Member

Mace Thornton
American Farm Bureau Federation

Mace Thornton is acting director of public relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation. Thornton leads the public relations team for the nation’s largest agricultural organization. He directs the organization's overall public relations, media relations, strategic communications, broadcast and social media initiatives. He serves as a member of AFBF’s management and strategic action teams.

Previously, Thornton served as deputy director of PR, a position he assumed in November 2004. In that role, he supervised the news and media services department and served as the organization’s chief speechwriter. He joined the AFBF staff in 1990. A native of Kansas, Thornton began his Farm Bureau career in 1985, when he became a member of the Kansas Farm Bureau staff.

He currently serves as president of the Agricultural Relations Council, the organization that serves the needs of agricultural public relations professionals, and as a member of the Center for Food Integrity board. He is also a member of the advisory boards of the AgChat Foundation and the America’s Heartland public television series.

Prior to beginning his Farm Bureau career, Thornton served as a reporter for the McPherson (Kan.) Sentinel. Thornton broke into journalism as a reporter/photographer for The Atchison (Kan.) Globe while earning a journalism degree from Benedictine College, Atchison, Kan. He has also covered major college and high school sporting events for The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury and his journalistic work has appeared in numerous national publications.

Thornton's writing has been recognized in many nationwide writing contests. In 1992 he received the American Agricultural Editors Association's Master Writer Award, the highest writing honor bestowed by that organization. In 1993, he edited a book titled "The Seasons of Farm Bureau," for the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. In 1996 he was named a McCloy Agricultural Fellow and participated in a fellowship in Germany.

Thornton was born and raised on a small farrow-to-finish hog farm near Troy, Kan. He and his wife, Denise, have three children who each attend George Mason University.

About Us

Members of the Board

Management