SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – At the opening banquet of the 122nd Anniversary Convention, National Farmers Union (NFU) presented Rodney Allebach of Minnesota, Linda Jones Borton of Ohio and Dennis Rosen of Wisconsin with Awards for Meritorious Service to Farmers Union and to American Agriculture, the highest honor presented by Farmers Union.

“The 2024 class of Meritorious Service Award recipients represents lifelong commitment to Farmers Union,” said NFU President Rob Larew. “I commend all three of these members and leaders on their passion and support for family farmers and our communities, and I challenge the next generation of Farmers Union leaders to be as engaged and committed to the organization.” 

Rodney Allebach dedicated his career to Minnesota’s Farmers Union Agency, serving as an insurance agent for eight years, a district director for 20 years and president for nine years.

During his time with the Agency, Allebach always served the best interests of his family farmer clients. He worked to protect those clients and Farmers Union members by ensuring that they had the best insurance coverage available. The strong work of the Agency also provided financial support to Minnesota Farmers Union, ensuring strong programming and advocacy for members across the state.

Linda Jones Borton was born into a Farmers Union family and raised in the small town of Columbus Grove, Ohio. She volunteered to work membership with her brother Norm while she was still a teenager and became a delegate to her first National Farmers Union Convention in 1971. After attending the convention, Borton maintained her lifelong devotion to Farmers Union, serving as staff for Ohio Farmers Union in a variety of roles, as well as National Farmers Union Insurance Company before returning to Ohio Farmers Union.

Dennis Rosen served as Wisconsin Farmers Union’s (WFU) president from 1988 to 1994 and provided strong and stable leadership throughout his tenure.

Following his presidency, Rosen continued to serve on the WFU Board of Directors and represented his district for 41 years. WFU has a stable and financially strong footing now, in part, because of Rosen’s strong leadership.

Photos for use from throughout convention will be available via the NFU Flickr account. 

Live streams of various programming will be available via the NFU YouTube channel.

A full agenda can be found at nfu.org/convention.

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