Board of Directors

John P. Knopf, Canandaigua, NY, has served as director since 2013. His current term expires in 2029. He currently serves as Board Chair and is a member of the Compensation Committee and serves as chair of the Executive Committee. John and his partner Robert DiCarlo are owners of Fa-Ba Farms, LLC, a dairy business milking 580 cows and caring for 400 replacement animals. Production land includes 800 acres devoted to forage production. John also owns a controlling interest in Knopf Real Estate Partners. He is a member of the CoBank Nominating Committee.  

LouAnne F. King, Madrid, NY, was elected director in 2017. Her current term expires in 2029. She currently serves as Vice Chair, is a member of the Executive Committee and serves as chair of the Compensation Committee. LouAnne is an owner of Mapleview Dairy LLC with her brother, David Fisher, and extended family. The family operates businesses which include a 3,000-cow dairy, a 2,800-replacement heifer facility, and approximately 5,800 acres for forage and grain. LouAnne is also an owner of Midas Touch Genetics. LouAnne is a past member of the NEDPA board, the NYS Dairy Promotion Advisory Board, Pro-Dairy Advisory Board, National Holstein Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee and the St. Lawrence County Dairy Promotion Committee. She currently vice-chairs the St. Lawrence County Workforce Development Board. She serves on the Madrid Cemetery Board and is the Treasurer of the Scotch Presbyterian Church Session. 

Christopher Cebula, CPA, Honeoye Falls, NY, was appointed as an outside director in 2025. His current term expires in 2029. He serves on the Business Risk Committee. Chris is the president of Armbruster Capital Management, Inc., a registered investment advisory firm in Pittsford, N.Y., where he works with clients on wealth management and financial planning. Previously, he was manager of assurance and business advisory services at EFP Rotenberg, LLP. Chris has served in multiple board roles, including as chair and audit committee chair for Epilepsy PRALID, Inc. (EPI, Inc.). He is also a board member of Financial Executives International - FEI Rochester and has held board positions with Causewave Community Partners and BOA Editions, Ltd. Additionally, Chris is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 

James V. Crane, Exeter, Maine, was elected to the board in 2025. His current term expires in 2028. He serves on the Business Risk Committee. Jim 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 for Frito Lay Inc. Jim has served as town selectman for 24 years and assisted on the town budget committee. Additionally, he served as vice president of Maine Farm Bureau and on the board of the former Farm Family Insurance Co. 

Laurie Keene Griffen, Schuylerville, NY, has served as director since 2011. Her current term expires in 2028. She has served as board chair, vice chair and Governance Committee Chair. She currently serves as chair of the Technology Committee and serves on the Executive/Compensation Committee. Laurie is co-owner/operator of Saratoga Sod Farm, Inc., a 600-acre turfgrass farm in Stillwater, New York, with her husband Steve. In addition to producing and selling high quality turfgrass products, Saratoga Sod also 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 soybeans and corn as part of their crop rotation program. 

Philip J. “Jamie” Jones, Shelton, Conn., has served as director since 2018. His current term expires in 2026. He serves on the Audit and Governance/Stewardship committees. 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, along with a greenhouse operation. Jamie is also a member of the Farm Credit Council board of directors and the CoBank nominating committee. Outside of Farm Credit, he has served as Vice President of CT Farm Bureau, President of the CT Vineyard and Winery Association, and in numerous other ag organizations. He also serves on the Shelton Zoning Board of Appeals. 

Brett D. Kreher, Clarence, NY, was elected director in 2023. His current term expires in 2027. He serves on the Business Risk and Technology committees. Brett is an owner of Kreher Family Farms (including related entities Wayne County Eggs, LLC and Newstead Ranch, Inc.), an egg production business raising approximately 2.5 million hens that produce conventional, cage-free, organic and pastured organic eggs. The business also has conventional and organic grain operations and produces and sells organic fertilizer. Brett is President of the Board of Directors of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County, Chairman of the Erie County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board, and serves on the Board of Erie County Farm Bureau and Town of Clarence Municipal Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan Committee. 

