Vice president
American Farm Bureau Federation
Scott VanderWal is a third-generation family farmer in South Dakota. He currently serves as vice president of the American Farm Bureau. He has been a member of the South Dakota Farm Bureau board of directors since 1997, including three years as vice president, and has served as president since June of 2004. Other duties included with the state president’s office are Farm Bureau Property Casualty Insurance Company and Life Insurance Company boards and the Farm Bureau Bank board.
VanderWal was elected to the American Farm Bureau board of directors in Jan. 2006, and that has led to serving as chairman of the AFBF audit committee, a member of the AFBFA audit committee, and co-chair of the Industry Wide Beef Check-off Task Force.
He believes that the world is run by those who show up and get involved, and that if farmers don’t speak out for agriculture, no one else will. He also believes that the future of American agriculture is very exciting, as long as free enterprise and the entrepreneurial spirit of agricultural producers are preserved.
VanderWal graduated from South Dakota State University with a bachelor’s degree in general agriculture with a plant science minor.