Adam Birr ’97 wants more people to get to know farmers.

“I think many believe that much of farming—and specifically corn farming—is now being done by large-scale companies,” he said. “That’s certainly not what I see as I work with multigenerational farm families. I know quite a few four- or five-generation farm families that want to continue their legacies.”

Birr is the executive director of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, representing 7,300 members raising corn across the state. Only Iowa has a larger corn association.

“The more one knows about the hard work, sacrifice and creativity of these families, a natural respect grows and you want them to succeed—for themselves and for all of us who benefit from what they produce,” Birr said.

Birr began at the association as a research director with an expertise in water resources, but after two years in that position was encouraged to run the organization, which helps corn farmers produce quality crops while paying close attention of land and water management.

He came to Calvin from the east side of Michigan, knowing nothing more than the college was Christian and had a solid science program, based on a liberal arts foundation.

“When I was a sophomore, Calvin began a major in environmental science, and that was just the direction for me,” he said. “I was able to take a variety of science subjects, and it was in some of my geology classes that I was drawn to water issues in particular.”

Birr spent additional time at the Au Sable Institute, an environmental studies center affiliated with Calvin, focusing on stream ecology.

That led to master’s and doctoral work in water resources at the University of Minnesota.

He was hired out of grad school by the Minnesota state Department of Agriculture to do a study of the state’s water resources in connection with a proposed sales tax increase for water-related activities. He worked for the state for seven years.

“I thought I’d wind up teaching someday,” said Birr, “but the timing never worked out. I went from working for the state on water-related issues to being hired by Minnesota Corn.”

Birr was drawn to working closer to farmers and the land, partnering hand-in-hand on production issues and in sustaining family farms.

“Corn prices are lower than they’ve ever been, below the cost of production,” he said. “That means we have to get creative, do more research and expand the market. And water use and management is part of an annual conversation.”

Farmers who are members of Minnesota Corn participate in what’s called a “check-off,” siphoning one penny per bushel sold to research activities of the association. Those dollars fuel more than $4 million in annual research and development efforts.

“Farmers are early adopters of technology,” said Birr, “and many of the innovations of agriculture wind up benefiting society far beyond agriculture.”

Birr is a cheerleader for agriculture and an advocate of programs that bring the distance between farm and table shorter.

Whether talking with farmers about crop production, legislators about farming policy or researchers examining water quality, stewarding God’s creation well and promoting sustainable processes are Birr’s goals.

“Agriculture has an interesting story,” he said. “We ought to be more intentional about reconnecting people to the land from which their food comes.”