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A Farmer’s Wife and Remarkable Life
A Farmer’s Wife &
Remarkable Life
By Lynnette Harris
As a dairy scientist, inventor, and 28-year veteran of Utah State University’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences’ faculty, Gary Richardson is well aware that successes in science and life are often built on the encouragement and work of others.
As a member of the Society of Sons of Utah Pioneers, Richardson with his wife, USU alumna Fran Richardson, organized a recognition of the work of early Cache Valley settlers who created irrigation systems that made agriculture possible throughout the valley. A sign telling some of that story now stands at Canyon Park at the mouth of Logan Canyon near First Dam.
Local society members urged Richardson next to create a tribute to Ezra Taft Benson, who grew up just north of the Utah/Idaho border in Whitney, Idaho, and whose life and career took him far beyond Cache Valley. Richardson determined that several sites already exist lauding Benson’s government and religious leadership and service. What he found lacking is a tribute to Flora Amussen Benson who was a pivotal presence in her husband’s life and public accomplishments as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the Eisenhower administration and as president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985-1994.
At a time when a young woman’s future was largely shaped by her husband’s career, Flora Amussen might have wished to marry someone with obvious financial and social advantages or grand aspirations. She was, after all, accustomed to wealth and a comfortable life, Richardson said.
Flora’s father, Carl Christian Amussen, apprenticed as a watchmaker and jeweler in his native Denmark and was an acclaimed jeweler in Europe and later in New Zealand. When he immigrated to Utah, he built a jewelry store on Salt Lake City’s main street and continued to prosper. Amussen and his third wife, Barbara Smith, later moved to Logan. Flora was an infant when her father died, and she was devoted to her mother. According to sources written primarily about her husband, including Ezra Taft Benson; A Biography by Sheri Dew, Flora’s wish was to marry a hard-working and spiritual man who was not wealthy so they could “get what we get together,” and, she told her mother and reprised the story later to her children and grandchildren, “I’d like to marry a farmer.”
Flora was a busy and popular student at the Utah Agricultural College. She was an excellent tennis player and president of the Girls Athletic Club. She was involved in theater and student government and was easy to spot around town and on campus because she had her own car, a rarity at the time. The first time Ezra Taft Benson—“T” to his friends and family—saw Flora, she was driving her red convertible on campus.
Their courtship took some detours as Ezra was called to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and when he returned, Flora announced she too would be leaving to serve a mission. While she taught elementary school as a missionary in Hawaii, he continued work on his bachelor’s degree. Agricultural science was rapidly changing at the time due to greater scientific understanding and mechanization. When Ezra and Flora married in 1926, their wedding trip was driving and camping from Utah to Iowa so he could earn a master’s degree at the Iowa State University.
That humble start likely didn’t seem like a step toward a future shaping agriculture policy in the nation’s capital. Even in Washington, Flora remained a woman who lived her values even if they defied cultural norms. Though she was the wife of a cabinet secretary and entertained the wives of other top administrators, she and her daughters did the cooking and serving without hired help. She also, somewhat famously, declined an invitation to an event with dignitaries to attend her daughter’s school choir concert.
The Benson’s son, Reed, noted that when his father was frustrated with politics and discouraged, Flora was quick to reassure and encourage him. She also used her natural leadership and people skills to hone her husband’s speeches and together they left their marks on the world.
Flora realized her aspirations of marrying a farmer who was a spiritual man. Now Richardson is the one with the dream, and he continues to work at securing a fitting tribute to the woman who supported her husband’s efforts to benefit farmers and later their church, far beyond the familiar land and people of Cache Valley. �
DAIRY SCIENCE TO PUBLISHING SUCCESS
Leon Leavitt, Traditional Values, and Progressive Publishing
By Bronson Teichert and Lynnette Harris
Progressive Publishing is well-known in the realm of agricultural producers for its personal stories and useful, innovative information. Primarily focused on dairy, beef, and forage, Progressive publishes six magazines in multiple languages for readers in farming communities in the United States and Canada. These publications came to fruition over years of labor and innovation by Leon Leavitt, his family, and his team.
Leon was raised on a dairy farm in western Idaho and graduated in dairy science from Utah State University. While a student in Logan, he met his wife Jane, a fellow Idahoan who had grown up in Blackfoot and was studying speech pathology at USU. The two Aggies married in 1966 in Idaho Falls. After graduation, they stayed in Cache Valley and Leon worked out of Richmond as a field man for the Pet Milk Company. After three years of learning the business and getting to know area farmers, Leon returned to USU for graduate school. Just three months later, he accepted a position as head field man for Carnation de Mexico, S.A., which had two evaporated milk plants and ten receiving stations in Mexico. He worked doing dairy farm inspections, balancing dairy rations, improving management practices, and teaching artificial insemination. “Over the next few years I made my way back to the United States,” he said. “I added experience to my resumé which included working with family on an expanded dairy operation, becoming a dairy equipment dealer, a sales representative for Carnation Genetics, and even designing and installing cabinets.”
