AGRELEVANCE

AG FLYERSAG FLYERS

BROTHERS BOND TAKES OFF

SEEING A SUNRISE

or a sunset is always a beautiful thing, but seeing it from a plane as it passes over an open crop field, adds a little something extra to the experience. Brother Ben Beaven of Alpha Theta Chapter at the University of Maryland grew up watching planes fly over his family farm to spray the crops every year. This sparked a strong interest in learning to fly ever since. It wasn’t until his freshman year of high school Ben realized flying planes was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. It just so happened, a fellow Alpha Theta Chapter brother was willing to mentor him as he worked towards getting his commercial pilot’s license.

During his junior year of high school, Ben got a job loading agriculture aircrafts and helping them prepare for takeoff. After graduating college, he started flight training and got his private pilot license. He then went on to get his commercial pilot’s license under the direction of

Brother Mark Whalen of Alpha Theta Chapter.

“It started off as a mentorship situation where I would go out and he would fly with me in his airplane to coach me,” Brother Beaven said.

“I have a lot of people who want to be ag pilots but when I tell them everything they've got to do ... you never see them again. But Ben was different.”

Mark first grew interested in flying in 1986 after attending national aerial application meetings for his job with Syngenta selling pesticides for crops. At that time, Brother Whalen was strictly flying personal aircrafts rather than for commercial purposes. It wasn’t until 2005, he invested in an agriculture aircraft and started to work towards a Part 137 application, which allows him to dispense pesticides over crops. He started flying agriculture planes full-time in 2015 after he retired from his previous job with Syngenta.

Brother Beaven reached out to Mark looking to work on getting a Part 137 application rather than loading planes. Mark instructed Ben on everything he would need to do to work towards his license and said he would like to see Ben complete the necessary tasks in a year.

“I have a lot of people who want to be aerial applicators, but when I tell them everything they must do, they kind of look at you, their eyes glaze over, and you never see them again,” Mark said. “But Ben was different. He came to me in August of 2020 and I told him all of the requirements and said ‘you know, if you can get all this done by the spring of 2021, I could get you into an airplane.’”

Mark said Ben completed those tasks in seven to eight months and came back ready to get to work. To continue his training in agricultural flying, Mark sent Ben to Riggin Flight Service in South Dakota as part of Mark’s flight curricular. After completing his schooling at Riggin Flight Service, Ben was ready to fly agriculture planes.

Ben now helps Mark fly cover crop in Maryland to sequester excess nutrients in soil to prevent nutrient runoff into large water sources such as the Chesapeake Bay, and sprays crop protectants on wheat, corn and soybeans prior to the start of cover crop season.

“I really enjoy getting to serve the local farmers, and of course the flying aspect,” Ben said.

Ben attributes part of his career to the network of Alpha Gamma Rho, which led him to working with Mark. He said working with an AGR as a mentor made it easier to connect with each other despite their age difference.

Mark said it was very satisfying mentoring a younger AGR brother who had the same interests as him. He said he knew Ben’s work ethic would lead him to completing everything asked of him, but he did not anticipate Ben finishing everything as fast as he did. Ben is the first pilot to work with Mark, as Mark had previously been a one-man operation.

“It was a lot of fun watching him progress through those stages,” Mark said.

“I really enjoy getting to serve the local farmers, and of course the flying aspect.” The 67th Alpha Gamma Rho Convention is almost here!

Don’t miss your opportunity to reconnect with brothers in person after four years. Although the pandemic put a kink in plans for the last National Convention, the Convention Advisory Team is working full speed ahead to tackle this year’s National Convention, which is surely one to be remembered. Brothers will get to reconnect, as well as participate in various events and visit the sites of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For more information and to register, please use the QR code at right.

2022 Grand President’s Award Winners

FOUR OUTSTANDING BROTHERS WERE SELECTED TO RECEIVE THE 2022 ALPHA GAMMA RHO GRAND PRESIDENT’S AWARD.

