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MSU names Outstanding Agricultural Leaders of 2002
November 04, 2002
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| MSU College of Agriculture 2002 Agricultural Leaders, clockwise from upper left: Sen. Conrad Burns, Greg Bennett, David McClure and Kevin Halverson. |
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Four Montanans have been named outstanding agricultural leaders by the College of Agriculture at Montana State University-Bozeman.
Two of the individuals were named for their activities as agricultural producers and two for their service to agriculture. The College of Agriculture gives these awards annually to people who have provided outstanding leadership in either production agriculture or agribusiness.
The two producers being honored as agricultural leaders this year are Kevin Halverson of Big Timber, and David L. McClure of Lewistown.
The two people being honored for their public service to agriculture are Greg Bennett of Ronan and Sen. Conrad Burns of Washington D.C.
Kevin Halverson has been innovative as a sheep and wool grower, a beef cattle producer and as a leader in his community. He began working on the family ranch as a boy, spending summers tending sheep. A graduate of Sweet Grass County High School in 1968, Halverson continued studies at MSU in animal science, returning to help his parents with the ranch in 1971. Since taking over the ranch in 1977, he has served his community in many ways.
Halverson was on the Sweet Grass County Wool Marketing Association Board for 17 years and initiated the marketing of lines of wool based on their quality. In 1995, he directed the county wool pool toward the practice of coring different lots and marketing them based on a "net clean basis." He was elected president of the association in 1998 and still serves in that capacity. He also pioneered a value-added lamb cooperative called "Sweet Grass Natural Lamb."
Halverson also raises beef cattle as well as sheep. He has been a member of the Crazy Mountain Stockman's Association in Big Timber since its inception. He assists a local cattle buyer to be able to better market preconditioned calves using more data. He cooperates with John Paterson, MSU Extension beef cattle specialist, on research projects that are determining the value of preconditioning of feeder cattle.
Halverson and his wife, Shirley, have raised two children on the ranch: daughter Bobby Joe and son Ronny.
David McClure and his wife Joyce run a diversified operation near Lewistown, where they have raised crossbred cattle, wheat, barley and hay. He attended Fergus County High School where he was active in FFA. He joined the U.S. Army and, after leaving, attended MSU, graduating in 1962 with a degree in agricultural engineering.
McClure is president of the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, and has been since 1987. He also is president of the Montana Farm Bureau Foundation and the Montana Farm Service Company. He is a member of the American Farm Bureau Federation's Farm Policy Committee, vice president of the Mountain West Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company Board and a director of the FBL Financial Group. He is a member of the Canada/U.S. Producer Advisory Committee on Grain and serves on both the MSU President's Advisory Council and the MSU College of Agriculture's Development Council. As part of his work on the AFBF Farm Policy Committee, McClure pushed for emergency short-term assistance package for America's farm and ranch families and helped secure additional funding for farm programs nationwide.
In the past, McClure was president of the Fergus County Farm Bureau and a member of the Montana Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service Committee. He was on the National Wheat Advisory Committee. He served on the American Farm Bureau Federation's board from 1993 to 1996 and 2000 to 2001. During the 1990s he served on the AFBF audit committee, several trade missions, and as a delegate to the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. McClure also was on the American Farm Bureau's Wheat Advisory Committee and its chairman in 1983. In 1982, he received the American Farm Bureau's Conservationist of the Year Award. In 2002, he was a delegate to the Cuban Agricultural/Wood Products Sales Conference.
In addition to his efforts on behalf of the American and Montana Farm Bureaus and MSU, McClure also has been active in his community. He and his wife have two grown sons, Rod and Roy, and are the grandparents of three granddaughters and two grandsons.
Greg Bennett has raised sheep, hay, grain and hundreds of young people during his tenure as a high school vocational agriculture teacher. In addition, he and his wife Marie have raised seven children. Bennett was born and raised on a ranch in the Deer Lodge Valley, which was established by his grandfather in 1883. The ranch is now operated by a brother. After graduating from high school in 1951, Bennett attended Montana State College in Bozeman, and after a tour of duty in the Army, returned to college to earn his degree in agricultural education. He taught in central Montana, but also began the first vocational agriculture program in Manitoba, Canada in 1960. Returning to Montana, he served as superintendent of schools in Brockton and Flaxville. In 1974, he returned to the classroom as a vo-ag teacher in Ronan. In 1987, he retired after 25 years as a vo-ag teacher.
Since "retiring," Bennett worked as a Farm Services Agency crop adjuster from 1988-98, as supervisor of the Lake County Weed Department from 1988-2000 and again in 2002, as inspector of Montana certified and registered seed grains and grass from 1997 to the present, as inspector of weed-seed-free hay from 1995 to the present, and as inspector of certified seed potatoes since 2000. In addition he has judged at Sanders County fairs for almost 30 years and at numerous other county fairs for about 15 years each. He is an officer and board member of the Mission Valley FFA Alumni chapter and assistant director of the FFA stockyards and cattle marketing operation.
With all of these activities, he has remained active in his church, in area agricultural appreciation days, and in the Lake County Republican Party.
"I believe (Bennett) has helped shape the face of agriculture in this state. I have thanked him in person for the difference he made in my life," wrote Patrick Lake, president of the Montana Seed Grower's Association. This was one of several letters written in support of Bennett's application.
Montana Sen. Conrad Burns has consistently been a strong advocate for agriculture, not just in Montana, but across our nation. He has set the standard for elected officials who support agricultural producers and products.
Born on a Missouri farm, as a youth Burns was a member of both the FFA and 4H. He credits the life lessons learned in those programs for creating the basis of his character today.
After a tour in the United States Marine Corps, he became a field representative for the Polled Hereford Association in Billings in 1962. A long-time cattle buyer for Billings Livestock Commission and the Public Auction Yards in Billings, he was a founder of the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) in 1967 and used it to showcase the quality of Montana livestock. To increase the exposure of Montana's wide range of agricultural products, he helped originate the Montana Agri-Trade Exposition (MATE) in 1976.
Montana Range Days, a popular annual program that teaches children about the science of livestock management, saw a decline in attendance in the early 1970s. Burns worked with the sponsors to revitalize that event, which continues strong to this day.
In 1975 Burns founded the Northern Ag Network with broadcasts on a small handful of radio and TV stations. This has grown to become a strong voice for agriculture with broadcasts heard on stations throughout Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. Through his broadcasting and travels through our area, he became one of the most recognizable voices and faces in the region. Burns sold the Northern Ag Network in 1986 when he made his first run for public office. He was elected and served as a Yellowstone County Commissioner for two years before entering the race for the U.S. Senate.
Since being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1989, Burns has pursued new markets for Montana agricultural products around the globe and vigorously supported agricultural research here in our state. He is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, sits on the Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, is ranking member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and is former chairman, now ranking member, of the Senate Communications Subcommittee.
Regardless of where he goes and what he does, Conrad Burns continues to make agriculture one of his top priorities.
A committee appointed by the MSU College of Agriculture with the dean of the college selected the Outstanding Montana Agriculturists of 2002. They will be recognized during Agriculture Appreciation Weekend at MSU Nov. 15-16 during the Bobcat football game and also at the College of Agriculture Boots and Bow Ties banquet.
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Sandra Germann (406) 994-7671
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