Published Mar 17, 2010

PFI’s Great Members

By Kevin Dietzel

In the past three weeks, I have made a lot of phone calls, written a lot of emails, and introduced myself in person to a lot of people, most of them PFI members. It has amazed me how welcoming, accepting, and helpful everyone has been. People seem genuinely excited that I have joined the PFI team.

What an exceptional group of people have come together in this organization called PFI! Of course, this is a large part of why I was interested in first becoming a member, then more recently joining as staff when the opportunity arose. It is fantastic to be a part of something that people are excited about. PFI has built a legacy over the past 25 years, and is continuing to do exciting things that matter to people. That legacy and the reputation that comes from doing good work is what attracts and keeps the good people that are the members of PFI.

Not only are PFI members friendly, though. They also have a lot of great ideas. I have received several emails from people that wanted to share ideas with me, and many of the people I have spoken with over the phone have also shared wonderful ideas with me. These ideas have been about speakers that could be brought to Iowa to speak about grazing topics, ways that farmers could get together to share ideas with one another, and ideas of new or different ways to manage land or animals. And this has all been in my first three weeks! Clearly it is the ideas and energy of the members that is making PFI an amazing organization.

I do not want to belittle the staff. Everyone in the office has been very welcoming, friendly, and helpful. No one has acted annoyed all those times when I interrupted their work to ask a question. And they are all excited about what they do.

So keep it up, PFI! Keep being curious, creative, excited, generous, and overall Iowa friendly.