In March 1985, Leon opened Idaho for Advo Systems, a direct-mail marketing company, where he learned sales and ad design. Two years later, Leavitt came across a new publication with subject matter that was very familiar to him.
He related, “One day in March 1987, I stopped in to see my friend and neighbor Dr. Bruce Bradley at Northwest Labs in Jerome, Idaho. We had participated together with our boys in various scouting activities and had talked about working together to expand his company’s exposure. When I opened the door to his office he had the first issue of The Progressive Dairyman, an eight-page flyer, in his hand that was ready to be circulated to his clientele. He had just received the copies from the printer and felt like it needed improvement.”
Leon quickly contracted to improve the project along with Bradley’s wife, JoAnn, who was the editor of the original publication. Dr. Bradley’s business partner, Bob Whitchurch, was a well-known dairy nutritionist, and Whitchurch’s wife, Sharon, kept the books for the publication and was responsible for circulation.
“Together with those two gals, we met our monthly printing deadlines,” Leon said. “I started contacting potential advertisers, several of which are still with us, and our next two issues were 16 pages in length.”
In July 1987, he made the transition from a typewriter by selling a few calves to purchase an early model Apple computer, a 9-inch Macintosh SE. By 1990, the publication had grown to two versions, 40-pages in length, and had a circulation that reached people in 10 western states. The next year, Leon put funds together and through a mutually accepted and congenial agreement,
A family friendly company culture at Progressive Publishing has helped build a team of long-time employees.
bought out both his business partners and moved the equipment from Northwest Labs into the basement of his home. Leon’s wife, Jane, became the editor, teenage daughters Laura and Carolyn managed circulation lists, and younger son Bryan became a proficient ad designer.
Over time, Leon and his team expanded the company with new employees including his sons Alan and Glen, graduates of Utah State University and Brigham Young University, respectively. They invested in an imagesetter, which allowed them to make printer-ready negative film that met printer specifications.
“A colleague in the printing industry counseled me to always get the best equipment you can to do the job because, in the end, it will make you money, not cost you,” Leon said. “Our first digital camera cost us $995 in 1991. It only had black and white capability with a pixel density of 1.5 megapixels, but it certainly was an improvement over the conventional film cameras. We didn’t need color back then because it wasn’t required.”
Leon was always looking for ways to innovate and make the creation and publication process more efficient. In October 2004, when few companies had seen the potential of the internet, Progressive Publishing created a website for its publications (progressivepublish.com). Of course, now a flood of information is available to people everywhere, so what is it that continues to make Progressive’s offerings a recognizable and important voice in the agriculture industry?
Alan Leavitt explained, “One of the business models we follow is to provide readers with real-life, bottom-line-enhancing information, that is unbiased and not sales-driven. Time is our most precious commodity, and farmers are extremely busy. They highly value the timely information we provide them either in print or digitally (or both), and they are a loyal group. Trying to treat them and everyone in the industry as we want to be treated (the Golden Rule) has served us well. It is a win-win-win-win relationship between our readers, advertisers, the industry in general, and ourselves when we focus on that.”
In 2005, the company moved into its current facility in Jerome, Idaho. Two years later, Leon became publisher emeritus, officially retired from the company, and sold the business to Alan and Glen, who learned a lot about running the company from their dad and his leadership style.
“Leon’s leadership style is one of humility, compassion, trust, leading by example, and not being afraid to do things differently or to think outside the box,” Alan said. “Fostering a family- and faith-focused working atmosphere and hiring exceptional people who excel in their own fields has led to very little turnover and long-tenured employees.”
Progressive Publishing employs over 40 people—many are Aggies—publishes six
agriculture magazines with a monthly circulation of more than 93,000 readers, and covers all of the United States and Canada.
Alan said expanding Progressive Dairy into Canada happened naturally, as there are many commonalities between the two countries as far as milk production goes. Since the province of Quebec is primarily French-speaking, providing a publication in French also seemed like a good business decision.
Leon said he feels blessed to be associated with agriculture and the dairy industry and that the key ingredients to his success are basic principles of absolute honesty, adhering to the Golden Rule, serving customers well, and advises surrounding yourself with
Top: Leon Leavitt during construction of the company’s current home. Above: The founding team, (left to right) Sharon Whitchurch, Leon Leavitt, and JoAnn Bradley.
people who are more qualified at their jobs than you are.
“I give credit to God, my family, great employees, faith-based values, hard work, and being blessed to live in such a great country. We’ve been doing this for many years and it’s been an incredible journey. I have been in awe of how rapidly it has grown. I could not have done any of this without the support of our children and my wife, Jane. She’s the backbone of it all. Alan and Glen have taken the business to new heights by surrounding themselves with highly motivated and dedicated people.”
Since Leon took on emeritus status, he and Jane have been on three missions for their church—once in Chile and twice in the Dominican Republic—even though it meant being away from their six children and 28 grandchildren. They are now enjoying what they refer to as their fourth mission, the “Leavitt Family Mission,” and spending as much time as they can with their family. �
