Kehoe, Fennewald and Brown Earn Outstanding Service to Agriculture Awards

December 11, 2024

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OSAGE BEACH, Mo. - - Three individuals were honored with the Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB) Outstanding Service to Agriculture Award during the organization's 110th annual meeting. The presentations were made by MOFB President Garrett Hawkins on Monday, December 9.

The award is given annually to select individuals who have worked closely with Farm Bureau and supported agriculture throughout their careers. This year, Governor-Elect Mike Kehoe, longtime MOFB magazine editor Chris Fennewald, and Dr. Scott Brown, associate MU Extension professor emeritus received the prestigious award.

Kehoe, who was elected in November to become Missouri's 58th Governor in January 2025, has served as Missouri's Lieutenant Governor since 2018. Having grown up in a single-parent home in North St. Louis City, Kehoe became a successful businessman, husband and father before running for office. In 2010, Kehoe was elected to the Missouri Senate and reelected in 2014. As Lieutenant Governor, he serves as the ex officio president of the Missouri Senate and as the state's advocate for seniors and veterans. Also under his leadership, the Buy Missouri economic development initiative has grown to more than 600 members. He also chairs the Missouri Food, Beverage and Forest Manufacturing Products Task Force, working to promote and grow Missouri's agriculture industry.

Fennewald retired from MOFB in February 2024 after 36 years of service in the Public Affairs office. An agriculture journalism graduate of the University of Missouri, Fennewald began work at MOFB in December 1987. He helped guide what is now a quarterly publication, Show Me MOFB magazine, from a newsprint tabloid to how it is known today with more than 157,000 copies per publication. Fennewald served as the architect of more than 110 editions of Show Me MOFB, while also writing multiple weekly op-eds both under his name or for others, editing many documents that went out on behalf of both the MOFB federation and insurance, and as a photographer for a number of MOFB events.

Brown retired from the University of Missouri in 2024 after more than 35 years of service in the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). He grew up on a diversified farm in northwest Missouri. After receiving his Master's and Doctoral degrees in agricultural economics from MU, Brown joined FAPRI as a research associate in 1989. During his tenure, he worked extensively in determining the quantitative effects of changes in federal dairy and livestock policies. Brown has testified regularly before Congress, worked with the Missouri legislature on the economic effects of state policy on the state's agriculture industry, and traveled millions of miles providing livestock market outlooks and insight on dairy policy for farmers and ranchers.

Photos of the 2025 award recipients are available via this link. For additional information or to set up an interview with the recipients, contact Janet Adkison, Director of Public Affairs and Advocacy, at 573-893-1467.