Pete Badtke was elected to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors in 2024 to represent District 5, which includes Adams, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Juneau, Marquette, Waushara and Winnebago counties.

Pete has been farming for 37 years, managing 300 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. Committed to conservation, he has implemented no-till practices and cover crops for several years to improve soil health and water retention, ensuring a sustainable future for the next generation of his farm. In recent years, Pete transitioned from dairy farming to an 80-head beef operation of Holstein, Angus, Hereford and beef crosses.

After graduating from Ripon High School, Pete spent years growing his farm and furthering his leadership experience before completing the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Leadership Institute as a Class XI graduate in 2017.

Pete has been a dedicated Farm Bureau member since 1995 and has been extensively involved at the county and state levels. He previously served as the Fond Du Lac County Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Agriculturist chair (2003). Pete went on to become a Green Lake County Farm Bureau board member (2012-2017) and was elected president (2017-present). Pete’s leadership has extended to multiple committees including the Green Lake County Farm Bureau Membership Committee, Promotion and Education Committee and the Scholarship Committee. He has also served on the Dairy Promotion Committee (2015) and has been a voting delegate at the WFBF Annual Meeting. Pete was part of the committee that helped shape the Farm Bureau’s mission statement and is now working to establish a farmer-led watershed group in Green Lake County.

Beyond Farm Bureau, Pete plays a key role in conservation and sustainability efforts. He is actively involved in the Green Lake Association Field Day, where local farmers demonstrate conservation practices to the community. He is also a participant in the Fox-Wolf Demo Farms Project which provides farmers with resources to implement conservation methods and collaborates with the Sand County Foundation to measure the impact of his management practices.

Pete lives in Ripon with his wife, Lori, and has two children.