Missouri Farm
Bureau Insurance Services'
Board of Directors - Biographies |
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President
CHARLES E. KRUSE
1007 Woodland
Dexter, MO 63841
(Stoddard County)
ckruse@mofb.com
Charles E. Kruse was re-elected to his seventh two-year term as president of the
Missouri Farm Bureau Federation, the state's largest farm organization. The election
occurred at Missouri Farm Bureau's 90th annual meeting December 2004. Kruse and
his wife, Pam, own and operate a row crop farm in Stoddard County. He is a past
executive vice president and CEO of the North American Equipment Dealers Association,
a past director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, a former member of
the University of Missouri Board of Curators, and a former research agronomist
at the University's Delta Center in Portageville. Additionally, Kruse is a retired
brigadier general of the Missouri National Guard. Most recently, Kruse received
the 2004 Leader in Agriculture Award from Agriculture Future of America. In 2001,
he was appointed to the board of directors of the Federal Agricultural Mortgage
Corporation (FARMER-MAC). USDA Secretary Ann Veneman appointed Kruse to the Agricultural
Technical Advisory Committee for Trade in Grains, Feed and Oilseeds where he served
until his appointment by President George W. Bush in April 2003 to the Advisory
Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. He also served as a member of the
Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture, which provided the framework
for the new farm bill, and is currently a member of the American Farm Bureau Federation
Board of Directors. Kruse earned a degree in agronomy from Arkansas State University
in 1967, and a Master of Science degree in agronomy from the University of Missouri
in 1973. He is the recipient of the University of Missouri Faculty Alumnus and
Ag Alumnus of the Year awards, and the Arkansas State University Outstanding Alumni
Award.
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Vice President
BLAKE HURST
30208 150th Street
Westboro, MO 64498
(Atchison County)
Blake Hurst was re-elected vice-president of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation
during the organization's 93rd annual meeting in 2007. He was first elected to
the position in 2003. Hurst served on the Missouri Farm Bureau board of directors
between 1994 and 2002, representing District 1 in the northwest area of the state.
He is a past Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) state committee chairman
and served on the American Farm Bureau YF&R committee. He also serves as Atchison
County Farm Bureau president. He and his wife, Julie, operate a row crop farm
with his father, Charles, brothers Kevin and Brooks, nephew Brooks, and son-in-law
Ryan Harms. All row crop fields utilize no-till. Their daughter, Lee Harms, is
head grower for the greenhouse operation that includes four acres, two of which
are under roof. Hurst Greenery is a wholesale greenhouse, selling bedding plants
in four states. Hurst is a member of the Missouri corn and soybean growers associations.
He is also a freelance writer with numerous agricultural articles published in
Reader's Digest, Wilson Quarterly and Wall Street Journal. He is the author of
a book, Real Life, featuring a collection of his essays. The Hursts have three
children and a grandchild.
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District 1
HAL SWANEY
15855 Country Lane
Platte City, MO 64079
(Platte County)
Hal Swaney was elected to a second two-year term to the board of directors at
the organization's 90th annual meeting December 2004. Swaney represents District
1, the northwest area of the state. Swaney and his wife, Peggy, farm 2,500 acres,
producing corn, soybeans and tobacco north of Kansas City. He also operates an
85-head cow herd. He has been Platte County Farm Bureau's Farm-PAC chairman for
22 years, and served as Northwest Farm-PAC chairman for 10 years. He is a past
county president and membership chairman and has been a member of many Missouri
Farm Bureau resolutions committees. Swaney has hosted numerous farm visits for
foreign visitors and has spoken before congressional hearings and forums on topics
such as the Missouri River and property rights. A University of Missouri agricultural
economics graduate, Swaney has served on the College of Agriculture's Advisory
board. He is president of the Missouri Council for Burley Tobacco Inc. and past
president of the Platte City Lions Club, Platte County Extension, and the Eleemosynary
Society. He was a member of the Agricultural Leadership of Tomorrow, Class II.
Swaney was appointed to the Farmland Cooperative Legislative Team in 1988 and
still serves as a team member.
