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Top Farm Conservationists Honored at the Indiana State Fair

Indianapolis – Farmers from 63 farms in 48 Hoosier counties were acknowledged as top conservationists on Farmers’ Day at the Indiana State Fair with the 2009 River Friendly Farmer Award.

Left: River Friendly Farmer Award recipients pose after the cere-mony with Lt. Governor Skillman (stage row center, and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President, stage center right (blue shirt). NRCS State Conservationist Jane Hardisty is stage right behind Greg Witkamp who is kneeling. On the stage left is Chuck Hibberd, Director, Purdue Cooperative Extension Service (beside the American flag); Nola Gentry, Chair, State Soil Conservation Board and Anne Hazlett, Director, Indiana State Department of Agriculture. Front row left is Paula Baldwin, President, Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD); and Jennifer Boyle Warner, IASWCD Executive Director. >>Click here for a high resolution copy of this photo.

The award was presented on behalf of the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and its 92 SWCDs by Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, Secretary of Agriculture, and Indiana Farm Bureau President Don Villwock. Also joining in the ceremony was IASWCD President Paula Baldwin and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist Jane Hardisty.

The ceremony took place this afternoon at the 4-H Exhibit Hall auditorium attended by state and federal conservation partners, family and friends. "We're pleased to honor these producers who work hard to protect our natural resources," said Paula Baldwin, IASWCD President.

Farmers are nominated locally by their county Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The goal of the award is to publicly recognize farmers who do an excellent job of managing their farms in an environmentally sound way that protects and improves Indiana’s soil and water resources for future generations. The award also seeks to publicize and promote best management farming practices that help improve water quality while maintaining and improving the economic viability of Hoosier agriculture.

The 2009 RFF recipients are (those with blue links to photos were present for the ceremony):

1. Boone County / Bruce Guernsey with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
   Farm located in Boone County
2. Clark County / Terry Vissing
   Farm located in Clark County
3. Clay County / Loughmiller Farms Inc. Don Loughmiller, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
   Farm located in Clay County
4. Clay County / Jon Nicoson, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
   Farm located in Clay County
5. Clinton County / Dan and Gary Lahrman
   Farm located in Clinton County
6. Crawford County / The Morris-Yelverton Family Morris
   Farm located in Crawford County
7. Crawford County / Addison and Sandy Nabb
   Farm located in Crawford County
8. Daviess County / Paul McKee
   Farm located in Daviess County
9. Dearborn County / Jim Bloom, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
   Farm located in Dearborn County
10. Dearborn County / Tom Gaynor, Steve Kuhn and Mike Kuhn
    Farm located in Dearborn County
11. Decatur County / Jim Ortman, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Decatur County
12. DeKalb County / Charles Arnett, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in DeKalb County
13. DeKalb County / Dean Sherck, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in DeKalb County
14. Dubois County / D & K Farms
    Farm located in Dubois County
15. Dubois County / Steve Rauscher
    Farm located in Dubois County
16. Elkhart County / Justin Miller
    Farm located in Elkhart County
17. Gibson County / William "Chick" Bugher
    Farm located in Gibson County
18. Hamilton County / Gerald (Butch) Kirby
    Farm located in Hamilton County
19. Hamilton County / John Leonard
    Farm located in Hamilton County
20. Howard County / Jim and Ron Stites, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Howard County
21. Huntington County / Lt. Governor Becky Skillman with Greg and Eva Witkamp and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Huntington County
22. Jackson County / Larry Peters (Jackson County recipient), Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, Peg Peters and Don Villwock, IFB President
    Farm located in Jackson County
23. Jay County / Joseph Mack Nuckols
    Farm located in Jay County
24. Jefferson County / Donald Cleffman
    Farm located in Jefferson County
25. Johnson County / Kevin Thompson
    Farm located in Johnson County
26. Knox County / Ray McCormick, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Knox County
27. Kosciusko County / Rich Schlipf
    Farm located in Kosciusko County
28. LaGrange County / Roger Boots (deceased) Accepting was son, Mark Boots, and, daughter, Julie Diehm, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, far left, and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President, far right.
    Farm located in LaGrange County
29. LaGrange County / Mahlon Dunkel
    Farm located in LaGrange County
30. Miami County / Ralph (Randy) Overman
    Farm located in Miami County
31. Newton County / James Buchanan
    Farm located in Newton County
32. Newton County / Robert Lyons
    Farm located in Newton County
33. Noble County / Larry Wilkinson, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Noble County
34. Ohio County / Carl and Tillie Courtney
    Farm located in Ohio County
35. Owen County / Gary Fox, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Owen County
36. Orange County / Jim Orr and Sons
    Farm located in Orange County
37. Owen County / William Schneider, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Owen County
38. Perry County / David Flamion
    Farm located in Perry County
39. Posey County / Ed and Gabe Yeida
    Farm located in Posey County
40. Pulaski County / Kenneth Redlin
    Farm located in Pulaski County
41. Scott County / Jack Roll
    Farm located in Scott County
42. Scott County / Ed Roll, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Scott County
43. Spencer County / Richard Michel, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Spencer County
44. Spencer County / Otto Phillip Schmidt, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Spencer County
45. Starke County / Mark Chesak
    Farm located in Starke County
46. Sullivan County / James Bell
    Farm located in Sullivan County
47. Tippecanoe County / Gary Brown
    Farm located in Tippecanoe County
48. Tippecanoe County / Jack Lahrman, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Tippecanoe County
49. Tipton County / Gregg Alexander
    Farm located in Tipton / Clinton County
50. Tipton County / Ed Ripberger, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Tipton County
51. Vanderburgh County / Wayne Fehd, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Vanderburgh /Warrick/Spencer Counties
52. Vermillion County / Tom Milligan, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Vermillion County additional photo of Tom and Sandy Milligan with Lt. Governor Skillman
53. Vigo County / Patrick Pounds, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Vigo County
54. Wabash County / Kevin Cordes, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Wabash County
55. Wabash County / Dale Kroft
    Farm located in Wabash County
56. Warrick County / Michael Gerhardt
    Farm located in Warrick County
57. Washington County / Loren Gray, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Washington County
58. Washington County / Steve Purlee, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Washington County
59. Wayne County / Jon Alyea, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Wayne County
60. Wayne County / Michael Craig, middle, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and Don Villwock, Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc. President
    Farm located in Wayne County
61. White County / Steve Clerget
    Farm located in White County
62. Whitley County / Dennis and Keith Conrad
    Farm located in Whitley County
63. Whitley County / Mark and Tom Zumbrun
    Farm located in Whitley County

The River Friendly Farmer Award is sponsored and supported by the:

• Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and our 92 county SWCDs,
• Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc.,
• Indiana State Department of Agriculture Division of Soil Conservation,
• Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, and the
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

>>Click here for additional information on the award or contact the IASWCD at 317.692.7325.

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INDIANA ASSOCIATION OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS

Our mission is to represent Soil and Water Conservation Districts as one voice, and to assist the leadership of local SWCDs through coordination and education for the wise use and management of our natural resources.

>>Click here for the IASWCD brochure

>>Click here to contact a county Soil and Water Conservation District Office

>>Click here to follow the IASWCD on Twitter