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Angleton farmer and Aggie receives big honor
Published October 27, 2009
ANGLETON — Leroy Bieri has worked on or operated his family’s Bieri Farms for 50 years, and for those efforts has reaped an award he calls a dream come true.
But it’s not the only award he’s reaped.
Bieri is one of three people this year awarded the 2009 Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Outstanding Alumni. He’s been part of Bieri Farms since 1958, and the operation produces rice, milo, soybeans, cattle and “sometimes crawfish. We sell all we can and eat the rest,” he said with a laugh.
Bieri received the award Oct. 15 at the college’s scholarship reception at the Zone Club at Kyle Field in College Station. After graduation from A&M, he entered the family agriculture business with his father, Edwin Bieri, and now operates Bieri Farms with his son, Stewart Bieri. The farm and ranch are on land in various locations in Brazoria County, with headquarters east of Angleton.
Leroy Bieri said he was humbled by the accolade.
“It was a great award and a great honor,” he said. “It’s something that I will cherish the rest of my life. It’s a dream come true, but I personally haven’t done anything. It’s a family affair. We’re farmers. We’re all involved.”
Family farming is part of the process, and candidates must be nominated for consideration. Bieri was nominated by Traci LaChance, who said he’s “everything (Texas A&M) was looking for” in the award.
“They were looking for something in production agriculture and diversity,” said LaChance, a longtime family friend and seed manager at Ricetec. “Mr. Bieri and Bieri farms represent production agriculture in every sense of the words. They’re diversified, third-generation farmers and ranchers who excel at everything they touch. They’ve been professional and productive at everything they do.”
Bieri graduated from A&M in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, and said the degree prepared him for the world.
“The four years I spent on that campus wrote the road map of my life,” he said. “I am what I am today because of the education I received at Texas A&M University.”
He and his wife, Betty, have three children, Stewart Bieri, Stephanie Cone and Suzanne Coots, and four grandchildren. Along with a career in production agriculture at Bieri Farms, Bieri has been president of the Greater Angleton Chamber of Commerce and president of the Angleton ISD board.
He’s served as president of the Brazoria County Fair junior livestock auction, and served two years in the U.S. Army, entering the service as a lieutenant and becoming a company commander.
A charter member of the Aggie Club, Bieri is a Platinum 12th Man of the 12th Man Foundation and is a College of Agriculture Development Council member, according to a press release from Dr. Mark Hussey, vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The award isn’t limited to farmers but can be given to any College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate. Bieri received the award along with Jorge A. Bermudez and Dr. Melanie A. Turner, according to the release.
Bermudez is president and CEO of the Byebrook Group, a research and advisory firm in the financial services industry. Turner is an assistant vice president, financial adviser and certified financial manager for Merrill Lynch in Plano. She also manages her family’s Pecan Valley Ranch near Mexia.
Brazoria County Agricultural Extension Agent Corrie Bowen was happy to see the award in Brazoria County, and glad for Bieri to be the one to bring it home.
“I consider it to be a very prestigious award,” Bowen said. “We should be honored that one of our own farmers got it.”
About 600 people attended the awards ceremony, a day Bieri said he’ll never forget.
“I fee like my university has bestowed on me the greatest honor they could award,” he said.
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