|
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Warren Beeler of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture was inducted into the Kentucky Pork Producers Association Hall of Fame during the association’s recent convention.
Rayetta Boone, another KDA staff member, received the Outstanding Service Award at the convention Jan. 27-28 in Owensboro.
 
Rayetta Boone, left, and Warren Beeler |
“Congratulations to Warren and Rayetta for these well-deserved honors,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “Warren is one of the most respected figures in the swine industry in the United States. He and Rayetta both work hard for the Department’s youth programs, helping Kentucky’s young people learn and grow through agriculture. I’m proud to be associated with them.”
Beeler, of Caneyville, joined 15 others in the state pork producers shrine. A longtime swine producer, former KPPA president and nationally renowned swine judge, Beeler is assistant director of the KDA’s Division of Value-Added Animal and Aquaculture Production.
“Warren Beeler is one of the most dynamic and recognized swine judges in the United States,” said Mike Ovesen, president of the KPPA. “He will judge everything from the largest shows to the smallest, as long as youngsters are involved. Warren is also one of the greatest swine geneticists in the U.S. He has produced some of the country’s finest breeding stock.
“With the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Warren has continued his work for the swine industry and for youth in all of agriculture,” Ovesen said.
Beeler has established numerous livestock clinics in Kentucky and other states. Ovesen said he started a judging evaluation clinic at his home that evolved into Kentucky’s popular junior livestock expos.
As a farmer, he has shown four grand champion hogs and two grand champion lambs at the Kentucky State Fair. He was a Pork All-American in 1995. He was named Western Kentucky University Agriculture Alumnus of the Year in 1987.
Boone, a resident of Taylorsville, was honored for her work as assistant director of the KDA’s Division of Agriculture Education, Farm Safety and Farmland Preservation. The division administers the Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom program and the Mobile Science Activity Center. Last fall the division launched “Agriculture Adventures: Kentucky,” an entertaining and educational program that teaches agriculture’s role in everyday life.
“Rayetta has dedicated her entire life to teaching young people about the importance of agriculture,” Ovesen said.
--30--
|
