Celebrating Veteran Farmers and the 2026 Veteran Farmer Award of Excellence Winner

We’re honored to recognize Retired Army Command Sargent Major Matthew Rutter for his dedicated service to our nation and his continued leadership in agriculture and community engagement with the American Farm Bureau Federation's Veteran Farmer Award of Excellence sponsored by Farm Credit. Veterans and active-duty service members make tremendous sacrifices to protect our freedoms. It’s a privilege to spotlight their vital contributions to American agriculture. Please join us to hear Matthew's story and to celebrate veteran farmers across the U.S.

Recipient:

• Sgt. Maj. Rutter, Founder of Project Victory Gardens and Award Recipient

Speakers:

• Gary Matteson, Retiring Board President, Farmer Veteran Coalition
• Anne Russell Thompson, Vice President, Young, Beginning Farmer Programs & Industry Outreach Farm Credit Council

Moderator:

• Logan Yearsley, Director of Member Engagement, AFBF

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Speaker Details:

Gary Matteson

Gary Matteson works for the trade organization of the Farm Credit System in Washington, DC as Senior Vice President, Beginning Farmer Programs and Outreach. This includes policy work on local foods, sustainable agriculture, and direct-to-consumer agriculture. Until recently, Gary was a small farmer operating a greenhouse business in New Hampshire growing anemones for the wholesale cut flower market and raising beef cattle. Gary also serves on the board of the Boston Flower Exchange, Inc., the premier wholesale flower market in the Northeast. A former agricultural entrepreneur, Matteson has served on the board of directors of his local Farm Credit lending cooperative. He holds a BS in Agronomy and a BA in Biology from the University of Connecticut. He has more than 30 years of experience in the farming and agriculture industry.

Anne Russell Thompson

Anne Russell Thompson Anne Thompson serves as VP, Young and Beginning Farmer Programs & Industry Outreach at the Farm Credit Council. In this role, Anne promotes Farm Credit’s young and beginning farmer programs, fosters positive relationships with allied industry partner organizations, and leads the Farm Credit System’s National Contributions Program. She previously served as Senior Director, PAC & Political Strategy at the National Corn Growers Association where she led the association’s advocacy efforts. Anne has also spent time at Bunge, a global grain trading company where she focused on a portfolio that included transportation infrastructure, food security, and tax policy. Prior to that, Anne worked for CoBank and on Capitol Hill for Senator Saxby Chambliss. Anne holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Mississippi and an MS in Management from Colorado State University. A Fort Worth, TX, native, Anne now resides in Washington, DC with her husband, Jack, and dog, Liston.

Logan Yearsley

Logan Yearsley of American Farm Bureau Federation’s Leadership, Education and Engagement department is Director, Member Engagement (Promotion & Education). Logan is a sixth-generation agriculturalist that has a degree in Agriculture from Missouri State University and an MBA from the University of Maryland. He has served as the National Director of Chapter Services for Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity and worked for the Maryland Department of Agriculture in two different roles as Executive Director of the Maryland Ag Fair Board and the Executive Director of the Maryland Ag Commission.

When growing up on his families Century Farm in Missouri, Logan raised cattle. Over the years, Logan has served as a dedicated volunteer leader within Farm Bureau and other non-profit organizations. While studying at Missouri State University, Logan served as President of Collegiate Farm Bureau, and Collegiate FFA. He also served on the National Board for Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity as an undergraduate. He has held positions on various boards and committees, such as the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion for Chicagoland Forum Association, Maryland Agricultural Council, and the Maryland Farm Bureau’s Legislative & Membership Committees. Logan prior to joining AFBF staff served as Vice President of Prince George’s County Farm Bureau. Logan was selected as a LEAD Maryland Fellow for 2022-2023. In 2022 Logan was named the Maryland Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet Winner.

Logan’s education, professional experiences, and volunteer leadership experiences coupled with his passion for agriculture and Farm Bureau are examples of him living his motto of... “Doing what you can, when you can, wherever you can”.