Administered and nominated by a selection committee, the Grand President’s Award is given to AGR alumni, age 40 or younger, who have achieved success in their professional careers and made significant contributions to agriculture and Alpha Gamma Rho. The award demonstrates an honorable acknowledgement of the recipient’s exceptional brotherhood, leadership, professionalism and knowledge of his industry. Andy Fordice, Chris Looney, Seth Pratt and Todd Steinacher were recognized for their achievements during the Leadership Seminars held in February. During their acceptance speeches, they reflected on the opportunities AGR afforded them and the lessons they learned as undergraduates and beyond. For more information, or to nominate a brother for a future award, visit alphagammarho. org/grandpresidentsaward

Andy Fordice

PURDUE

Andy Fordice was initiated into the Delta Chapter of Alpha Gamma Rho in 2002 where he graduated with dual majors in Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Communications. Upon graduation in 2006, Andy started his career with Dow AgroSciences (now Corteva Agriscience) where he has held multiple sales and marketing leadership roles throughout his 16-year career. Andy has been intimately involved in the creation, launch and sales execution of several new brands in diverse segments of agriculture. Notably, Andy was the crop protection Portfolio Marketing Leader for Enlist herbicides prior to and through its launch which currently spans tens of millions of acres across soybeans, cotton and corn. Currently,

Andy serves as the Area Digital Sales Leader for Corteva in Indiana and Illinois. Andy, his wife Heidi, and their three kids

Claire, Jack and Charlie reside in Zionsville,

Indiana. While at Purdue, Andy served on the executive officer team for Delta Chapter as VNR-Planning, VNR-Membership Development and as the Risk Manager. He was also active on campus in many activities including time as the mascot, Purdue Pete.

Chris Looney

ARKANSAS

Chris Looney is a Vice President, Relationship Manager for CoBank. He provides financing to agricultural cooperatives & businesses throughout Texas and Oklahoma and has worked for the farm credit system for nearly 15 years. He also participates in his family’s cow/calf and stocker operation located in Perry, Oklahoma.

Chris has served on the alumni board for the Alpha Iota Chapter since 2013 and has served as President since 2016. He was initiated into the Alpha Iota Chapter in 2001 and was elected to VNR-Planning and VNR-Scholarship officer roles. His family roots run deep in the Fraternity with his father, Dr. Charles Looney, being initiated in 1974 and his mother, Cathryn Looney, being an AGR Sweetheart in 1976.

Brother Looney enjoys connecting with AGR brothers from across the nation and believes in giving back to the Fraternity to foster the development of the men who go through our chapters.

Chris is from Bryan, Texas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas with Bachelor of Science degrees in animal science and agricultural economics in 2007. He received his master’s degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University in 2009. In his free time, he roots on his beloved Arkansas Razorbacks in all sports and spends time with his wife, Myriah, and 8 month old daughter, Sheridan, and currently lives in Lindsay, Texas.

The Grand President’s Award is presented to outstanding Fraternity alumni, age 40 or younger, who have achieved remarkable success in their professional careers and made great contributions to agriculture and Alpha Gamma Rho.

Seth Pratt

IDAHO

Seth Pratt was raised on a family farm in Idaho originally homesteaded by the Pratt Family in 1904. Seth was heavily involved in 4-H and then FFA. He also served as an officer at every level from the local chapter to the National FFA Organization.

While attending the University of Idaho, Seth worked for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences on alumni relations and fundraising. There, he joined the Beta Phi Chapter where he served twice as VNR-Recruitment, a role he remains passionate about today. Seth now serves on the chapter's alumni board.

His involvement with AGR also includes serving the National Fraternity through various task forces and was the main project lead on revisions made to the Brotherhood Program in 2018.

Since graduating in 2015 with a degree in agricultural economics he has held roles with The Context Network, DecisionNext, and Verdesian Life Sciences, where he is currently a Marketing Director. After living on both coasts, Seth moved back to Idaho where his time is dedicated to four things: family — wife Leah and daughter Emma, work for Verdesian, helping on the family farm, and getting time outdoors chasing cows, fish, or mountains. Seth credits Alpha Gamma Rho as the best leadership experience of his youth, and an invaluable lifelong network.

Todd Steinacher

WESTERN ILLINOIS

Todd Steinacher has been involved in production agriculture professionally since 2006, when he graduated from Western Illinois University (WIU). It was his time at Western Illinois University and membership with the Alpha Tau Chapter that helped to shape his passion for agronomy, leadership and service to the agriculture industry. It was several years later he realized he had more agronomic questions then answers and decided to obtain his master’s degree in Crop Science from the University of Illinois.

As an undergrad, Todd was very involved in various department and university organizations like the agronomy club and agricultural council. As an undergradaute, he served as the VNR-Planning, VNR-Finance and Vice Noble Ruler.

For nearly a decade, Todd worked for Growmark in Agronomy Crop Input, sales, marketing and consulting before working for AgriGold from 2015 to 2021.

