AgTexas Director Recognized by Top Producer Magazine

The January 2009, 25th anniversary issue of Top Producer magazine listed Dr. Danny Klinefelter, Professor and Extension Economist, Texas AgriLIFE Extension, Texas A&M University as one of the 25 people who will have the greatest influence on the future of American Agriculture.

Dr. Klinefelter’s recognition stems from his role as founder and director of Texas AgriLIFE Extension’s The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP) and the Association of Agricultural Production Executives (AAPEX), the TEPAP alumni organization.

TEPAP is entering its 20th year and has had nearly 1200 participants from 43 states, 6 Canadian provinces, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Paraguay. The participating operations account for approximately 5 percent of total U.S. agricultural output. Contrary to popular perception, all but 4 of the farms and ranches who have participated have been closely held family businesses.

The impact of the program has been multiplied by the leadership roles of participants and their operations in virtually every commodity and geographic sector of the country.

The citation in Top Producer read as follows:

The Business Professor. Texas A&M economist, founder of TEPAP (The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers) and Illinois farm boy Danny Klinefelter has raised the level of professionalism in agriculture. Through TEPAP, founded 19 years ago, Klinefelter has introduced hundreds of the country’s best agricultural producers to business principles and helped them grow and streamline their operations. Though the end of his career may be on the horizon, Klinefelter’s legacy will live on because of his desire to help them broaden their horizons, raise their professionalism and learn from each other with the networks they develop as TEPAP participants.

Others in the Top 25 include President Barak Obama; Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil; Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China; Russia’s Prime Minister Vladmir Putin; media personality Oprah Winfrey; Ken Cook, head of the Environmental Working Group; the Iowa Senate team of Tom Harkin (D) and Charles Grassley (R); Carol Browner, White House coordinator of energy and climate policy; Jeff Broin, CEO of Poet, the nation’s largest ethanol company; Dr. Mike Boehlje, at Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agribusiness; and also included several groups rather than individuals such as Congress, the fund managers, the plant scientists and the modern farmer. 

Dr. Klinefelter’s previous honors include the American Agricultural Economics Quality of Published Communication Award in 1987, the Texas AgriLIFE Extension’s Superior Service Award in 1988 and 1992, the Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence in 1997 and 2001, and the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1998 and 2002. He also received the Southern Agricultural Economics Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and was selected as the College of Agriculture and Life Science’s Honor Professor in 2006.

Top Producer is Farm Journal Media’s national business magazine for commercial farmers and ranchers.