Andrew Bowman (Morrow, '05) of Oneida, Ill. will be the keynote speaker for a joint meeting of the Kewanee Kiwanis and Rotary clubs’ Salute to Ag Day.
The meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 15, in the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall.
Bowman is a fifth-generation farmer. For excellence in his farming operation, he was honored as the 2006 American Star Farmer — the premier honor for young agriculturalists and a capstone on his FFA experience.
Bowman is only the third Star Farmer from Illinois and is a-third generation American FFA Degree recipient, following his grandfather and father.
In 2008, he graduated with Bronze Tablet distinction from the University of Illinois in crop sciences. While at Illinois, Bowman was active in the agricultural associations of Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR) Professional and Social Fraternity and Alpha Zeta Agriculture Honorary (AZ).
He was the undergraduate National Board director for over 66,000 active members for AGR, among other roles. As vice chancellor of AZ, he started a now-perennial event, Ag Day, where students and faculty pay 35 cents for a meal, representing two times the amount of each consumer dollar dedicated to food in the U.S. and teaching the importance of agriculture to all students.
Bowman has had internships in agronomy, sales, commodities marketing and public policy with companies like Crop Production Services, Tate & Lyle, and Golden Harvest. Just after graduation, he was a political intern at the USDA Food and Nutrition Service in Washington, D.C. He then went to work for Monsanto at their headquarters in St. Louis. A family illness brought him back to his family farm and insurance business in Oneida.
Bowman is a partner in the Bowman Insurance Agency, a family business begun by his grandfather in 1966 that provides insurance to farmers and rural residents. He also manages a new sister company, Bowman Crop Assure, where he uses his crop sciences background to scout 13,000 acres and manage agronomic risk for area clients.
Bowman and his father farm 1,400 acres in the Oneida area.
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