Ben Brancel

Community Leader, Former Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture

Ben Brancel has a deep-seated love for 4-H as he personally understands the impact of 4-H. Ben was an active Portage County 4-H member, who served in a large variety of leadership positions and won many honors. It was because of his outstanding 4-H work that Ben was chosen to go to Washington, DC. While on that Washington trip, 17-year-old Ben met Congressman Melvin Laird. That meeting instilled in Ben a desire to enter public service. Ben credits 4-H and that meeting for placing him on a track of sustained service and civic involvement.

Ben began his public service on the local level followed by election to the Wisconsin State Assembly. In 1997 and 2011, Ben was appointed the Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Among Brancel’s accomplishments over his two terms, was founding Wisconsin’s Discovery Farms and Pioneer Farm projects and leading the effort to revitalize the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory by housing it in the UW System. That led ultimately to the state-of-the-art laboratory today on the UW-Madison Campus.

He assisted the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation to raise funds; tapped his connections and introduced key business people to the Foundation and encouraged their support of 4-H. Ben has co-hosted the Governor’s Blue-Ribbon Meat Products Auction with the Governor over the past two decades. Ben Brancel has been a friend and ardent supporter of the Wisconsin 4-H program throughout his career.