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District 2
TODD HAYS
6668 County Road 245
Monroe City, MO 63465
(Marion County)
Todd Hays was elected for a two-year term to the board of directors at the organization's
90th annual meeting December 2004. Hays represents District 2, encompassing the
north central area of the state. Hays also served as an advisory member on the
Missouri Farm Bureau Board of Directors during 2003 when he was chairman of the
Missouri Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Committee. Hays and
his wife, Rosanne, operate a diversified farming operation in a partnership with
Rosanne's father and her brother. Hays is currently involved in a 1,500-acre row
crop operation and a 700-sow farrow-to-finish enterprise. Aside from the main
farm, Todd, Rosanne and their children have a 15-acre Christmas tree farm. He
is a fifth-generation farmer. The Marion County Farm Bureau member is the county
vice-president and in the past has been the YF&R chairman, member of the state
YF&R Committee, and state Resolutions Committee member. He has also been involved
in the Knights of Columbus, Marion County Fair board, Monroe City Agri-leaders,
and Monroe City R-1 school board. Hays was the 1997 Missouri Outstanding Young
Farmer, 2004 FFA Honorary Chapter Farmer, and awarded the FFA State Farmer Degree
in 1984. The couple has two children, Donnie, age 13, and Juliana, age 9.
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District 3
PAUL LePAGE
1003 Rock Hills Road
Jefferson City, MO 65109
(Cole County)
Paul LePage was elected to a second two-year term to the board of directors at
the organization's 90th annual meeting December 2004. LePage represents District
31, the east central area of the state.
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District 4
J. DWAYNE SCHAD
14227 Highway 52
Versailles, MO 65084
(Morgan County)
Dwayne Schad was elected for a two-year term to the board of directors at the
organization's 90th annual meeting December 2004. Schad represents District 4,
encompassing the west central area of the state. Schad and his wife, Amy, operate
a 500-acre farm raising soybeans, corn, milo, wheat and hay and have a 100-head
cow-calf operation. In his years of active involvement with Farm Bureau, Schad
has served on the membership committee and as county Young Farmer & Rancher
chairman, beef commodity chairman, and county delegate. Currently, he is vice-president
and commodity chairman for the Morgan County Farm Bureau. Schad is very active
in the Versailles community, serving as president of the Morgan County R-II School
Board, as an MFA board member and delegate, and he has been involved with the
Young Farmers and FFA Program Support Group. Schad also belongs to the Hopewell
Union Church where he is deacon and past Sunday school teacher and superintendent.
The Schads have four children, Greg, Becky, Melissa, and Bradley.
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District 5
DAVID REED
511 Whitehead Rd
Hillsboro, MO 63050
(Jefferson County)
David Reed, a Hillsboro, Mo., farmer, was elected to a two-year term on the Missouri
Farm Bureau board of directors during the organization's 93rd annual meeting December
2007. Reed represents District 5 in the east central area of the state. He replaces
Ron Hardecke of Ownesville, Mo., who retired from the board. A machinist by trade,
Reed also raises crops and beef cattle near Hillsboro and has represented the
Jefferson County Farm Bureau as president for 25 years. He has been a Farm Bureau
member for 47 years. For 12 years Reed has served on the Extension Council as
both chairman and vice chairman. He and his wife, Janet, have five grown children,
Jennifer, Phillip, Edward, Sandra and Chris.
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District 6
ALLEN ROWLAND
18880 State Highway D
Dexter, MO 63841
(Stoddard County)
Allen Rowland, a Dexter, Mo., farmer, was elected to a two-year term on the Missouri
Farm Bureau board of directors during the organization's 93rd annual meeting December
2007. Rowland will represent District 6 in the southeast area of the state.
Rowland grows corn, soybeans, wheat and rice on 2,700 acres near Dexter in partnership
with his son, Chris, and his brother, Terry. At age 77, Rowland's father, John,
continues to help in the operation. The Rowlands grow certified seed and in 2007,
Chris grew organic crops on 260 acres of rented ground. Rowland is a Stoddard
County Farm Bureau board member, a past county president, and secretary-treasurer
of the 8th District Missouri Farm Bureau FARM-PAC. He has also served on the state
Farm Bureau Resolutions Committees since becoming a member in 1992. He served
in the Tennessee Air Guard from 1969 to 1975. He and his wife, Tonda, also have
a daughter, Lora, of Chaffee, Mo. The couple is active in the Liberty Hill Baptist
Church were he is a trustee.
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District 7
CARL BASTIN
19352 County Road 60
Jasper, MO 64755
(JASPER COUNTY)
Carl Bastin was re-elected to a two-year term on the board of directors during
the organization's 91st annual meeting December 2007. Bastin was first elected
in 2003 to serve on the board representing District 7 in southwest Missouri.
Bastin farms 1,100 acres of row crops in Jasper County and maintains a 100-head
cow/calf herd. He also grows hay on 300 acres, operating a custom hay baling and
combining business, and finds time to sell planting seeds as a DeKalb seed dealer.