In 2019 he was invited to be a lead agronomist on an agriculture training project in Zambia, Africa, through the Illinois and International ROTARY organization. Todd was responsible for developing and presenting an agronomic training program, understanding regional challenges and developing agronomic Side-By-Sides so local farmers could see the value in the new management practices. This project is on-going and has brought on nearly 100 local farmers.

Todd currently serves on the Alpha Tau Alumni Board and served on the capital campaign fundraising project.

Corporate Partners

AGR is committed to offering opportunities to connect for members and corporations in the dynamic global agriculture and food industries. Thank you to our Corporate Partners for your support of our Purpose!

ELITE

GOLD

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SPONSOR

Bader Rutter

College Fresh

Campus Cooks

Want to see your company added to our list? Visit alphagammarho.org/corporatepartners for information on how to become a Corporate Partner.

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@alphagammarhohq @alphagammarho Alpha Gamma Rho: Social/ Professional Ag, Food, Fiber, & Life Sci. Fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity

Above: The new AGR Home Office on NW Vivion Rd., Kansas City. Left: Previous location of the Home Office for nearly 40 years.

New Headquarters. Same Fraternity.

AGR CONTINUES TO MAKE BETTER MEN THROUGH MODERNIZATION

A HOME IS NOT A BUILDING,

a building is just walls and a roof. A home is the people who choose to live amongst one another and share their day-to-day activities.

For nearly 40 years, Alpha Gamma Rho worked out of 10101 N. Ambassador Dr., Kansas City, Missouri. Although Alpha Gamma Rho has now left the Home Office that was built specifically for the Fraternity in 1987, our Fraternity has never been stronger. With our new location, the National Fraternity and The Educational Foundation have been able to work more efficiently.

The previous Home Office grew outdated and had accrued costly structural damages over time. It quickly became apparent either the building needed to be repaired or the Fraternity would need to move its headquarters. After careful consideration from both The Educational Foundation and Fraternity Boards, it was decided the National Fraternity should find a new home.

“The new Home Office provides a safe and flexible environment for Alpha Gamma Rho to strengthen its roots and grow across the nation.”

— Grand President

Doug Griffin

“Our Home Office has given us a great work environment to serve all of our brothers,” CEO Rex Martin said. “As AGR changes and grows, our new Home Office needs to be more flexible and modern. We need more employees closer to our brothers and in the field.”

Since the building of the previous Home Office, the National Fraternity has installed roughly 17 chapters and initiated roughly 18,000 members over the course of 38 years.

Prior to the construction of the building, the first “Home Office” started in previous Grand President Sleeter Bull’s home, which later was moved to Executive Secretary, Maynard Coe’s basement.

In 1976, the Alpha Gamma Rho Home Office expanded and moved to a rented office in Des Plaines, Illinois, near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. That same year, Grand President at the time, Gene Lemon, created a committee to begin searching for a location for the new National Headquarters. Fundraising for a new Home Office began at the 1978 National Convention. It would take 11 years and six Grand President terms to come to the the final decision to move to Kansas City, and have the funds to build their very own building.

The history in the previous Home Office building, various historical items exemplifying the importance of Alpha Gamma Rho, came to the new Home Office, which is located at 1333 NW Vivion Rd, Suite 110, Kansas City, Missouri 64118.

The new building has a smaller space but is functional for the number of staff working in it. The new office is also more modern, which was one of the requirements when the Fraternity was looking to move to from Illinois in the 1980s.

“The new Home Office provides a safe and flexible environment for Alpha Gamma Rho to strengthen its roots and grow across the nation,” Grand President Doug Griffin said. “With a Home Office that is fitting for our staff we can Make Better Men for many years to come.”

Located off of 69 Highway near Interstate 29, the new Home Office is only 13 minutes from Kansas City Airport, and seven minutes from Interstate 35, making it easy for visitors to access, another requirement that was asked when moving from Illinois in 1976.

The AGR Home Office Staff quickly settled into their new building, but still have some minor adjustments that come with being in a new place. Despite these adjustments, the innerworkings of Alpha Gamma Rho have steadily worked through this change because of the people the staff is comprised of.

We look forward to sharing our new Home Office with everyone this year! We thank you for your support.

