NBA Honors Fred and Penni Bruning for Contributions to Agriculture

The Nebraska Bankers Association recognized Fred and Penni Bruning of Bruning with the 2025 NBA Agri-business Recognition Award. The award has been presented each year since 1983 to individuals who have made significant contributions to the state of Nebraska and its agricultural industry. The presentation was made during the NBA’s Fall Agri-business Conference in Lincoln.

From left: Bruning Bank President & COO Jerry Catlett, NBA Chair Mark Linville (First State Bank, Randolph), Penni Bruning, Bruning Bank CEO Fred Bruning

Fred Bruning is a fourth-generation banker, farmer and rancher who currently serves as CEO of Bruning Bank. He began working alongside his grandfather in banking as a child and formally joined the family bank in 1991, when it held about $50 million in assets and operated from a single location. Under his leadership, Bruning Bank has grown to six locations across central and south-central Nebraska with more than $600 million in assets.
 
Bruning was the driving force in establishing and securing funding for the ag banking and finance major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where students receive scholarships and gain hands-on experience through internships at Nebraska banks. He also helped create the Heifer Link program at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, which gives students a bred heifer during their fourth semester to support their future in livestock production.
 
He has represented Nebraska agriculture and rural banking through his service on the American Bankers Association Farm Credit Task Force, the USDA Task Force on Ag Policy and Rural Development, the Nebraska Bankers Association Government Relations Committee and the Nebraska Community Foundation Board. In 2015, he received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the UNL Department of Agricultural Economics, and in 2018, he earned the American Bankers Association Bruning Award for contributions to rural banking.
 
Penni Bruning began her career in nursing, where she was instrumental in advancing cardiac rehabilitation programs in Nebraska. After two decades in health care, she purchased and now manages Feedlot Fencing LLC, a company that manufactures and supplies fencing for feedlots, ranches, dairies and other livestock operations across the Midwest.
 
Penni has also been active in community foundations, education programs, and volunteer service, including nearly two decades chairing the Bruning Community Foundation’s China Luncheon fundraiser, which has supported local projects and strengthened community ties.
 
Together, Fred and Penni operate a diversified farm and cattle business that includes about 400 cow-calf pairs and a feedlot, continuing a family tradition in agriculture dating back to the 1950s.
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The NBA is proud to recognize Fred and Penni Bruning for their outstanding contributions to Nebraska's agriculture and their unwavering community service. Their leadership and commitment reflect the spirit of the NBA Agri-business Recognition Award.