It could be his stature and look — 6-foot-2, forearms the size of utility poles, and a Paul Bunyan beard.
“My friends would tell you that you wouldn’t miss me when I enter a room,” he said with a smirk.
Maybe it’s his volume — a voice that bouncy balls off the walls.
“I’m a big personality, I’ve been told,” he said. “I am always looking to have a good time.”
Then again it could be that the 34-year-old never thought he’d some day build his own herd of cattle, following in his dad Monte’s Sasquatch footsteps.
“But it’s hard to get away from what you know when it’s ingrained into you,” he told Michigan Farm News in Vicksburg. “Looking back, you definitely appreciate the extra push (Dad) gave me — how getting involved in Farm Bureau truly makes a difference.”
Whatever “it” is, St. Joseph County Farm Bureau member Drew Bordner has it.
Meet your 2023 Young Agriculture Employee Award winner.
In Kalamazoo County, Bordner helps raise 2,500 acres of seed corn and row crops at RKA Farms. There, about half of the acreage goes to seed corn production, with the remainder rotating between commercial corn and soybeans. The contracted seed corn is grown for Monsanto, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, one of the largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Some of his farm roles include servicing and maintaining equipment in the winter; planting 400 to 1,250 acres of soybeans in the spring; operating, maintaining and repairing center-pivot irrigation systems in the summer months; hauler of crops to storage locations in the fall; and the farm’s commodity relocation specialist. He also helps with seed corn planting and nitrogen side-dress application, among other items.
Before RKA Farms, Bordner worked at an 11,000-acre row-crop operation in northwest Ohio from 2011 to 2013. At the time, he attended the University of Northwestern Ohio and majored in agriculture and diesel technologies.
“It was different — going from your 1970s red machines to brand-new John Deere equipment,” Bordner said. “But I spent plenty of time in a tractor and learned a lot through the process. That’s where I gained a great deal of experience, allowing me to get my foot in the door with future employers.”
A few years later, Bordner returned to Michigan and worked for the potato producers Lennard Ag and Black Gold Farms. Bordner, always close to his cattleman roots, is in the process of establishing a purebred Red Angus herd with his fiancée, Elizabeth Wernette.
“Find somebody that puts up with you and has the same passions and desires,” he said. “Beth and I — our families have known each other through the years in the cattle industry. We came to know each other more so through our Farm Bureau involvement. And that’s actually how we met — through run-ins at conferences and events.”
Bordner is the co-chair of St. Joseph’s Young Farmer program. He’s focused on getting more young ag people involved with Farm Bureau and maintaining engagement through the many Young Farmer program offerings to “extend the lifeblood of the organization,” he said.
According to Bordner, the Young Farmer program has allowed him to build lifelong friendships, connect to other like-minded farmers and be a voice in his local community.
“It’s a family ordeal,” Bordner said. “My dad’s been a county president. Back in 2006, he came home one day and said, ‘You’re going to the Young People’s Citizenship Seminar.’ And that’s where I got my start.”
The Young Agriculture Employee Award recognizes farm employees and ag professionals for their contributions to the success of their workplace, and their leadership involvement in Farm Bureau, agriculture and the local community.
As the state winner, Bordner receives receive $5,000 off the first payment of a lease or installment on a 100-horsepower or larger tractor from GreenMark Equipment; a $1,000 AgroLiquid gift certificate; and an all-expense paid trip to the AFBF FUSION Conference.
“I enjoy a challenge, I'm not afraid of hard work, and I work until the job’s done,” Bordner said.
“Life without challenge isn't much of a life. It definitely keeps my life exciting.”