Joseph “Jay” W. McWatters, Hamburg, NY, was first appointed as an outside director in 2021. His current term expires in 2029. He is chair of the Audit Committee. Most recently, Jay was the executive accountant in-residence for the Wehle School of Business at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, where he taught auditing and accounting. Previously, he was an audit partner at Dopkins & Company, LLP and KPMG LLP for more than 35 years where he served multiple cooperative clients. Jay holds an MBA degree and is a certified public accountant.  

James A. Robbins II, Searsmont, Maine, was elected director in 2019. His current term expires in 2027. He serves on the Audit and Executive/Compensation committees. James is president of Robbins Lumber, Inc. With his brother and sister, they operate a fully integrated log yard, sawmill, dry kilns and planer mill that produces Eastern White Pine and was established in 1881. Robbins Lumber owns and manages 27,000 acres of timberland and a distribution yard in Halifax N.S. Additionally, he is the manager of Georges River Energy, LLC, a biomass power plant that burns wood waste in order to produce 8.5 MW of electrical power and steam to dry lumber.  

Douglas W. Shelmidine, Adams, NY, has served as director since 2012. His current term expires in 2028. He serves as chair of the Governance/Stewardship Committee. Doug owns Sheland Farms, LLC, which is a multi-generational family farm business run in partnership with his brother, Todd, and sons, Devon and Erik. The family farms 3,000 acres and milks 920 cows. They also operate Sheland Farms Services, doing field work for other farms. Doug is also a member of Shel Land Properties, LLC and Shel Land Properties 2 LLC. Doug is the Town of Ellisburg Supervisor since 2020.  

Kyle Thygesen, Tunbridge, Vt., has served as a Farm Credit East director since 2022. His current term expires in 2026. He was formerly a director of Yankee Farm Credit, serving since 2017. He serves as chair of the Business Risk Committee and serves on the Executive/Compensation Committee. Kyle 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. Kyle additionally provides fractional leadership in a consulting capacity in the consumer packaged goods space. He has worked with international companies, cooperatives and a publicly traded company, converting milk into value-added products. 

Peter H. Triandafillou, Old Town, Maine, was appointed as the customer appointed forestry expert in 2016. His current term expires in 2030. He serves on the Technology Committee. Peter retired as Vice President of woodlands for Huber Resources Corp., a timber management firm managing 980,000 acres in six states. Peter is also past president and current treasurer of the Maine Forest Products Council, member of the Empire State Forest Products Council and past president and past board member of the North Maine Woods Corporation. Previously, he served on the Farm Credit Council Board. 

Joel Viereck, Woolwich, NJ, was elected to the board in 2025. His current term expires in 2029. He serves on the Governance/Stewardship Committee. Joel is the farm operations manager of Viereck Farms LLC, a fourth generation, diversified agricultural operation encompassing 800 acres, specializing in high-tunnel vine-ripe tomato production, alongside a broad mix of vegetables, fruits and grains. Along with his wife, Joel has developed a farm business focused on retail sales and value-added agriculture. Joel is a former president of the New Jersey Vegetable Growers Association and continues to serve as a director. He has served as vice president and still serves on the Gloucester County Board of Agriculture. He also served as Gloucester County's director for the New Jersey Farm Bureau and currently sits on the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture and the Gloucester County Agriculture Development Board. 

Terry R. Zittel, Eden, NY, was first elected to the board in 2018. Her current term expires in 2026. She serves on the Governance/Stewardship and Technology committees. Terry is corporate secretary and business manager of Amos Zittel & Sons, Inc., a wholesale vegetable and flower business. Zittel’s grows 400 acres of hand harvested fresh market vegetables. Indoor production includes rooted liners/young plants shipped nationally and a finished spring flower crop sold in New York and Pennsylvania. Terry is business manager of Croop’s Mill Properties, LLC and BD & K Landholdings, LLC, in addition to being on the board of directors of Eden Community Foundation and Harvest Malawi, an irrigation/education project in Africa.