Kenneth Schmitt retires from farm bureau board

Kenneth Schmitt, a retired vegetable farmer who served three separate terms on the board of directors of the New York State Farm Bureau, has retired from the board.

He will be replaced by Robert Nolan, who grows lettuce and other leafy greens at his Deer Run Farm in Brookhaven hamlet.

Schmitt, who farmed in both Melville and the Yaphank-Wading River area, first joined the Long Island Farm Bureau in 1964, and was its president from 1987 to 1990.

Nolan, who was Long Island Farm Bureau president from 2006 to 2008, was the bureau’s “Farmer Citizen of the Year” in 2011. His Deer Run Farm also runs a farm stand, and it posts photos of its seasonal activities on the farm’s Facebook page.

Nolan was formally elected to the State Farm Bureau at its meeting in Syracuse this month.