It was an inspiring trip and helped send Beemer on a long and successful career, not just in FFA, but in life. He and his family have called Kansas City home for more than 20 years now.

“I was always interested in production agriculture and agribusiness, so FFA just seemed like a natural fit,” Beemer recalled.

A 1982 graduate of Webster City High School, Beemer was an active FFA member at the local, state and national levels. The son of Bill and Pearl Beemer, he came from a family that understood hard work. To this day throughout central Iowa, there are deep wells pumping fresh water that were drilled by his father’s business, Bill Beemer Well Company.

FFA gave Beemer the opportunity to hone his leadership skills and build an off-farm career that was still built on hard work.

“There was always so much focus on leadership potential,” Beemer recalled of his FFA days. “You learned to motivate others, which leads to learning about management of people.”

After high school, Beemer was elected Iowa FFA Wecretary and was a national officer candidate in 1984. He earned FFA’s highest degree, which was still known as the American Farmer Degree.

While a state officer, he attended the National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., meeting fellow state officers from across the nation.

Public speaking came naturally to Beemer, and his speech on hedging and use of the futures markets led him to a top-five finish in the National Public Speaking contest when he was still only 19 or 20.

In addition, improvements to the family homestead helped him earn a top place finish in the Home and Farmstead Improvement Proficiency Award contest.

Always looking for new adventures, Beemer applied for FFA’s Work Experience Abroad (WEA) program. He was sent to a corn and soybean farm in Italy, broadening his vision of the world and making friendships that last until today.

“I still keep in contact with my Italian farm family,” Beemer said. “Their grandkids have been to my house, and a year ago we were in Italy for three weeks so we met up with the whole family. The mother is 94, the father is deceased, but the family still lives on this large, Italian farm.”

It was a great FFA career, but it was only a beginning. Beemer proudly stated that he began his post high school education at Iowa Central Community College. He attended classes at Iowa Central for two and a half years before transferring to Purdue University in Indiana to earn his bachelor’s degree in ag economics.

Attending Purdue also helped Beemer see potential for greater growth in his professional life, he recalled.

He worked for several years for Archer Daniels Midland and has a wide-ranging career that demonstrates his entrepreneurial spirit. He has operated an ethanol company and served on the boards of several other ethanol companies.

“In 2012, I went in to turn around Aventine Renewable Energy Company in Peoria, Illinois,” he said. “That company was near bankruptcy and we turned it around in about three years and then sold it to another public company.”

After taking a year off in 2016, Beemer moved on to become CEO of Agspring, closer to home in Kansas City.

“We took it through a complete restructuring and turned four large companies around; one was a specialty wheat company in Idaho, another was a brokerage that shipped wine out of Napa and Sonoma. We also had a grain business in northeast Louisiana, as well as a gluten free mill in North Dakota. We turned all of those companies around after five years and sold them to strategic buyers.”

In the last few years, Beemer has been consulting full-time for a Japan-based renewable energy company. He and his wife, Aimee, have four children, who range in age from young college graduates to a senior in high school.

Now in his early 60s, Beemer doesn’t really think about retiring. Youthful energy still bubbles from his voice when he talks about his family, his career, and his next challenge.

FFA was only a few years in his life, but they were years that served him well to put him on a path to a fulfilling personal life and professional career.