River Friendly Farmer: Jeffrey Baker
River Friendly Farmers: Jeffrey McGuire & Dana Hart
Conservation Farmer of the Year: Dean Henke
River Friendly Farmer: Chuck Scales
River Friendly Farmer: Chuck Scales
River Friendly Farmer: Ben Lloyd
Lifetime Conservation Award: Don Phillips
River Friendly Farmer: Brad Stahl
River Friendly Farmer: Brad Stahl
Business Partner of the Year: Lynnville National Bank
Young Farmer of the Year: Wes Miller
Conservation Partner of the Year: Amanda Mosiman, Purdue Extension
Conservation Farmer of the Year: Dan Wolfe
Volunteer Family of the Year: Audrey, Abigail and Stephanie Stallings
Urban Conservation Partner of the Year: Joe Schitter, Warrick County, Parks Department
Young Farmer of the Year: Wes Miller
Conservation Partner of the Year: Amanda Mosiman, Purdue Extension
Conservation Farmer of the Year: Dan Wolfe
Volunteer Family of the Year: Audrey, Abigail and Stephanie Stallings
Urban Conservation Partner of the Year: Joe Schitter, Warrick County, Parks Department
River Friendly Farmer: Clayton Barchet
Awarded in 2022
Conservation Farmer of the Year:
Phil Springstun |
Young Farmer of the Year:
Jacob Duncan |
Conservation Partner of the Year:
Campbell Township Conservation Club |
River Friendly Farmer:
Jerry Durcholz |
Urban Conservation Partner of the Year:
Roger & Mary Winstead |
not photographed award winnersBusiness Partner of the Year:
B-Hive Printing Volunteer of the Year: Adriana Chaves |
*Awarded in 2023
Partner of the Year:
Warrick Invasive Species Partnership (WISP) |
Business Partner of the Year:
Farm Bureau, Inc |
Young Farmer of the Year:
Caleb Heilman |
River Friendly Farmer:
Gary David Plassmeier |
Specialty Farmer of the Year:
Windy Meadow Farms, Melissa and Shane Minton |
Lifetime Conservation Farmer of the Year:
Glenn Rudolph |
Volunteer of the Year:
Mary Beth Schitter |
River Friendly Farmer of the Year:
Peter Rudolph |
Conservation Partner of the Year:
Morgan Oberly |
Community Partner of the Year:
Warrick 4-H Center Board (Ian Rudolph, Scot Susott, Jim Williams, Zac Sutthord) |
2023 Lifetime conservation farmer
|
|
|
|
Glenn Rudolph is our Lifetime Conservation Farmer of the year. Glenn would gain over a decade of experience both farming and working at his family’s equipment dealership before graduating in 1969 from Purdue University. Returning from Purdue and a period of service in the Indiana National Guard, Glenn became involved in row crop farming and new equipment technologies being introduced to agriculture. He began serving as a Warrick County SWCD Supervisor in the mid-seventies. Glenn strived to reduce soil erosion on his farm with improved equipment and practice changes. 1974 brought a JD 7000 corn planter to his farm, beginning the adoption of no-till corn planting. Glenn observed that no-tilling increased earth worm populations in the fields, more earthworm channels led to greater water infiltration lessening water runoff.
Working with professors at the University of Kentucky, Glenn began using hairy vetch as a nitrogen producing cover crop in the early 1980’s. He also began a three-year project installing WASCOB’s, reshaping flow channels and installing concrete spillways. Between the 65-acre field and an adjoining 50 acres, another 22 dry dams were built to reduce soil erosion in 2022. Glenn continues to farm with his family and longtime employee Tyler Beasly ensuring conservation on the ground at the family farm. Glenn was married to Elizabeth for 52 years and has two sons, Nathan, and Peter. |
|
|
|
River Friendly farmer
Since 1999, key conservation and agricultural organizations have sponsored the River Friendly Farmer (RFF) Program. The statewide initiative recognizes farmers, who through good production management practices helps keep Indiana’s rivers, lakes and streams clean.
