Congratulations to Craig Lang, Brooklyn, Iowa on being awarded the 2009 Ralph Keeling Leadership Award by the Iowa State Dairy Association. Lang is a dairy farmer and President of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF).
“It is a real honor to receive this award,” says Lang. “The dairy industry is very important to Iowa and I enjoy working with Iowa’s dairy farmers. I will continue to work hard to help the dairy industry and I look forward to seeing it prosper for the next generation of Iowa’s young dairymen.
“This is an important year for my family at the Iowa State Fair,” he continues, “this will be the 90th year that my family has shown livestock at the fair and to receive the Ralph Keeling Leadership Award makes this year even more special.”
Lang farms in partnership with his father and brother on Yarrabee Farms, a 500-head dairy in east-central Iowa. Two of Lang’s sons are also part of the operation where, in addition to milking, they grow their own corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Lang and his wife, Mary, a registered nurse, have four children.
Lang was nominated by Dr. M. Douglas Kenealy, Professor in Charge, Dairy Science, at Iowa State University. “I’ve known Craig since his days as a dairy science student at Iowa State University and I have been tremendously impressed by the service he has given to the state of Iowa through not only dairy but civic and industry leadership positions,” says Kenealy. “Craig is eminently qualified for this award based upon his lifetime of work in dairy production and leadership for the Iowa dairy industry.”
The Ralph Keeling Leadership Award is given in honor of the late Ralph Keeling. Keeling operated a successful dairy farm and business, devoting much of his time and talents to help the progress of Iowa’s dairy industry. Since 1967, this award has been presented annually to outstanding individuals in various fields of the State’s dairy industry.