We’d like to introduce you to Ohio Farm Bureau Federation’s ”new” District 8 Trustee,
representing Ashland, Medina, Summit and Wayne counties, Matt Vodraska!
Matt and his brother, Chris, grew up in sunny fields of pick your own strawberries, rows
of corn and extensive plantings of fruit trees along the Conneaut Creek in the northeast
corner of Ashtabula County. He feels “it was the best childhood a kid could ask for”.
The family moved to the high deserts of south-central Washington to grow “the best
apples” when he was still in elementary school. It was there he learned at a very young
age of the effects of international take, regulated versus free markets and the
importance of politicians making solid commitments to United States agriculture on the
global stage. The opening of the apple markets to Asia and the subsequent crash of
apple prices sent his family moving back east.
Matt finished his high school years in the shadow of the Smoky Mountains and started
college at the University of Tennessee. He wanted to be a photojournalist, documenting
man’s effects on the natural world for publications like National Geographic and Life.
Matt’s brother, Chris, working on his doctorate at Case Western Reserve University, nor
Matt intended to get back into farming, however, in 2004 his “retired” farmer parents
purchased 125-acred fruit farm, Rittman Orchard. In 2006, Matt transferred to Kent
State University to lend a much-needed hand on evenings and weekends, not long after
his brother’s return to farming too. They agreed to give a couple years to get the farm
off the ground but the farm took hold of them and they are dedicated to the property.
Chris and Matt own and run Rittman Orchards and Farm Market as well as Bent Ladder
Cider and Wine in northeastern Wayne County.
Farm Bureau has played an integral role in Matt’s career and personal development.
He feels that joining the inaugural class of the Agri-Power Institute proved to be one of
the great catalysts in his life. Agri-Power doesn’t just teach how vital farming is to our
nation’s security and prosperity but is about shaping the next generation of agricultural
leaders. When Matt was selected as the Ohio Farm Bureau Outstanding Young
Farmer, he was able to attend the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Austin,
Texas in 2018.
Matt is looking forward to representing District 8 counties, advocating and supporting
Farm Bureau. “I believe the Farm Bureau is vitally important to the health of our
profession and by extension our communities.”
Information gathered from Matt himself.