The Wisconsin Honey Producers Association honored Fran Boyd as the 2024 recipient of the Lee Heine Good People Award at the annual American Beekeeping Federation conference in Reno, Nevada held January 7-11, 2025.
Fran Boyd has been a vital resource to the beekeeping industry on all levels. His interest in honeybees has spanned decades as a legislative consultant to the beekeeping industry through the American Beekeeping Federation. Boyd spends countless hours mentoring industry members and fighting for their causes. This service has been invaluable to United States beekeeping and critical to have an effective, knowledgeable voice in Washington, DC.
Fran Boyd’s work with beekeepers began around 1991. He has led countless national representatives from the American Beekeeping Federation through the halls of the United States Capitol, advocating the numerous causes of beekeeping from funding United States Department of Agriculture bee laboratories to labor and trucking regulations, standards of identity for honey, and countless other issues that affect beekeepers on a daily basis. He has been a lead advocate for the beekeeping industry on several United States Farm Bills and has worked closely on issues affected the industry in agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. He has provided a professional and credible face for the beekeeping industry on a national scale, going above and beyond his contract, to serve the beekeepers nationwide. Boyd has spent a full career representing beekeepers as well as training beekeepers to be effective advocates for their industry, providing tutelage on lobbying at local, state, and national levels, working with elected officials, and providing guidance on resources available to beekeepers.
Fran Boyd served as senior vice president for Meyers and Associates, LLC, and presently is engaged with Hance Scarborough as a legislative consultant. He has spent over 30 years in Washington, DC, with experience in both the executive branch of government and the private sector. He has represented a variety of clients, including national agriculture trade associations, agribusiness companies, cooperatives, state governments, and land-grant universities. Boyd served as Director of Congressional and Public Affairs for the Farm Credit Administration, an independent federal financial agency. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Director of Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the Reagan Administration. In that role, he was as the primary liaison between USDA, Capitol Hill, and the White House. Boyd brings a wide array of experience in both legislative and regulatory areas primarily in agricultural and natural resources policy, food safety, trade, immigration policy, water irrigation policy and tax/financial services. He earned his Master of Science degree in Agriculture Economics and Agribusiness from Arizona State University, where he also received his undergraduate degree. Boyd completed the Senior Managers in Government Program from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The Lee Heine Good People Award is open to anyone nationwide and aims to recognize individuals or organizations who are not beekeepers or honey producers but who have done a great service for the beekeeping industry. Visit www.wihoney.org for more info and to nominate a candidate for 2025!
