Renville County farmer Nathan Serbus doesn’t have a surplus of free time, but he does spend his small pockets of idle moments volunteering in his community. He is a basketball official for local tournaments and games. He serves as clerk for the Flora Township board and is a member of the grounds committee for his church’s fall festival.

When he was asked to get involved with his local Renville County Corn & Soybean Growers board, Serbus said it was a no-brainer.

Serbus credits a former board member, Jerry Mulder – who was also Serbus’ school bus driver growing up – with encouraging him to join. Mulder died in late 2020 but he left a large impact on those he worked with. Mulder served as a past president of the county board and now Serbus fills his late mentor’s role as president. Serbus farms full time on his southwest Minnesota family farm with his parents, Norb and Cindy, and his younger brother Jaden, growing soybeans and corn. He attended Ridgewater College in Willmar, earning an associate degree in farm operation with a crop emphasis. In addition to his many volunteer endeavors, Serbus is also an active member of MSGA.

“I’m an MSGA member because we need to advocate for ourselves as soybean growers,” Serbus said. “We need to represent ourselves, to speak up about what’s going on (in farm country).”