLC, a fourth generation, diversified agricultural operation spanning 800 acres, specializing in high tunnel vine-ripe tomato production, alongside a diverse mix of vegetables, fruits and grains. Learn more about Joel
Hit play on the corresponding video to learn more about both candidates.
Nominated from the Western Region | 4-Year Seat
Seat Four: Two candidates are running for a four-year term.
John Patrick Knopf (age 64) of Canandaigua, New York, is senior member and majority owner of Fa-Ba Farms, LLC, a dairy farm. Learn more about John
Samuel Sheehy (age 42) of North Collins, New York, is co-owner and winemaker for the Winery of Ellicottville. Learn more about Sam
Hit play on the corresponding video to learn more about both candidates.
Election Process
Voting for directors will be by mail or online ballot within 10 business days following the annual meeting. Voters must be a stockholder of record as of February 27, 2025.
Candidates are listed by open seat and alphabetically by name. The election polls shall be closed no earlier than fifteen calendar days following the date on which the ballots are mailed to stockholders.
The election for each position shall be conducted independently with each voting stockholder given an opportunity to vote for each of the three open positions. You will have the option to complete a paper ballot or an online ballot. A third-party election tabulator will count the votes and declare the winners within five business days of the voting deadline. The candidate receiving the largest number of votes for each position shall be declared elected.