U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Rob Moore was awarded a new Kubota hay baler on Saturday during a special ceremony at the 2024 PBR World Finals in Arlington, Texas.

An area resident is the recipient of a “Geared to Give” Kubota equipment.

Lt. Col. Rob Moore, U.S. Marine Corps, of Fredonia was one of five awardees, which include both veterans and currently serving members of the Armed Forces, honored during a special ceremony last weekend on the dirt at the 2024 Professional Bull Riders World Finals at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, during a commemoration of Armed Forces Day.

“The ‘Geared to Give’ program is Kubota’s way of honoring our Nation’s veterans for their service in the military, but also to empower them with the tools they need as they serve their communities a second time, by helping to feed them,” said Alex Woods, Kubota Senior Vice President and a veteran of the Army National Guard. “Veterans play an important role in strengthening our rural communities and we are honored to be a part of their journey by providing them with much-needed tools to build their farming operations so they, too, can give back to the areas they serve.”

In addition to receiving new Kubota equipment, the five farmer veteran recipients and their guests received an all-expenses-paid trip to Arlington to attend the 2024 PBR World Finals in Kubota’s dirt suite. “PBR wants to thank farmer veterans for their service to our country and their hard work putting food on our tables,” said Josh Baker, Chief Revenue Officer, PBR. “We also extend our gratitude to our valued partners at Kubota for supporting farmer veterans in a meaningful way through the ‘Geared to Give’ program.”

Moore currently serves in the U.S. Marine Corps and has more than 19 years of combined service in the Marines and U.S. Army, which includes two deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and one deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

He will be one of the principal speakers during the Memorial Day services in Dunkirk at Memorial Park at 10 a.m.

Moore and his partners, Marine 1st Lieutenant Ryan Deas, and Markus Deas, a commercial airline pilot, own and operate Range Ranch in Fredonia, where they raise chickens, dairy cows, and bees, and grow concord grapes and hay. Kubota is awarding Robert a BV4160 PREM hay baler and he is supported by his local Kubota dealer, Monroe Tractor in Springville.

Range Ranch was incorporated last year to serve veterans of the military in a variety of ways, including a therapeutic environment to connect veterans with animals to assist with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related issues.

Co-founders and brothers Markus Deas and Ryan Deas, who were raised in Fredonia, were motivated to invest in their local community with a cause near to their hearts. Ryan Deas, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, is a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. His brother, Markus Deas, is a commercial pilot with Breeze Airways and a graduate of Liberty University. Their mother, Mary Deas, assists as the General Manager of Range Ranch.

The 2024 “Geared to Give” program received more than 500 applications through FVC’s Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund, and in the end, one recipient was selected by and for each of Kubota’s five operating divisions across the U.S.

“Kubota is an amazing longtime partner of the Farmer Veteran Coalition,” said FVC CEO Jeanette Lombardo. “Over the years, our work together on the core mission of FVC has continued to expand and the original project that started it all was the ‘Geared to Give’ program, which is the highlight of my year. The impact that Kubota makes on the lives of our beginning farmers and ranchers and their families is life changing.”