Spring 2008

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Dairy Science Grad Now Looks at Iowa State through Regent’s Eye

As a student Craig Lang participated in Iowa State Singers, Dairy Science Club and dairy judging teams. 

The assignment: interview Craig Lang, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation (IFBF), member of the Iowa Board of Regents and 1973 Iowa State University dairy science graduate.

Lang suggests meeting in Kildee Hall, where he spent much of his time during his four years at Iowa State. We agree on Kildee 121, a reading room adjacent to the dairy science offices. By chance, the Farm Bureau Spokesman is displayed on a shelf, sporting a large cover photo of Lang speaking at the 89th annual IFBF meeting.

Lang grew up on a dairy farm near Brooklyn. His parents, Maynard and Dorothy, worked hard to make sure their four children had the opportunities they deserved. “They insisted we all attend college. We really didn’t have much choice,” he says.

Small college football scholarships beckoned, but Lang decided on Iowa State. He admits he wasn’t a “Grade A” student.

“I did what I needed to do to pass. I didn’t understand the value of the education I was getting. But I had an extremely good experience at Iowa State. Many of the practical things I use today, I learned here,” he says.

After graduation, he returned to the family farm, a move he hadn’t planned. “Once I started farming, I realized I enjoyed the challenges,” he says.

At the time, the family farm included a 24-cow dairy herd. Farming in partnership with his parents and his brother Eric (’84 dairy science), the farm now includes a 500-cow dairy herd and 1,250 acres of land. “It’s a self-sustaining farm,” Lang says. “Animal nutrients are returned to the soil to grow crops to feed the animals.”

Lang and his wife Mary have four children. The youngest, Cade, is the sixth generation to join the family farm.

Lang’s Farm Bureau involvement began when he was asked to serve as a township director on the Poweshiek County Farm Bureau board. “I discovered this was a policy organization that did more than I thought,” he says.

He was elected to the IFBF board in 1992, and served as vice president from 1996 to 2001 before being chosen as the organization’s president. He was elected to his fourth two-year term in December.

Lang ran for the top job because he wanted the organization to focus on rural vitality. “I was traveling the state as vice president. It was alarming to see what was happening to rural Iowa,” he says.

Under Lang’s leadership, the organization launched “Renew Rural Iowa” which provides grants and loans for a wide variety of initiatives.

He was tapped by Gov. Tom Vilsack to chair the board of the Grow Iowa Values Fund, which supports university innovations with commercial potential. When Gov. Chet Culver was looking for a new Board of Regents member, he called Lang.

“He wanted an Iowa State grad who would bring transparency and openness to the Regents,” he says. “He knew I would bring my passion for agriculture, life sciences, veterinary medicine and engineering to the table.”

Lang says the Board of Regents plays an important role in Iowa.

“The future of Iowa is in the young people who graduate from Regents’ institutions. We have to watch budgets closely, and make sure tuition keeps the system viable, yet still attractive to students from Iowa and around the world,” he says.

Lang’s many accomplishments earned him the 2007 Distinguished Graduate award from Iowa State’s Dairy Science Club. The annual award honors an ISU graduate who has had an impact on the dairy industry through off-farm activities beyond dairy production.