The American Farm Bureau Federation Monday presented its highest honor, the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, to former Missouri Farm Bureau President Charles Kruse.

“This is a tremendous honor to receive this award,” Kruse said, accepting the award from AFBF president Bob Stallman on stage at the 93rd annual meeting with his wife Pam and current Missouri Farm Bureau president Blake Hurst. “In Farm Bureau, it’s not only about what we do, it’s about who we are. That’s what makes Farm Bureau the great organization that it is. And that’s what makes me so very proud to accept this award that I will treasure for the rest of my life.”

A fourth-generation farmer, 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 the Missouri Farm Bureau. Prior to that, Kruse was the director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, from 1985-1991.

Listen to or download Charlie Kruse’s comments accepting the AFBF Distinguished Service Award: AFBF Distinguished Service Award Winner Charlie Kruse

AFBF 93rd Annual Meeting Photos