Jeff Bunting, GROWMARK (left) and Jay Vroom, CropLife America (right)

GROWMARK presented CropLife America CEO Jay Vroom with its Friend of GROWMARK Award during the group’s annual meeting in Chicago.

Vroom is retiring later this year after 30 years in that role. He plans to return to Illinois and help with the operation of the family farm. Vroom said he has seen many changes in agriculture during his tenure at CropLife America, and believes the organization will continue to be important.

“We’ve got a leading position in the ag community to bring a coordinated voice to government,” said Vroom. “Both our federal government and increasingly there is a lot of state policy influence that can either be good or bad for farming. So, managing that change and keeping an eye on that horizon. Where do we need to be tomorrow is very, very important and I think where the industry is at.”

Jeff Bunting is Crop Protection Division Manager at GROWMARK and he also serves on the CropLife America board of directors. Bunting said the relationship between the two is strong and echoed many priorities shared by Vroom.

“There are a lot of things coming at us with food security, tariff discussions, things about nature species. Dicamba is always a big topic for us,” said Bunting. “So all of these things that we take to D.C. – utilizing CropLife America and that voice is very important.”

Listen to Carrie’s interview with Jay and Jeff here: Interview with Jay Vroom, CropLife America and Jeff Bunting, GROWMARK