Jerry McReynolds is no stranger to situations requiring him to be an agent of change. Jerry was president of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers in 2005 when KAWG and the Kansas Wheat Commission signed an operating agreement to establish what is now known at Kansas Wheat.
“The idea to combine executive functions was radical at the time, but it just made good sense,” said Jerry.
Supporting wheat breeding research through the Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation also appeals to Jerry’s common sense approach.
“I think it’s critical to support wheat breeding research. We have to be willing to put money into improving our product,” says McReynolds. “If we’re not willing to do that as producers, why would we expect anyone else to?”
Jerry and his wife, Diane, are generous contributors to the Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation. Their contribution, along with donations from other past KAWG presidents, helped name the Wheat Growers’ Board Room at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center.
Jerry has always found time to be involved in developing agriculture policy and advocating for producers. An experienced leader in the wheat industry, Jerry believes that producers should become involved in at least one commodity organization and a general farm organization. For Jerry that engagement started with the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers where he eventually became the organization’s President. In 2010, Jerry served as the President of the National Association of Wheat Growers.
In addition, he has served on the Kansas Board of Agriculture and the Kansas Farm Bureau Board of Directors. Jerry was a member of the first Kansas Agriculture Rural Leadership class. In 2003, he and Diane were named Kansas Master Farmers and Master Farm Homemakers.
Jerry and Diane live south of Woodston, where they farm in Rooks and Osborne Counties. Diane retired from teaching junior high language arts in Stockton in 2011. The couple has three grown children: son Shawn who also farms, and daughters Renee and Michelle.