2026 Annual Meeting and Director Elections
Annual Meeting
Farm Credit East's 2026 Annual Meeting will be held on Monday, March 23 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.
2026 Candidates for the Board of Directors
On behalf of the nominating committee, Farm Credit East is pleased to present the 2026 candidates for the association’s board of directors. There are three open director seats to be filled in 2026, and five qualified candidates seeking election to these seats.
- One 4-year seat from the Eastern Region*
- One 4-year seat from the Central Region
- One 4-year seat from the Western Region
*For 2026, Eastern region candidates must be from the former Yankee Farm Credit territory.
Nominated from the Eastern Region | 4-Year Seat
Seat One: Two candidates are running for a four-year term.
William F. Suhr (age 54) of Shoreham, Vermont, is owner and manager of Champlain Orchards Inc., growing 384 acres of various seasonal fruit, overseeing multiple distribution channels and value-added products. Learn more about William.
Kyle Thygesen (age 52) of Tunbridge, Vermont, is a managing member of the Farmstead at Falls Hill, LLC, which is home to a diversified hay and purebred dairy cattle marketing business, as well as ag entertainment. Learn more about Kyle.
Nominated from the Central Region | 4-Year Seat
Seat Two: Two candidates are running for a four-year term.
Kurt William Alstede (age 62) of Chester, New Jersey, is a founder, co-owner and general manager of Alstede Farms, LLC, an 800-acre vertically integrated fruit, vegetable and Christmas tree farm. Learn more about Kurt.
Philip "Jamie" Jones (age 50) of Shelton, Connecticut, is a co-owner and manager of Jones Family Farms and Jones Family Farms Winery, a 530-acre specialty crop farm, winery and greenhouse operation. Learn more about Jamie.
Nominated from the Western Region | 4-Year Seat
Seat three: One candidate is running for a four-year term.
Terry Zittel (age 67) of Eden, New York, is business manager and accounting and systems analyst of Amos Zittel & Sons, Inc., a fifth-generation 400-acre wholesale vegetable and flowers business. Learn more about Terry.
Election Process
Voting for directors will be by mail or online ballot sent within 10 business days following the annual meeting. Voters must be a stockholder of record as of February 25, 2026.
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 voting 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 ten business days of the voting deadline. The candidate receiving the largest number of votes for each position shall be declared elected.
