Commitment to the community of agriculture

It was December in the Indiana Statehouse, and legislators rushed around, preparing to discuss revenue forecasts and next year’s budgets. John Baugh, director of agricultural services and regulations in the College of Agriculture, answered his phone. It was the dean. The team tasked with funding the new animal sciences building and meat lab came up with a plan to increase donor funds and save millions on the project, but they needed a little more state funding to make it happen.

Walking down a hallway to the statehouse 30 minutes later, Baugh ran into the perfect person to discuss increasing the funding for the project.  The legislator agreed to help. That chance meeting led to the project’s budget getting approved and a better outcome for everyone.

“We were able to negotiate an opportunity to do both buildings for animal sciences at the same time and save money,” Baugh says. 

Whether in a hallway encounter with a legislator or a classroom training high school students, Baugh brings people together through a shared passion for agriculture.

“My job now is doing what I’ve always enjoyed: working with people in Indiana and folks in agriculture,” Baugh says. “I enjoy connecting people and building and maintaining those relationships.”

“Throughout his time at Purdue, John has been a tireless advocate for the College of Agriculture, championing the needs of our faculty, staff and students,” Bernie Engel, dean of the College of Agriculture, says. “His unwavering commitment extends beyond our campus, as he serves the residents of Indiana through his work at the Indiana Statehouse to ensure that the laws, rules and regulations passed are grounded in both science and common sense.”

Baugh’s involvement in agriculture began in Bloomington, Indiana, where he found a community through his family farm and local mentors. “My first connections to Purdue were people in my community,” Baugh says. “I was active in 4-H with livestock, and we had a good 4-H leader who was a Purdue grad, which was unusual, because there weren’t many Purdue grads around Bloomington.”

This experience, combined with going to the Future Farmers of America (FFA) state convention on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus and having an agriculture teacher who attended Purdue, made it “almost a given” that Baugh would study at Purdue.

Baugh graduated from Purdue in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in animal sciences and started working in Indiana Farm Bureau’s commodity department soon after.

One of his first job responsibilities was gathering and evaluating carcass data to help livestock producers improve their genetics. In 1976, he began visiting high school home economics classes to do meat cutting demonstrations, sponsored by county farm bureaus and local pork producer organizations.

“I would go in with a half a hog over my shoulder and my white coat, handsaw, cutting boards and knives,” Baugh says. “John Forrest, a Purdue animal sciences professor, taught me how to do the demonstrations. It was a great opportunity to connect with individuals across Indiana.”

His time at Indiana Farm Bureau allowed Baugh to travel the state, building relationships and gaining a better understanding of the needs of local communities.

Baugh started a new era with Farm Bureau in 1987 when he began doing legislative work. He collaborated with various agriculture groups to advocate for topics ranging from pesticide regulation to financial protections for grain farmers to funding for Purdue Extension.

“In Indiana, agriculture is one big community,” Baugh says. “In a lot of other states, the commodity groups, universities and departments of agriculture don’t work closely together. Indiana is fortunate. There can be some differences, but they get worked out.”

Baugh’s advocacy frequently benefited the College of Agriculture. Among many other projects, he helped secure funding for the food science building and the Agricultural Science and Extension for Economic Development (AgSEED) grant program for research and extension.

Baugh continued advocating for Purdue and Indiana agriculture in 1995 when he accepted his current position in the College of Agriculture.

Even though Baugh moved from being a lobbyist to a liaison, his presence in the statehouse remained consistent. “If you're going to be in the statehouse, you need to be in the statehouse,” Baugh says. “If the legislators are there, I'm there, which is usually during session every day. A lot of things happen quickly. In the hallway people will ask you questions, and that’s how you build relationships.”

In addition to giving back to Purdue through his work in the legislature, Baugh gives back to the Purdue community through donating by payroll deduction. His donations support a scholarship in the college and a livestock judging endowment.

“I give back because it’s part of appreciating the education I had and the opportunities it created for me,” Baugh says.

Baugh’s work in agriculture has been recognized with the Frederick L. Hovde Award of Excellence in Educational Service in 2022, and the AgriVision Award, Indiana’s highest agricultural award, in 2024.