VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Russ Danielson and Dr. Kenneth Grafton are the newest members of the North Dakota Agricultural Hall of Fame.
Danielson served on the faculty of NDSU’s Animal Science Department for 44 years. He worked with Russell Bueling to develop the BueLingo cattle breed. The Valley City native talked about the history behind the Dutch Belted Bull used to produce the BueLingo breed in North Dakota.
He said despite the 2021 drought, beef producers are optimistic this year.
The North Dakota Agricultural Hall of Fame was established to honor men and women who have made significant contributions to the state’s leading industry, agriculture. A ceremony was held Wednesday, March 9th to honor Danielson and Dr. Kenneth Grafton as the newest members into the class of 2022. Dr. Grafton was unable to attend the ceremony.
Dr. Grafton had a significant impact on North Dakota agriculture, serving in multiple roles at NDSU, from the dry edible bean program to his leadership of NDSU Agriculture in the roles of Vice President for Agricultural Affairs, Director of the NDSU Agricultural Experiment Station and Dean of the College of Agriculture. The NDSU dry bean breeding program independently developed and released ten varieties under Grafton’s leadership. Originally from Ohio, Dr. Grafton retired in June of 2020 after 40 years of service.
Meanwhile, Randy Grueneich was named the 2022 North Dakota Crop Show Honoree during the same ceremony on March 9th during the 85th annual North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City.
After 30 years with the NDSU Extension Service, Randy Grueneich retired in December of 2021. Grueneich started his career in Hettinger, N.D. (Adams County) moved to Lisbon (Ransom County) before coming to Valley City (Barnes County) in 2002.
