The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) has presented its annual President's Award to David Baltensperger, a faculty member in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Baltensperger served as head of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences for 20 years. He is now a professor in that department and interim head of the Department of Food Science and Technology.
CAST also gave the award to Ray Starling, general counsel of the North Carolina Chamber. The council said both were recognized for outstanding leadership and dedicated service to strengthening the role of science and technology in agriculture and food systems. Baltensperger served as CAST president in 2020-2021 and chaired a task force that prepared a 2021 CAST commentary on climate projects.
Baltensperger said the award reminded him of the mentors who guided his work with CAST and other organizations. CAST President P.V. Vara Prasad presented the award at the 2026 CAST Annual Meeting and Student Innovation Conference. CAST is based in Ames, Iowa.