Board Chair
Laurie K. Griffen
Board Chair
Laurie K. Griffen and her husband Steve are co-owner-operators of Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc., a 600-acre turfgrass farm in Stillwater, N.Y. In addition, Saratoga Sod provides sod installation services, sales of seed and fertilizer products, and the Big Yellow Bag garden soil product to assist its customers across the Northeast. Saratoga Sod also grows roughly 500 acres of corn and soybeans as part of the crop rotation.
Laurie was elected to the board in 2011. Her current term expires in 2024 (extended by one year due to merger realignment). Laurie is also presently vice chair of the Town of Saratoga Planning Board, co-chair of the Schuyler Park Committee, trustee of the Quaker Springs United Methodist Church and serves on the New York Farm Bureau Labor Committee.
Laurie K. Griffen and her husband Steve are co-owner-operators of Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc., a 600-acre turfgrass farm in Stillwater, N.Y. In addition, Saratoga Sod provides sod installation services, sales of seed and fertilizer products, and the Big Yellow Bag garden soil product to assist its customers across the Northeast. Saratoga Sod also grows roughly 500 acres of corn and soybeans as part of the crop rotation.
Laurie was elected to the board in 2011. Her current term expires in 2024 (extended by one year due to merger realignment). Laurie is also presently vice chair of the Town of Saratoga Planning Board, co-chair of the Schuyler Park Committee, trustee of the Quaker Springs United Methodist Church and serves on the New York Farm Bureau Labor Committee.
Board Vice Chair, Compensation Committee Chair
John P. Knopf
Board Vice Chair, Compensation Committee Chair
John P. Knopf is the principal owner of Fa-Ba Farms, LLC in Canandaigua, N.Y. Fa-Ba Farms is a dairy business consisting of 580 milking cows, 400 replacements and 800 acres of land devoted to forage production.
John was first elected to the board in 2013, with his current term expiring in 2025. John is also a member of the Town of Canandaigua Board of Assessment Review and has prior service with the Soil and Water Conservation District Northern Watershed Committee and Ontario County Farm Bureau.
John P. Knopf is the principal owner of Fa-Ba Farms, LLC in Canandaigua, N.Y. Fa-Ba Farms is a dairy business consisting of 580 milking cows, 400 replacements and 800 acres of land devoted to forage production.
John was first elected to the board in 2013, with his current term expiring in 2025. John is also a member of the Town of Canandaigua Board of Assessment Review and has prior service with the Soil and Water Conservation District Northern Watershed Committee and Ontario County Farm Bureau.
Peter R. Call
Peter Call, of Batavia, N.Y., was elected to the board in 2015. His current term expires in 2023.
Peter is president of My-T Acres, Inc., an 8,500-acre vegetable and grain operation. More than 5,000 of those acres are dedicated to the production of snap beans, potatoes, red beets, carrots, peas, sweet corn, spinach and cabbage. Peter is on the Seneca Foods Board of Directors and the Farm Fresh First Board. He is a member of Cornell University Board of Trustees.
Peter Call, of Batavia, N.Y., was elected to the board in 2015. His current term expires in 2023.
Peter is president of My-T Acres, Inc., an 8,500-acre vegetable and grain operation. More than 5,000 of those acres are dedicated to the production of snap beans, potatoes, red beets, carrots, peas, sweet corn, spinach and cabbage. Peter is on the Seneca Foods Board of Directors and the Farm Fresh First Board. He is a member of Cornell University Board of Trustees.
Thomas J. Colgan
Thomas Colgan serves as CEO of Wagner Forest Management, Ltd., a timber management company headquartered in Lyme, New Hampshire. He also serves as a senior officer of Wagner Forest Management, Ltd. (a forest management company that serves as the manager for Bayroot, LLC, Wagner Energy, LLC, Merriweather LLC, Typhoon LLC and Yankee Forest, LLC), Wagner Wind Energy III, LLC, an electrical generation company, and Mirage Flats Holding, LLC, a real estate holding company.
Thomas was appointed as a Farm Credit East director in 2022. His current term expires in 2024. He was formerly a director of Yankee Farm Credit, appointed in 2012. He also serves on the boards of directors of North Country Procurement, a biomass procurement organization based in Rumney, New Hampshire, and the National Alliance of Forest Owners.
Thomas Colgan serves as CEO of Wagner Forest Management, Ltd., a timber management company headquartered in Lyme, New Hampshire. He also serves as a senior officer of Wagner Forest Management, Ltd. (a forest management company that serves as the manager for Bayroot, LLC, Wagner Energy, LLC, Merriweather LLC, Typhoon LLC and Yankee Forest, LLC), Wagner Wind Energy III, LLC, an electrical generation company, and Mirage Flats Holding, LLC, a real estate holding company.
Thomas was appointed as a Farm Credit East director in 2022. His current term expires in 2024. He was formerly a director of Yankee Farm Credit, appointed in 2012. He also serves on the boards of directors of North Country Procurement, a biomass procurement organization based in Rumney, New Hampshire, and the National Alliance of Forest Owners.
Governance Committee Chair
Philip Jamie Jones
Governance Committee Chair
Philip "Jamie" Jones, of Shelton, Conn., was elected director in 2018 to a term expiring in 2026.
Jamie is owner and founder of Jones Family Farms Winery, LLC, which he established in 2004. He is the sixth generation to work the land of the Jones Family Farms. He manages the business with his wife, Christiana, and his parents, Terry and Jean Jones. Jamie oversees a diverse agricultural and farm hospitality operation focused on harvest your own berries, vineyards, pumpkins and Christmas trees. He serves as a director of the Fairfield County Farm Bureau, the Connecticut Vineyard and Winery Association and the Governor’s Council for Agricultural Development as well as on the Shelton Zoning Board of Appeals.
Philip "Jamie" Jones, of Shelton, Conn., was elected director in 2018 to a term expiring in 2026.
Jamie is owner and founder of Jones Family Farms Winery, LLC, which he established in 2004. He is the sixth generation to work the land of the Jones Family Farms. He manages the business with his wife, Christiana, and his parents, Terry and Jean Jones. Jamie oversees a diverse agricultural and farm hospitality operation focused on harvest your own berries, vineyards, pumpkins and Christmas trees. He serves as a director of the Fairfield County Farm Bureau, the Connecticut Vineyard and Winery Association and the Governor’s Council for Agricultural Development as well as on the Shelton Zoning Board of Appeals.
