2020 Spring Farm Outlook

Page 40 2020 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 19, 2020 M ARIETTA, Ill. (March 2, 2020) – Five Illinois producers will be honored as 2020 Master Farmers at Prairie Farmer magazine’s annual event in Springfield, Ill., on Thursday, March 19. The award recognizes exceptional agricultural production skills, commitment to family and service to community. Among the honorees are Atlanta citizens John and Susan Adams. “The Master Farmer award is Illinois agriculture’s lifetime achievement award,” said Holly Spangler, Prairie Farmer editor. “These farmers are at the top of their game, and this award is based on their entire body of work in the field, in the family, and in the community.” Prairie Farmer first offered the Master Farmer award 95 years ago, in 1925. Editors have continued the tradition annually since 1968, following a pause initially caused by the Depression. When Editor Clifford Gregory established the Master Farmer program, he felt the award would help give farm people a greater sense of “pride and permanence.” Nearly 350 Illinois producers have been inducted as Master Farmers or Honorary Master Farmers over the program’s history. Candidates are nominated by farmers, neighbors, agribusiness leaders and farm organizations throughout the state. Judges for the 2020 awards were Karen Corrigan, McGillicuddy Corrigan Agronomics; Ed McMillan, University of Illinois Board of Trustees; Linnea Kooistra, 2011 Master Farmer; Steve Myers, Busey Ag Services; Dwight Raab, First Midwest Bank; and Holly Spangler, Prairie Farmer editor. Some Master Farmers serve in state and national farm leadership positions. Others chair prestigious boards or serve with honor at the highest levels of government. Still others build their farms or businesses to regional or national prominence. However, all serve their communities – building churches, chairing little-known but important committees, organizing harvest for a stricken neighbor – and continuing the service- minded commitment that earned them the Master Farmer distinction in the first place. “Every year, we pour through pages and pages of applications that document a lifetime of work. We sift until we find the very best Illinois farmers – the people who raise good John and Susan Adams from Atlanta selected as 2020 Master Farmers Continue 4