A Farm Bureau member for 40 years, Bastin is president of the Jasper County Farm
Bureau and secretary of the 7th District Missouri Farm Bureau Farm-PAC. He is
a recipient of the FFA American Farmer Degree and most recently received the Outstanding
Leader Award from Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University).
He has also been very involved on the Jasper County planning and zoning committee.
Bastin and his wife, Beth, have two grown children, Robyn McDowell of Jasper,
and Robert Bastin of Golden City.
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District 8
LEON KRIESLER
1465 County Road 2090
Salem, MO 65560
(Dent County)
Leon Kreisler was re-elected to a two year term on the board of directors at the
organization's 91st annual meeting in December 2007. Kreisler was first elected
in 2004 to a one-year to represent District 8 in the south-central area of the
state. He and his wife, Helen, farm 480 acres, managing a 100-cow/calf operation
in Dent County. Kreisler obtained a B.S. degree in engineering from the Missouri
School of Mines, received his M.B.A. from the University of Illinois, and was
general superintendent of Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America. Currently,
Kreisler is president of the Dent County Farm Bureau and in the past served as
county legislative committee chairman. He is also involved with the Missouri
Soil and Water Commission, serves as a director with the Missouri Forage and Grassland
Council and the Salem Memorial District Hospital, and is a past recipient of the
State Grassland Farmer of the Year award.
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South Director at Large
TERIBETH SPARGO
Route #1, Box 108
Neelyville, MO 63954
(RIPLEY COUNTY)
Teribeth Spargo was elected to a two-year term on the board of directors, representing the South District at Large area of the state, at the organization's 94th annual meeting in December 2008. As a board member, she will also co-chair the state Promotion and Education Committee. The committee is responsible for agriculture in the classroom projects and other promotional activities.Teribeth and her husband, Will, farm 3,000 acres of rice and soybeans in Missouri and northeast Arkansas in partnership with Will’s parents and grandparents. Teribeth is a former elementary school teacher who now works on the farm and raises their two children, Ricanna, age 7, and Bryce, age 3, as of December 2008. They have served on the Missouri Young Farmers and Ranches Committee. Will is Ripley County Farm Bureau president and Teribeth is county promotion and education chair.
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North Director at Large
BARBARA WILSON
718 S. Jefferson
Mexico, MO 65265
(Audrain County)
Barbara Wilson was re-elected to a two-year term on the board of directors at
the
91st annual meeting in December 2005. She represents the North District-at-Large.
As a district-at-large board member, Wilson also serves as vice-chair of the MFB
Promotion and Education (P&E) Committee. Wilson is currently president of
Audrain County Farm Bureau, were she has also served as vice-president, treasurer
and P&E chairman. On a state level, she is a past member of Farm Bureau's
Resolutions Committee. Other activities include being a member of the Farm Services
Agency State Committee and Governor's Advisory Committee on Agriculture. Wilson
served on a special Speaker's Task Force on Agriculture in 2003-2004. Locally,
she is involved in the Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce and Boy Scouts. She is
the recipient of the Dale H. Schnarre Rural Citizen Award and Boy Scouts of America
Award of Merit. Wilson and her husband, Bruce, have two children, Matthew, age
15, and Allison, age 17. A pension administrator for 22 years, Wilson and her
family farm 1,100 acres of corn and soybeans north of Mexico.
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Board Advisory Member
MARTY EZELL
401 Highway 164
Hornersville, MO 63855
(DUNKLIN COUNTY)
Marty Ezell, a farmer from Hornersville, Mo., was appointed chairman of the Missouri Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers (YF&R) Committee during the organization’s 94th annual meeting December 2008. The appointment was made by Charles Kruse, Missouri Farm Bureau president. The state YF&R Committee consists of 16 couples from eight districts.The group plans and directs the statewide YF&R Leadership Conference each February. As chairman of the committee, Ezell also serves as an advisory member on the Missouri Farm Bureau Board of Directors.Ezell graduated from Green County Tech in 1996 and obtained an associates degree in fire science from Black River Technical College in 1999. After college, he was a fire fighter for two years before becoming a full-time farmer. Ezell and his father-in-law, Tommy Wilkins, operate a 3,300 acre cotton farm spread out in four counties in the Missouri Bootheel and northeast Arkansas.Ezell and his wife, Amanda, have two sons, four-month-old Andy and five-year-old Parker as of December 2008. As long-time Farm Bureau members, the couple has served on the YF&R committee representing southeast Missouri. Both Marty and Amanda teach the young adult class in their church and he also is an avid duck hunter.
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