Kevin Freund grew up in Springfield, Missouri and went to Southwest Missouri state where he graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy. After graduating he was hired by ServiTech and moved to Goodland, Kansas for the position, later that same year he moved to live in Stratton, and remained with ServiTech for 11 years. In 2007, Freund began working at Stratton Equity Coop as the fertilizer plant manager in Stratton. He remained in the position of plant manager until 2009, when he became the Safety Director and worked in procurement and sales. Freund recently moved to the new position of Agronomy Purchasing, Pricing and Marketing Manager. In the new position he is in charge of all agronomy procurement, pricing product, and marketing. Freund said fertilizer timing [purchasing] is different from chemical timing and the process is also different. Stratton Coop buys the fertilizer direct, so the issue has been Freund establishing relationships with the vendors to get the purchases made. Freund enjoys spending time with his family. His children show goats at the county fair and participate in 4-H. Freund’s son also participates in Boy Scouts and he attends his daughter’s dance recitals, too! During the summer, on the weekends you can find the Freund family at the lake enjoying fishing and camping. Freund hunts coyotes, deer, antelope and pheasant during the later seasons. In the future, he hopes to go elk or bear hunting. Freund has devoted 22 years to the Stratton Volunteer Fire Department, serving 16 of those years as chief. In the past, he also served as an EMT for the community for 16 years. Freund stated training and working with the fire department has been a passion he has truly enjoyed. ____________ Chemical availability is going to be a problem in the upcoming months because of supply chain issues. Please communicate your needs to your salesman as soon as you have a plan in place. We will need as much time as possible for procurement to meet your crop protection needs.