Jan 8, 2025

Michigan ag industry mourns the loss of Victor Shank

Victor Shank, former president of the Michigan Vegetable Council (MVC) and prominent figure in the Michigan agriculture industry, passed away on Jan. 5 at his home in Dowagiac, Michigan.

Shank was a longtime fixture in the state’s agricultural industry, serving on the MVC from 2003-2011 and as president of the council from 2007-2008. In 2019, the MVC honored Shank with the Master Farmer Award, which is given in recognition of outstanding farming practices, as well as cooperation with Michigan State University researchers and Extension educators and leadership roles in the vegetable industry and local community. 

Shank also served on the Michigan Asparagus Marketing Program Advisory Board for a number of years.

Shank was the president of Central Produce Sales, a farming operation that produces fruits, vegetables, and seed corn, as well as a brokerage operation that supplies processing snap beans to food processors in the U.S. and Canada. He farmed for more than 30 years, growing asparagus, apples, seed corn, snap beans, zucchini and cherries. Shank studied agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas.

According to Shank’s obituary, a memorial service is scheduled for Jan. 10 at First United Methodist Church in Dowagiac.