Lt. Gov. and Indiana Secretary of Agriculture Suzanne Crouch recently named Bruce Kettler as the new director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. He replaces Ted McKinney., who resigned in late 2017 to accept a new position as a deputy of USDA in charge of ag trade. McKinney is already at work traveling the world, including Asia and Panama, working behind the scenes to improve ag trade for farmers.

Who is Bruce Kettler? Most recently he served as director of public relations for Beck’s, capping an 11-year career with the seed company. Previously, he spent 17 years with Dow AgroSciences, rising to senior sales rep for pest management before accepting a new challenge at Beck’s.

The Ohio State University graduate is also a former national FFA officer. He has been supportive of FFA activities in Indiana, volunteering to help in various ways from judging contests to selecting Indiana’s national FFA officer candidate.

How did he spend his time? Recently Kettler attended the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Growers Association policy forum on trade. Beck’s was a sponsor, and Kettler made a brief appearance on the program.

“I have spent lots of time working with corn and soybean groups and other commodity groups in various states where Beck’s served,” Kettler says. “These groups are important, and it has been fun to work with them and their leaders.”

That background should serve Kettler well as he moves into his new role as ISDA director. ISDA works closely with all commodity groups in Indiana.

Who is Kettler as a person? He lives with his wife, Tammy, near Westfield, and they have two grown children, Cory and Christy. A recent Purdue University graduate, Christy was also active in agriculture, spending a summer scouting crops. She worked with drone technology and appeared on a cover of Indiana Prairie Farmer demonstrating how to scout crops with a UAV.