Charlie Porter, of Columbia County, operates a 300-acre crop farm near Elysburg and a beef cow-calf operation with a feed lot. He is also a beekeeper.

Porter is active in Columbia County Farm Bureau, serving as policy development chairman since 2012, ag promotion chairman since 2014, and on the legislative committee since 2013. He currently serves as county vice president. He has served on PFB’s State Ag Promotion Committee since 2014.

Porter has a bachelor’s degree in Animal Industry from Penn State University. His wife, Patricia, is a retired nurse practitioner. He has two adult children, Stephanie and Matt, and six grandchildren.

Porter served 20 years on the Southern Columbia Area School Board. He is an elder and choir member at Elysburg Presbyterian Church and a former 4-H livestock club leader. He was named Columbia County Cooperator of the Year by Penn State Extension in 2006, received the J. Ira Coble Award for Outstanding Pennsylvania 4-H Beef Club Leader in 2010, and was recognized with the R.J. Campbell Award for Columbia County Cooperator of the Year by Columbia County Conservation District in 2010.

Porter remains a lifetime member of the Fayette County Agricultural Improvement Association, having grown up as a seventh-generation farmer in Fayette County.