Anna is the Executive Director of the Vilicus Institute. She holds a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering with a minor in sustainable systems from Georgia Institute of Technology. Anna served on the USDA Secretary’s Advisory Council on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers. Anna and her husband, Doug Crabtree, own Vilicus Farms, a first-generation, organic, dryland crop farm in Northern Hill County, Montana. They grow a diverse array of organic heirloom and specialty grain, pulse, oilseed and broadleaf crops under five and seven-year rotations with integrated grazing. Since sprouting in 2009 Vilicus Farms has grown from 1,280 acres to 14,000-acres by using the USDA’s beginning farmer programs, employing extensive conservation practices, and fostering unique risk-sharing relationships with food companies, land owners and others who care about having an intact planet. In addition to USDA Organic Vilicus Farms became Bee Better and Real Organic Project certified in 2019 and Regenerative Organic Silver in 2024.
