The Friend of Farmer award is an honor presented by the Indiana Corn Growers Association and Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership & Policy Committee to a policy leader who leads and advocates on issues that benefit Indiana farmers. At Wednesday’s Indiana Ag Policy Summit in Columbus, State Representative Beau Baird was this year’s recipient.
“It’s such an honor,” Baird told Hoosier Ag Today. “It’s not something I was expecting, and I know the past honorees who have truly been some forefront leaders in Indiana agriculture. It’s just an honor to be in the same category as them, and I still don’t even feel like I am, but just such an honor.
Those past honorees include former USDA Undersecretary Ted McKinney, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, the late U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski, and his father, Congressman Jim Baird.
Baird’s passion for agriculture runs deep.
“I come from Putnam County, specifically Greencastle. I grew up on a farm, I breed and raise quarter horses, we have row crops. Farmers are just the backbone of our community. I think that they want to do what’s good for the community. They want to raise crops and commodities that are good for their family and good for their community and good for the world. And they just want to do it in a way where the government’s out of their way or supporting. And I feel like that’s what I can do in my role as a state representative is to really help remove those barriers or be supportive where we can, so that they can do what they love to do.”
Baird gave praise to the state’s commodity organizations after recently returning from a trip to Taiwan.
“I saw soybeans on the breakfast menu—fried soybean strips and soybean milk on the on the breakfast bar—but what that really speaks to, and what I really impressed was, that doesn’t happen without somebody working actively to promote Indiana agriculture: soybeans, corn, pork, you name it, it doesn’t just happen. It takes associations like ICGA and ISA out there promoting—not just domestically, but internationally—ways to use our products. And I believe that we raise the best here in Indiana.”
Baird is the ninth recipient of the Friend of Farmer Award. He represents District 44 in West Central Indiana. It includes all of Putnam County and portions of Clay, Parke, and Morgan counties.
