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Two Missourians -- one from Aurora -- received accolades in different ways during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 93rd annual meeting held recently week in Honolulu.
The national farm organization presented its highest honor, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, to former Missouri Farm Bureau (MFB) President Charles Kruse, a farmer from Dexter.
A day earlier, officials announced Glen Cope, a young farmer from Aurora, was elected to chair the AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee (YF&R) in 2012.
Kruse has dedicated more than 40 years to agriculture, including service on numerous local, state and national committees, among them the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Agriculture and President George H.W. Bush’s Council on Rural America.
For 18 years, until his retirement at the end of 2010, Kruse served as president of MFB. Prior to that, Kruse was the director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, from 1985-1991.
Members of the AFBF YF&R Committee elected Cope as the committee’s chairman, a position he will take in February, at the end of the committee’s leadership conference, and serve for one year.
Cope graduated from Missouri State University in 2002 with a degree in animal science and served as the MFB YF&R chair in 2010. As a fourth-generation rancher, he cares for a beef cattle herd on about 3,000 acres near Aurora. Cope’s wife Leanne, a high school science teacher, is also involved in the ranch. The couple has two young children.
As chairman, Cope said he intends to encourage young growers to be more active, particularly via social media and the Internet, in countering the many misconceptions about agriculture.
“We should be playing a bigger part in helping consumers better understand the benefits of biotechnology and making them more aware of how farmers truly care for their animals,” Cope said.
Cope was enthusiastic about Farm Bureau’s involvement with the newly formed U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) and wants YF&R committee members to be more involved, especially in USFRA’s online Food Dialogues. He intends to tap into the motivated and dedicated leadership of state Farm Bureau YF&R committees across the nation.
The YF&R program includes men and women between the ages of 18 and 35. The program’s goals are to help younger Farm Bureau members learn more about agriculture, network with other farmers and become future leaders in agriculture and Farm Bureau.
Two Missourians -- one from Aurora -- received accolades in different ways during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) 93rd annual meeting held recently week in Honolulu.
The national farm organization presented its highest honor, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, to former Missouri Farm Bureau (MFB) President Charles Kruse, a farmer from Dexter.
A day earlier, officials announced Glen Cope, a young farmer from Aurora, was elected to chair the AFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee (YF&R) in 2012.
Kruse has dedicated more than 40 years to agriculture, including service on numerous local, state and national committees, among them the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Agriculture and President George H.W. Bush’s Council on Rural America.
For 18 years, until his retirement at the end of 2010, Kruse served as president of MFB. Prior to that, Kruse was the director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, from 1985-1991.
Members of the AFBF YF&R Committee elected Cope as the committee’s chairman, a position he will take in February, at the end of the committee’s leadership conference, and serve for one year.
Cope graduated from Missouri State University in 2002 with a degree in animal science and served as the MFB YF&R chair in 2010. As a fourth-generation rancher, he cares for a beef cattle herd on about 3,000 acres near Aurora. Cope’s wife Leanne, a high school science teacher, is also involved in the ranch. The couple has two young children.
As chairman, Cope said he intends to encourage young growers to be more active, particularly via social media and the Internet, in countering the many misconceptions about agriculture.
“We should be playing a bigger part in helping consumers better understand the benefits of biotechnology and making them more aware of how farmers truly care for their animals,” Cope said.
Cope was enthusiastic about Farm Bureau’s involvement with the newly formed U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) and wants YF&R committee members to be more involved, especially in USFRA’s online Food Dialogues. He intends to tap into the motivated and dedicated leadership of state Farm Bureau YF&R committees across the nation.
The YF&R program includes men and women between the ages of 18 and 35. The program’s goals are to help younger Farm Bureau members learn more about agriculture, network with other farmers and become future leaders in agriculture and Farm Bureau.
