Agricultural Business Council Recognizes Dillingham Award Recipients
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(Left Photo) Dillingham Award Presented to Dr. Scott Brown (center), with Ron Seeber, Council Chairman (left), and Chris Chinn, Missouri Director of Agriculture (right).
(Right Photo) Dillingham Award Presented to the family of Cliff Becker. (Left to right): Jackie McClaskey, American Royal; Kate Chomko; Lisa and Mike Smith; Ruby and Kristine Becker; Justin Becker; Kathy LaScala, Don Ransdell; Greg Henderson, Farm Journal
It was a bittersweet event as the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City honored two men not only for their career accomplishments but for their outsized personalities of warmth, sincerity, humor and humbleness. Receiving the 14th Annual Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence – the Council’s highest recognition – were Scott Brown, Ph.D., University of Missouri, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), and Cliff Becker, who, until his untimely passing last December, was vice president of campus development for the American Royal.
Event Master of Ceremonies and Council chairman Ron Seeber, president and CEO of the Kansas Grain & Feed Association, Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association and Renew Kansas, introduced Bill Dillingham who recalled his family’s involvement in the Kansas City stockyards and the American Royal over four generations. Agriculture and livestock put Kansas City on the map, Dillingham noted.
Chris Chinn, director of Missouri Department of Agriculture, introduced Dr. Brown. She quipped that as soon as she found out he would be a recipient of the 2024 Jay B. Dillingham Award, she called Bob Petersen, executive director of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City, and told him she had to be the one to introduce Dr. Brown. Among the many attributes Dr. Brown possessed, Chinn mentioned that whenever he had to deliver bad news he always tempered it with hope. She pointed out that Dr. Brown was at his best when explaining to politicians in Washington what the “real story” was back on the farm.
In his acceptance remarks, Dr. Brown said he is not worried about own legacy. Rather, he prefers to focus on what is best for the “youngsters” matriculating through Mizzou’s ag college programs. Dr. Brown joined the CAFNR as a research associate working the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI). Over the past two decades, he has studied the quantitative effects of changes in federal dairy and livestock policies. Dr. Brown has regularly testified before the U.S. Congress.
Jackie McClaskey, president and CEO of the American Royal, delivered a moving tribute to Cliff Becker, saying, “It only took meeting him once to feel bad that you hadn’t met him earlier.” Greg Henderson, editorial director at Drovers magazine, seconded McClaskey’s sentiment. “There was never a person who met him who didn’t like him,” he said, adding, “Everything he did was for farmers and agriculture.”
Becker earned several industry awards over his 39-year career, including the National Agri-Marketing Association’s Career Achievement Award and the Livestock Publication Council’s Distinguished Service Award. He served on several boards, including as chairman of the Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City and as vice chair of the Agricultural Advisory Board at Western Illinois University.
On hand for the awards ceremony, which was sponsored by John Deere and the American Royal, were several past recipients of the Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence:
Gina Bowman, founder of the Agricultural Business Council
Diane Olson, retired director of education at the Missouri Farm Bureau
Tom Waters, chairman of the Missouri Levee and Drainage District Association
Dr. Abner Womack, retired director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.
Glen Klippenstein, Klippenstein Farms
Blake Hurst, Hurst Farms
Additionally, Cliff Becker’s wife and daughter, along with siblings and other family members were in attendance.