KRUSE RE-ELECTED FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT

Charles Kruse has been elected to a third 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.

"I am extremely 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 four years have been the busiest and most challenging in my agriculture career, and I look forward to working with the membership to meet the challenges farmers will face."

Kruse was mentioned early in his second term as Farm Bureau head as a possible governor's candidate against incumbent Democrat Mel Carnahan. But Kruse, a Republican, remained in his present position, saying he wanted "to do the best job he could" for the Farm Bureau.

"I was flattered that so many people suggested that I run for governor in 1996," said Kruse. "Many Farm Bureau members urged me to run."

Kruse said he would leave his options open for a possible run in 2000.

"I won't close the door on that option," he said. "I've always felt that everything will work out for the best, and I will never say never."

Kruse is past executive vice president and CEO of the North American Equipment Dealers Association and a past director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. He also has 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.

Kruse, who also serves as a member of the American Farm Bureau Federations's Board of Directors, is the Missouri Farm Bureau's 13th president.