By LaRayne Meyer

 

 

Not every Nebraska legislator can say they were sent out to plow the family farm at the tender age of nine. Not every Nebraska legislator can say that their father warmed their seat in the Nebraska Unicameral, serving as a legislator decades before they got there. And not every Nebraska legislator has been named to the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Hall of Fame as Bob Kremer was.

Kremer was presented with the Hall of Fame Award at the Nov. 29 Nebraska Cattlemen’s annual banquet. Making the presentation was Dave Bruntz, NC Nominations Committee chairman.

Inductees into the Hall of Fame are selected from among a distinguished list of nominees who have played key roles in shaping, promoting and preserving the cattle industry. Nominees are considered from across the state, and the selected candidate is chosen because of contributions to the beef cattle industry and involvement in their communities, as well as their support of the Nebraska Cattlemen association and cattle business accomplishments.

Kremer got his first taste of farming as a youngster on his family’s farm near Aurora. After graduation from Aurora High School, Kremer received his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern College in Minnesota where he met his future wife. After their marriage in 1958, Bob and Beverly returned to the family farm.

The two tried their hand at various types of livestock, including chickens, swine and sheep before Kremer discovered his love for Angus cattle. They expanded their cow-calf operation to 130 head, and eventually the beef operation grew into today’s modern feedlot operation with a capacity of 2,000 head.

With the family’s dedication to community involvement and service to agricultural organizations as a way of serving God and others, plus an avenue to making Nebraska a better place to live and work, Bob’s father – Maurice Kremer – served in the Nebraska Legislature from 1962 to 1982 while Bob and his brother Ken kept the home fires burning.

That pattern was repeated in the late 1990s when Bob chose to run for the Legislature as well. Serving in the Unicameral from 1999 to 2007, Kremer chaired the Agriculture Committee as his father had before him. Just as Kremer managed the farming operation while his father represented agriculture at the state level, his two sons-in-law managed the farm and feedlot operations to make his public service possible. Kremer looked at his involvement in the legislature as an opportunity to serve the people of District 30 and the state, while representing agriculture in a state with a growing urban population.

 Kremer’s commitment to the beef industry was central when he accompanied then Governor Johanns on a trade mission to Japan to look into expanding the market for Nebraska beef.

In addition to Kremer’s stint in Nebraska politics, his commitment to agricultural organizations is extensive and runs the gamut from the local and county level to the state and national level, including the Nebraska Cattlemen, Corn Growers Association, Farm Bureau Federation, Agriculture Builders of Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Extension Advisory Committee.

In addition, Kremer served as chairman of the action committee of the Nebraska Beef Producers and the American Farm Bureau Beef Cattle Advisory Committee. He also served terms on the board of directors for the Nebraska Energy Cooperative, the Edgerton Explorit Center – Nebraska’s Hands-On Science Center – and other local organizations. He has been recognized for his contributions to his community by a number of local awards, as well as the Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement.

Today, Kremer continues his dedication to agriculture and state issues while focusing his attention on the use of renewable energy to decrease the nation’s dependency on foreign oil. Y  By LaRayne Meyer, NC contributing writer.

 

 

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