Each year, the St. Louis AgriBusiness Club selects the AgriBusiness Leader of the Year, a person who has made a substantial contribution to the well-being of agriculture in the St. Louis area, either on a local or national scale. The recipient may or may not be a resident of the St. Louis area.
|
The individual’s service to agriculture reflects exceptional personal accomplishments and leadership that demonstrates outstanding abilities in administration, initiative in serving others, and a commitment to the improvement of agriculture. These contributions may be through individual efforts as a farmer or businessperson, through his/her position with a company or organization/association, through a role as an educator, or as a government or other public service representative.
In addition to the individual’s accomplishments in agriculture, the person demonstrates community, area or national leadership through involvement in civic, church and other organizations and public service activities.
Since the award’s beginning in 1981, the following people have been named AgriBusiness Leaders of the Year (shown with their affiliation at the time of the award).
|
|
2008 John Becherer
United Soybean Board
2007 Greg Guenther
Guenther Farms, Belleville, IL
2006 Steve Drake
President and CEO, Drake & Company
2005 Jim Talent
U.S. Senator from Missouri
2004 Dr. Roger Beachy
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
2003 Hon. Kenny Hulshof
U.S. Congressman, Missouri
2002 Christopher Brescia
Midwest Area River Coalition 2000
2001 Ron Scherer
Ron Scherer & Company Marketing Communications
2000 Warren Stemme
Grain Farmer, St. Louis County
1999 David Schumacher
Agricultural Director, 550 KTRS Radio
1998 Morris Larson
Agricultural consultant
1997 Hon. Christopher "Kit" Bond
U.S. Senator from Missouri
1996 Dale Ludwig
Missouri Soybean Association
1995 Richard McWard
Bunge Corporation
1994 Bill, John and Louis Keller
Illinois horseradish growers (retired)
1993 Jerry Neff
Monsanto Agricultural Company
1992 Richard Stegmann
CEO, Lange-Stegmann Fertilizer
1991 Jim Russell
MO-AG Industries
1990 *James Keast
Former General Counsel, USDA
1989 Charles Kruse
Director, Missouri Department of Agriculture
1988 John Pellet and Earl Stolte
St. Louis County farmers
1987 Peter Meyers
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, USDA
1986 John Campbell, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Agriculture, Univ. of Illinois
1985 Jeffrey Gain
CEO, National Corn Growers Association
1984 Nicholas Reding
Monsanto Agricultural Company
1983 *Glenn Heitz
CEO, Farm Credit Banks
1982 R. Hal Dean
CEO, Ralston Purina Company
1981 Dr. Ken Bader
CEO, American Soybean Association
*Deceased
Criteria for selection of the award recipient:
1 – Individual’s contribution to the promotion, development, improvement, and well-being of the agricultural industry in the St. Louis area, either on a local, state, or national scale. While it would be generally advantageous for the recipient to be from the St. Louis area, it is not required.
2 - Individual’s service to agriculture reflects exceptional personal accomplishments and leadership that demonstrates outstanding abilities in administration, initiative in serving others, and a commitment to the improvement of agriculture. These contributions may be through individual efforts or through their position with a company, organization, association, agency, educational institution, governmental office, or other public/private entity.
3 - Individual’s leadership and involvement in community and civic events and activities.
The nomination should be made on individual or company letterhead stationary and include the following information:
-Name of award nominee
-Title
-Employer
-Name, signature, and contact information of the person submitting the nomination
-2 page maximum summary in paragraph form including reasons and qualifications relating to the selection criteria
|