Whereas Ray Gaesser was a devoted family man, a trusted friend, and a leading voice for agriculture in Iowa;

Whereas Gaesser believed farming was a privilege and treated the land as something to be cared for, strengthened, and handed down to the next generation to carry on the old-est tradition of Iowa;

Whereas the impact of Gaesser on agriculture in Iowa reached far beyond his own fields;

Whereas Gaesser was the president of the Iowa Soybean Association in 2007 and, in 2014, became the president of the American Soybean Association, promoting the priorities of farmers from across the United States on trade missions around the world;

Whereas Gaesser passed away in a tragic farming accident while tending to the land that he loved, which highlights the inherent physical dangers faced by even the most seasoned agriculturalists across the United States;

Whereas Gaesser leaves behind his wife, Elaine, their children, Chris and Jennifer, and a legacy that will endure in the land he cared for and in the lives of the farmers he spent his life fighting for;

Whereas the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates agriculture as one of the most dan-gerous industries for workers;

Whereas an estimated 160 agricultural workers are injured every day in the United States, resulting in more than 58,000 injuries every year;

Whereas nearly 400 agricultural workers die every year as a result of injuries sustained in severe farm-related accidents;

Whereas over 100 individuals under the age of 20 die in farm-related accidents every year; and

Whereas education and awareness on the leading causes of farm-related accidents and accident prevention can save the lives of agricultural workers and prevent tragedies such as the accident that took the life of Ray Gaesser: Now, therefore, be it