President: Ed Fine – Ed was born in Oregon and raised in Eugene where he now lives. Ed works as a crop consultant focusing on farms in Lane County, but he ventures throughout Linn and Benton County as well.
Vice President: Gordon Culbertson – A life-long resident of Lane County, Gordon has worked nearly 40 years managing timber, forestry and forest products operations. Active in a number of community activities; Gordon and his wife Gail live in Walterville, Oregon. Together they own Whitewater Forests LLC, managing two tree farms certified under the American Tree Farm system.
Secretary: Melinda Montgomery
Board Member: Bryan Harper – Bryan was born in Nairobi, Kenya on a small farm that produced livestock, tea and corn. Bryan ran track at the University of Oregon and was the 2009 NWACC 400 meter Champion. After graduation, Harper returned to his family’s farm in Junction City, Oregon. Where they raise hazelnuts, row crops, grain, specialty seed, grass seed and timber.
Board Member: Annaliese Johnston is a third-generation farmer rooted from a family farm established in 1939 in Tillamook, Oregon. Raised working on dairy and grass seed farms while later working in the logging industry, Ms. Johnston is committed to advocating the voices of farmers and loggers. With an emphasis on valuing a holistic, ecological, and ethical approach to enhancing farming and logging Ms. Johnston is eager to spread industry awareness.
Board Member: Shane Ruddell is a first generation farmer in Junction City. He produces filberts and seed crops. Shane gained a passion for agriculture while working on local farms in high school. After graduating from Junction City High School became a certified mechanic and eventually worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry. Shane started Ruddell Farms LLC in 2017 and has become a star producer in Lane County. Today Shane serves on the Lane County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and Lane Regional Air Protection Agency Advisory Committee.
Tiffany Monroe – Tiffany is a fifth-generation farmer, who grew up on a hazelnut, vegetable, seed, and timber farm in Junction City, Oregon. She received her bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University in Crop and Soil Science with a minor in Horticulture. She later obtained her master’s degree in Community and Leadership Development with an emphasis in Agricultural Education from the University of Kentucky. Her graduate research on implicit bias focused on lowering racial anxiety, implicitness, prejudice, and racial color-blindness among entering college freshman. Additional research and programing included evaluation of gardening and plant science curriculum for elementary school students, rural African American male perspective on education, and food systems, food justice, and race curriculum development. Post graduate studies, Ms. Monroe has worked as the first African American Female Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent in Kentucky history and for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture in the Office of Marketing and Product Promotion. Now home in Oregon, Ms. Monroe farms with her husband, engages in agricultural advocacy work across the country and serves as president for both the Lane County Farm Bureau and the Lane Families for Farms and Forests organizations. Ms. Monroe was recently appointed as co-chair of Governor Kate Brown’s Racial Justice Council and serves as co-chair of the Environmental Equity Committee. One of her great passions is to promote local business and industry through her role with the McKenzie Business Association.
