MILROY, Ind. — Mark Bacon, 48, Milroy, became the first District 8 Director from Rush County to be elected to the Indiana Farm Bureau Board of Directors.

His first meeting was on Jan. 18-19 at the state headquarters in Indianapolis. He will serve a three-year term and could be elected to serve longer.

Bacon has been a member of the Rush County Farm Bureau Board of Directors for 20 years, serving as president for the past eight years. This service experience qualified him for a higher level of leadership.

“Farm Bureau is the largest voice in agriculture in the world,” Bacon said.

“So, it is exciting to represent something that I have known all my life - which is farming.”

Bacon added that, during his career as a full-time farmer in Rush County, he has seen numerous changes and expects more in the future. He believes the new technology of ethanol fuel will expand with the construction of new plants, and confined feeding operations and larger dairies will have an impact on agriculture.

He recognizes that farming is a business, and needs to be regulated just like other industries. Bacon said Farm Bureau will stay involved as it continues to voice the opinions of farmers and the farm communities.

An area of vital importance to agriculture is the education of young people about farming and food supplies, he said.

Bacon added that the majority of the U.S. population does not understand agriculture, and the training should start with elementary-aged students.

Mark got an early start in farming in 1984 when he served on the state’s Farm Bureau Young Farmers’ Committee.

His farm operation consists of 950 acres of rented land producing corn, soybeans, wheat and hay, along with a few beef calves for freezer beef.

He has owned a trucking business for 27 years to serve local farmers and a local pallet company.

Bacon was a 10-year 4-H member and completed many club projects and was a member of the Junior Leadership group. Before he graduated from Rushville Consolidated High School in 1975, he was an FFA member under the leadership of Kenneth Brashaber, a local agriculture science and career teacher.

Bacon participated in livestock projects and soils judging, and has been awarded an Honorary FFA Membership, and is serving as the FFA Alumni’s treasurer.

He also helps with the local WKWH Farm Field Day on the planning committee, and he is an elder at the New Point Christian Church.

His wife, Linda, is a volunteer 4-H Leader and an aide at Rush County Memorial Hospital. She was a local and district Farm Bureau activities director and served as District 8 Women’s Leader. Recently she was appointed to the Indiana Soybean Board of Directors.

Bacon continues in a family history of Farm Bureau members, the same as his parents Don and Billie Bacon. His grandfather, Earl Bacon lived to be 100 years old and served as a local board member president around 1950-51.

The Bacons have two daughters, Marla and Marci, and are ready to welcome their first grandchild.

The couple’s farm is at 3175 West, 1050 South in Milroy. Their home phone number is 765-629-2885.