[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 45 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S3061]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   YELLOWSTONE COUNTY AGENT JOHN RAMNEY'S 37 YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE

 Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Mr. John 
Ramney, a fellow Montana, who has spent 37 years in public service as 
an Agriculture Extension Agent for Yellowstone County, Montana. Over 
this period he has helped farmers, downtown business folks and the 
media with agricultural-related questions, in a professional manner 
that is a role model for exemplary public service today.
  Mr. Ramney's career served Montana's agriculture industry with a 
unique quiet dedication not usually seen today. He began his career as 
a county agent in training in Thompson Falls and Great Falls, Montana. 
He then became a 4-H Agent with the Yellowstone County Extension Office 
in 1961. After serving as an assistant county agent in training in 
Billions for six years, he became a full fledged County Agent for 
Yellowstone County.
  His job has involved educating the agricultural producers in 
Yellowstone County, Montana to enhance their productivity. He has done 
this primarily by providing information from research done at Montana 
State University or other experiment stations. He has also conducted 
numerous meetings and workshops to strengthen the farmers' knowledge 
and capabilities as Yellowstone County moved from a rural to a more 
urban county. In addition, he tirelessly maintained personal contacts 
with local farmers to ensure their understanding about crops, 
livestock, farm machinery, and land leases were up to date.
  Over his almost 40 years as a County Agent, Mr. Ramney always acted 
in a positive and helpful manner. He said that even though he has 
answered many, many questions over the years, he has learned that 
everyone who calls or stops by teaches him something. For example, he 
noted that a lot more calls were looking for information that people 
heard about from other universities and experimental stations in other 
parts of the country. With the advent of better communications, farmers 
knew more about what was happening in Oklahoma, North Dakota, South 
Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska. As Mr. Ramney said, ``They ask for it 
and I hunt for information wherever it might be.'' Ms. Mary Zartman, 
Personnel Director of the Montana State University Extension Service 
stated, with the news of Mr. Ramney's retirement, ``He'll be a hard act 
to follow.'' Please join with me in recognizing an unusual American and 
a great Montanan.

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