Earning the title “Indiana Master Farmer” is a big deal for Hoosier farmers. Those honors were presented last week in West Lafayette.
“Being an Indiana Master Farmer is such a humbling experience,” says Knox County farmer Susan Brocksmith. “To be elected by other people to say that I have done well in the arena of agriculture is humbling.”
Brocksmith farms with her husband in Vincennes and currently serves as president of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council. A long-time agribusiness professor at Vincennes University, she’s now Dean of the College of Business and Public Service at Vincennes. She was thrilled to be part of the Master Farmer legacy.
“My grandfather got the Master Farmer award in 1968, my father-in-law got it in 1996, and my husband got it in 2004. So, there is a legacy… as you look out to all the people that got Master Farmer, it’s just a humbling experience to know that you’re in this group.”
Conservation was a major theme at the awards banquet. Brocksmith’s farm is no-till and utilizes cover crops. Hamilton County Master Farmers Rodney and Natasha Rulon have been leading adopters of conservation practices over the years, and they’ve shared their experiences with others. Rodney explains why this conservation conversation has ramped up in recent years.
“It’s the legacy focus, and the context of where we are in the world, and the population and everything. Everybody’s kind of coming to the realization that the soil and the farms are not unlimited resources. We’ve got to start thinking about how to keep those going to pass on and feed future generations.”
Brocksmith and Rulon have both benefited from the help of Barry Fisher, this year’s Honorary Master Farmer from Putnam County. Fisher has spent over 40 years promoting soil health practices. He retired from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service after 39 ½ years and now runs Fisher Soil Health Consulting. He told Hoosier Ag Today that he can’t imagine a higher honor, and he’s glad that conservation practices were highlighted.
“Conservation to a person that’s very business-minded, conserving their resources makes perfect sense. And to any farmer that truly wants their business to be successful knows they have to have stewardship of their resources…Conservation is the true path to sustainability, both economic and conservation.”
Also awarded with Master Farmer honors last week were Posey County dairy farmers Dale and Lisa Koester as well as Stan and Ann Armstrong, Lawrence County cattle producers. The Indiana Master Farmer awards are presented by Indiana Prairie Farmer and Purdue University Extension.