DETAILS OF THE NEW HOME OFFICE:

h Shared Kitchenette/ breakroom h More modern style h Conforms with modern-day business h Easily accessible by road and air travel h Space is maximized to its full potential h Additional private office h One large conference room and one small one h More flexible workspace h Enhanced technology h Increased safety and staff security

435

KCI

29

1333 NW Vivion Rd, Suite 110, Kansas City, Missouri 64118

Missouri River

KANSAS

635 MISSOURI

35

 Downtown

The New Old House

HOUSING CAMPAIGNS LEAD TO GRAND OPENINGS OF TWO AGR CHAPTER HOUSES

Both Alpha Gamma Chapter (above) and Alpha Theta Chapter (top right) held grand opeinings of their houses, drawing large turnouts of members and their families to celebrate these great accomplishments.

THIS YEAR, TWO ALPHA GAMMA RHO HOUSING CAMPAIGNS

allowed Alpha Theta Chapter at the University of Maryland and Alpha Gamma Chapter at the University of Florida to complete houses. Alpha Theta Chapter held a grand re-opening of their chapter house in October 2021 after it’s redesign. Alpha Gamma Chapter also held a grand opening in January 2022 of their newly-built chapter house.

Both projects took years to plan and complete, but this fall brothers were able to move into their houses and celebrate the accomplishment of all of the hard work it took raising money and planning these projects.

The Alpha Theta Chapter house had gone 90 years without any serious renovations. It became apparent seven years ago changes needed to be made. Alumni jumped into action and began planning a housing campaign to raise funds for the necessary renovations needed for the chapter house. Unfortunately, once construction was underway, unforeseen costs began to crop up, leaving the chapter to seriously consider other fundraisers to make up the costs. Brother Chris Cavey, an Alpha Theta Chapter alumnus who handled most of the communications for the project, said at the beginning of the project, The Educational Foundation of Alpha Gamma Rho released $30,000, but the rest of the funds needed to be raised by the chapter. The alumni board collaborated with Pennington & Company on some of their fundraising campaigns as well as organizing their own fundraisers.

“Based on what we were physically doing with the construction — like part of our construction was to raise a portion of our roof so we could create more room on the third floor … so one of our promotions we did was the 'Raise the Roof' promotion,” Chris said.

The chapter held similar themed fundraisers for different projects throughout the house including the staircase and kitchen remodel. Both projects had fundraisers tied to the original designs. The old staircases were turned into plaques to be sold. For the kitchen remodel, Chris found old dinner bells that resembled the dinner bell used at the Alpha Theta Chapter house and sold those as well to raise money for the kitchen renovations.

Chris said one of the Alpha Theta brothers also matched the funds raised up to $50,000 to help pay for construction costs.

Then COVID-19 hit, causing issues with the construction. The prices of materials went up and having multiple people working on the chapter house at once was not as easy due to mitigation policies. Thankfully, due to construction, the brothers living in the house were moving out anyway, so when the University of Maryland sent everyone home, it wasn’t a barrier to the project.

After the completion of the project, the Alpha Theta Chapter held a grand re-opening of the house with roughly 300 brothers in attendance and included Home Office staff and other guests. The event included an auction of items from the building and the chapter announced their first-ever Alpha Theta Hall of Fame. Six brothers were inducted.

Chris pointed out Brother Logan Yearsley, Alpha Theta Chapter’s House Director, as being an intricate part in coordinating information between the undergraduates and the alumni throughout the process.

The grand re-opening of the Alpha Theta Chapter House drew more than 300 guests who helped celebrate the revnovations. The members of Alpha Theta look forward to many more years in the historic house.

Chris said Logan took care of any necessary business and attributed Brother Yearsley for the process going as smoothly as it did despite the various obstacles that stood in the way.

Alpha Gamma Chapter’s alumni used their network to gather donations for their chapter house. Brother Bernie Lester and Brother Edward Smoak are co-chairmen of the Alpha Gamma Housing Campaign, which is currently taking donations to pay off the newly built house.

The current housing campaign has been a success and continues to be, as

Bernie explained that experimentation was key to their campaigns success and he encourages other chapters looking to start their own housing campaign to do the same.

Throughout the housing campaign, Alpha Gamma Chapter has worked closely with The Educational Foundation of Alpha Gamma Rho. The Foundation helped the chapter manage as well as keep records of the campaign.

Brother Reggie Brown was in charge of formulating a closing committee to help the chapter close the financial gap from where they were about a year into the campaign to their goal of $3.5 million.

Reggie and Brother Andrew Bible worked closely with The Educational Foundation and said The Foundation, aside from record keeping and correspondence, was another route for donors. Reggie said the chapter took a twopronged approach to their campaign, providing donors an opportunity to make a non-deductible donation or a tax-deductible donation.

“Any housing campaign will need a tax-free route,” Brother Brown said. “The Educational Foundation is made for that.”

He explained housing campaigns have several moving parts and can be difficult for one who does not work with these campaigns regularly to wrap their head around. The Educational Foundation was able to help the chapter keep track of all of those moving parts and still does as they continue to gather funds for their housing campaign to minimize the longterm mortgage.

Brother Rob Hunt, the Adviser for Alpha Gamma Chapter, acted as a liaison between the undergraduates and alumni working on the housing campaign. He also helped coordinate a series of the events that went along with the construction of the building, including the groundbreaking ceremony. Despite the long process, the collegiates and alumni knew the new house would be worth it in the end, not just in monetary value, but also in the changes in the chapter’s atmosphere.

“They’re reconnecting with their brothers,” Brother Hunt said. “The non-monetary benefit — I don’t even know how to quantify it, but it’s visible.”

[They] found making direct contact with phone calls and visiting alumni to share the importance of the new chapter house worked best for their campaign.

the chapter is actively seeking committed donors and is receiving positive responses. Brother Lester said it took some trial and error to figure out what worked best for Alpha Gamma’s housing campaign, but in the end, found that reaching out to donors in person has been the most effective. He said having the right person reach out and connect with a potential donor illustrates the importance of the housing campaign.

“Getting them to understand why a chapter house is so important was key to our housing campaign,” Brother Lester said.

Bernie said the chapter attempted a housing campaign in the past, but it never went through. He said he believes a lack of commitment was what led to the downfall of the original campaign. Bernie and the alumni working on the housing campaign experimented with different ways to gather the funds to build the new Alpha Gamma Chapter House and found making direct contact with phone calls and visiting alumni to share the importance of the new chapter house worked best for their campaign. If you would like to donate to the Alpha Gamma Housing Campaign, contact Brother Reggie Brown at Reggieb4765@ gmail.com.

Fighting Fires and Staying in School

OVER A ONE YEAR AGO, NEAR SHAVER LAKE,

California, a fire began in a ravine. Shaver Lake Volunteer Firefighters were called to the scene. One of the 11 volunteers was Brother Reaves Forrest of Alpha Sigma Chapter at California State University-Fresno, who not only fought the Creek Fire, but also maintained his GPA and passed his classes during the fight.

Brother Forrest said he had always dreamed of becoming a firefighter growing up, but his family were farmers and he never got the opportunity to live out that dream until his freshman year in college. In 2018, Brother Forrest joined the Shaver Lake Fire Department.

“I just want to be able to give back to my community, so I joined the fire department,” Brother Forrest said.

The Creek Fire started September 4, 2020, and when Shaver Lake Volunteer Firefighters arrived at the scene for what Brother Forrest described as their initial attack, there wasn’t much they could do since the fire was inaccessible in a ravine. The following day, the fire had grown and was heading towards homes in

Shaver Lake. Brother Forrest noted that the Shaver Lake Fire

Department, along with other teams, held the fire at bay as best as they could until it became too much for them to handle. The next morning, the homes the firefighters had been defending had caught up in the Creek Fire — the town Reaves had grown up in. “We were on the front lines, pretty much, the whole time,” Brother Forrest said. “Prepping homes the best we could.” He said he was on the fire for about a month and during that time, Reaves was supposed to be in school. Brother Forrest said a few days into working the fire, which lasted until Dec. 24, 2020, he contacted his professors explaining the situation. Brother Forrest told them he felt compelled to fight this fire that would destroy the town he grew up in, rather than working on his education for the time being. He even told them he would understand if they had to drop him from their courses since he would fall behind. “It was more important to me to save the community I grew up in than taking classes I would have the opportunity to take again,” Brother Forrest said. Fortunately, all of Brother Forrest’s professors, some of whom are AGR alumni, understood where he was coming from and told him he could just make up the work after he got back.

“They supported me all the way through the whole situation, which was nice,” Brother Forrest said. He also said his entire chapter supported him as well during this time by buying him meals and checking in on him. It took Brother Forrest about two weeks in October 2020 to catch up on his school work, and stay on track for graduation.

Brother Forrest is now a training officer at Shaver Lake Fire Department and helps conduct trainings for other firefighters.