Area man steps down after 18 years as state Farm Bureau president

DEXTER, Mo. -- Charles Kruse considers his service to the Missouri Farm Bureau "an honor and a privilege."

In December, the Dexter man stepped down after serving as the organization's president for 18 years. And he has a lot of accomplishments and moments of pride to look back on.

"I just feel really honored that the members of Farm Bureau gave me the privilege to get to do that," he said. "I've found the job, at times, to be pretty intense, but at the same time, I've found it to be very, very rewarding."

Kruse was re-elected several times by the organization's members.

"Every two years you run for election, and the members literally elect the president," he said. "Another thing I'm proud of is that after the first time I ran in 1992, I never had an opponent. No one ran against me in all that time."

He initially ran for the position when he was the chief executive officer of the North American Equipment Dealers Association headquartered in St. Louis. Before that, Kruse served as the director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, appointed by Gov. John Ashcroft.

"I started having people call and tell me they really wished I would run for president of Farm Bureau, so in 1992, I ran," he said.

Kruse said he never thought about how long he would stay in the job, where his duties included being president of the four insurance companies the organization owns, as well as being involved in legislative and political activities on the state and national levels.

"But I just got to a point in my life and career where I started thinking about having some time to do things I really wanted to do," he said. Through the years, he and his wife, Pam, have maintained a farming operation in Dexter.

"Now, I'm looking forward to having a little more time to spend on the farm than I've had the past several years," he said.

Kruse said he seriously considered running for one more term. "But it would have been just as tough to step down in two years," he said. "I knew at some point it would come to an end, and 18 years is a long time."

He said the average tenure for state Farm Bureau presidents is six to 10 years.

"I was the third most senior president in the United States," said Kruse. "And I was the second most senior on the American Farm Bureau board of directors."

Those who know Kruse aren't at all surprised with the support he's received as president.

"I remember when he announced he planned to run, we were all excited," said Elvin Kingree, Stoddard County Farm Bureau president at the time. "It was unanimous within the Stoddard County folks that we would nominate him."

Kingree, who went on to serve on the state Farm Bureau Board, said it was "an honor" to initially nominate Kruse for the position.

"He's just a first-class guy, and we were fortunate to have Charlie as our president," he said. "Charlie's leadership not only made Missouri Farm Bureau a lot stronger and better, but he was also very active on the national level."

Kingree described Kruse as "a people person who understands the folks and issues."

Jake Fisher, superintendent of the Missouri Delta Center, agreed. "He has really represented the interests of the farmers," Fisher said of Kruse, who has also worked at the Delta Center.

Kruse is a "natural-born leader" who has done an excellent job as president, said Fisher. "But he's too young to retire."

During Kruse's leadership, the membership of the Missouri Farm Bureau grew substantially. It began at just over 75,000 in 1992, to almost 112,000 members today. "Every year I was president, we had membership growth, and that's something I'm really proud of," he said.

There were several firsts during Kruse's tenure as president. Those include the creation of the MFB Foundation for Agriculture, a Youth Leadership Day, the creation of several Collegiate Farm Bureau Chapters, an online Agriculture WebQuest, the Life Company exceeding $4 billion in force and more.

Kruse pointed out that, in the 1990s, Missouri Farm Bureau led the charge in helping to get legislation passed that limits the amount legislators in Jefferson City can increase taxes without taking it to a vote of the people.

"I think that if you are going to substantially increase the tax burden on citizens, the citizens ought to have a direct ability to weigh in and voice their views," he said.

He has also been involved on a national level. "If it weren't for the American and all the state Farm Bureaus stepping up very vigorously against cap and trade, I think cap and trade might well be the law of the land today," he said.

He noted that all of Farm Bureau's policy decisions come from its members, who vote on what to support and oppose. "I think the common sense that was intertwined in the things we supported and opposed was such a great barometer in a sense of what the people around the state believed," he said.

Kruse said that there's been a lot of active membership around the state -- and was quick to share his success with all those who made it possible.

"You're only as good as all of the people around you, and I was blessed to be around so many great people who work at Farm Bureau, and all the volunteer members all over the state," he said. The state organization has about 1,000 employees, and a presence in every county, he said.

In the past two months since he stepped down, Kruse said he's spent a lot of time looking back at his years in office.

"If it's possible, I'm even more proud of the fact that I had this great opportunity," he said.

And Kruse said he is confident that the organization will be in good hands under the new leadership of Blake Hurst of Westboro, who has been the Missouri Farm Bureau vice president for the past seven years.

"He was an outstanding vice president, and I know he's going to be an outstanding president," said Kruse. "He's a top-notch guy."