Berthoud, CO - The Family Farm Alliance board of directors earlier this week unanimously approved Paul Orme, a rancher and attorney from Arizona, to serve as the organization’s sixth president.
Orme fills the seat of the late Patrick O’Toole, who passed away on Feb. 25, after serving for 19 years as board president.
“I view the Alliance as one of Pat’s many legacies and as such it must endure and prosper as I know he would want,” said Orme. “No one individual can duplicate his impact on the Alliance and western agriculture in general, but we must continue with the wonderful direction he has taken the Alliance over the past two decades.”
The board action took place at a strategic retreat conducted this week at the headquarters of Northern Water in Berthoud.
The board of directors at the retreat also appointed Mark Hansen, a hay producer from Washington’s Yakima Valley, to fill Orme’s vacated seat as the new Second Vice-President.
“I want the Alliance to continue to be vibrant and successful moving forward,” said Hansen.
First Vice-President Don Schwindt, Colorado, who has guided the Alliance in the months since O’Toole’s passing, will continue to serve as First Vice-President of the organization.
“We’ll never find another Pat O’Toole,” Schwindt said. “But our new leadership team brings a strong group voice to the organization. Today starts our conversations on who will fill the long-term role as president. Those conversations will continue for the next 16 months, as we prepared for the October 2025 annual conference in Reno.”
Orme has agreed to serve as president in a short-term role through October 2025, or until such time that the board can identify and select a qualified candidate to serve a longer term.
Orme is a 4th generation Arizona rancher and farmer whose great grandfather settled in the Salt River Valley near present-day Phoenix in 1873. His grandparents later purchased the family’s current Yavapai County ranch in 1929. Orme’s father and siblings were all raised on the ranch, as were he and his brother.
He attended law school at the University of Arizona and as a water lawyer, has represented mostly irrigation districts for over 40 years. He served on the Alliance’s Advisory Committee for over two decades and was appointed to the board of directors in 2021.
He and his wife of 47 years, Shawn, continue as the primary owners and operators of the ranch, along with his nephew, a ranch manager and ranch hands. Paul and Shawn have three daughters and one grandchild.
“One of the things that most appealed to me about the direction the Alliance took under Pat O’Toole’s leadership was the collaborative approach to solving conflicts among competing water users, working with moderate and constructive conservation/environmental groups, and a bi-partisan approach to governmental relations,” he said. “This is the direction I would like to see the Alliance continue.”