KRUSE RE-ELECTED AS FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT

Charles Kruse has been elected to a fourth two-year term as president of the Missouri Farm Bureau Federation.

Kruse, a Dexter farmer, was re-elected during the Farm Bureau's 82nd annual meeting at Osage Beach earlier this month.

"I'm honored that the farmers and ranchers of the state of Missouri have expressed their confidence in me to continue to serve as Missouri Farm Bureau president," Kruse said. "The last six years have been the busy and challenging. I look forward to working with the membership to meet the challenges farmers will face in the future."

Kruse was mentioned as a possible candidate for governor during his second term as Farm Bureau chief. But, he remained in his present position, saying he wanted "to do the best job he could" for the Farm Bureau.

Kruse, a Republican, said at that time he would leave his options open for a possible run in 2000.

The door is still open, but Kruse reiterates that he likes what he is doing with the Farm Bureau.

"I've always felt that everything will work out for the best, and I will never say never," he said Wednesday from his home in Dexter.

"I feel that Farm Bureau has made a difference in agriculture and we see some real challenges in the future," said Kruse. "I also know that I will have to make an announcement soon on any run at governor."

Kruse and his wife, Pamela, own and operate a row crop farm in Stoddard County. He is past executive vice president and CEO of the North American Equipment Dealers Association and a past director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

Kruse has also served as a research agronomist at the University of Missouri Delta Center in Portageville. He is a retired brigadier general in the Missouri National Guard.

He was named in 1990 to the President's Council on Rural America and was appointed to the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education in 1992.

A graduate of University of Missouri with a masters degree in agronomy, Kruse is the Missouri Farm Bureau's 13th president.