Growing up on the family farm and ranch near Richardton, North Dakota, inspired a life-long passion for learning, production agriculture, and people development in Steve Bobb ’82, the 2024 NDSU Harvest Bowl Agribusiness Award recipient.

Some of his earliest memories are of working on his family’s Stark County cow/calf operation that also produced spring wheat, oats, barley and hay. Bobb was an active 4-H member, participated in band and speech competitions, and worked on the high school paper and yearbook before graduating from Richardton Public Schools.

Bobb graduated from NDSU in 1982 with a degree in Agronomy and Animal Sciences, and a minor in Agricultural Economics.

“NDSU provided me with wonderful advisors and opportunities to learn from experts in economics, marketing and business, but it also gave me life experiences in the way of learning from and living with a variety of people from different backgrounds,” shares Bobb.

NDSU is also where Bobb met his wife, Joanne, who earned her degree in Food and Nutrition in 1984.

After graduation, Bobb took a position with Farm Credit Banks in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then in 1987 joined the former Burlington Northern Railroad before it became what is now BNSF Railway.

In 1999, he was named Group Vice President of Agricultural Products where he managed one of BNSF’s most important divisions, providing transportation solutions for the agriculture industry, a cornerstone of the North American economy. North Dakota benefited specifically with grain shipments increasing more than 60% between 2012 and 2023.

Since 2013, Bobb has served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for BNSF, leading the company’s sales, marketing, customer service, economic development and real estate teams.

As of September 2024, Bobb retired from BNSF after spending 36 years with the company.

Bobb’s advice for anyone wishing to make a difference is, “Find something you love doing, be willing to put in the work and stay focused on how you can make a difference in people’s lives – be it co-workers, customers or the community around you.”