Annually, each county Soil and Water Conservation District may nominate up to two farmers who do an outstanding job of protecting their rivers, lakes and streams through their every day conservation management practices on the farm. Watershed organizations also may nominate farmers for the award by submitting an application to a county SWCD.
Annually, each county Soil and Water Conservation District may nominate up to two farmers who do an outstanding job of protecting their rivers, lakes and streams through their every day conservation management practices on the farm. Watershed organizations also may nominate farmers for the award by submitting an application to a county SWCD.
2023 River Friendly farmer
|
|
River Friendly Farmer was presented at the Indiana’s State Fair by Lt. Governor, Suzanne Crouch. This award, hosted by the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD), honors farmers statewide for the implementation of conservation practices that protect Indiana’s natural resources, specifically waterways and soil health.
Peter Rudolph of Rudolph Brothers Farms was one of 42 farmers receiving this award this year. Peter farms with his wife, Sabyn, his nephew Ian and his father Glenn in Warrick County. Peter has been implementing the soil health practices of no-till farming, tiling to remove extra moisture, building water and sediment control basins (WASCOBs) and planting cover crops. Peter also manages 200 acres of woodlands that provide wildlife habitat. Peter believes the greatest contribution to soil health he can make is keeping the topsoil intact for future generations. |
2023 volunteer of the year
|
We would like to recognize Mary Beth Schitter as our 2023 Volunteer of the Year. Mary Beth has generously given up her time to help the District with our Conservation Crusaders Program, WISP Weed Wrangles and education activities.
Mary Beth has a servant heart with her career choice of nursing for 32 years at Deaconess Hospital. She enjoys all things outdoors and looks forward to family vacations that consist of hiking and exploring nature. Mary Beth has been married to Joe for 29 years and they have a son, Morgan and soon to be daughter-in-law, Adriana. Mary Beth listed spending time with her family was the motivation for volunteering with the District. Her son’s and husband’ passion for environmental concerns led her to help with removal of invasive species at the Weed Wrangles but her favorite time is spent with the Conservation Crusaders program and the kids. Thank you, Mary Beth, for sharing with us your time and talents. |
|
2023 conservation partner
|
Our 2023 Conservation Partner of the year is presented to Morgan Oberly. Morgan is our District 5 Wildlife Biologist at the Indiana DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife. Morgan began her career with a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University and then continued her education with a master’s degree from Auburn University. Both of her degrees were in Wildlife Science.
Morgan chose this career because she enjoyed spending time outdoors and wanted to work with animals from an early age. As she got older, Morgan said she wanted to do her part to protect our natural resources, so working in wildlife biology seemed like a good fit. Working as a state wildlife biologist, Morgan is able to help create and restore healthy habitats for wildlife populations and work with landowners to reach their goals for their properties. She credits her career to allowing her to spend time not only outside exploring beautiful places but has also given her many unique opportunities. Morgan enjoys working in the SW corner of Indiana because of the variety in topography and habitat types across the 11 counties in her district. She says that there are many unique areas, and it is filled with people passionate about their land and ways they can improve it. We appreciate Morgan’s willingness to work with our Warrick County landowners and also with us. Morgan spent time this past year training our staff on the establishment of native forbs and grasses. Morgan also was our speaker at our Southwest Pollinator Workshop. Thank you, Morgan for your dedication to teaching others how to improve habitat on their lands! |
2023 community partner
|
The Warrick 4-H Center board is our Community Partner of the Year for 2023. We wanted to honor the board for their commitment to their community as a great partner with Warrick SWCD.
The Center Board is comprised, Ian Rudolph, Scot Susott, Jim Williams, and Zac Sutthord. These four community members serve on the board to help with the mission of providing facilities for the Warrick County Fair and 4-H programs. 1962 was the first charter for the 4-H center and the fair has been located on the Boonville site since 1966. The facilities have been updated this year and the future holds more improvements to the fairgrounds. We appreciate the partnership with the Center Board that allows us to host workshops and field days such as our Cover Crop Breakfast, Forest Workshops, Rainscape workshop and many others hosted at the facility. This partnership has allowed us to provide education to the Warrick County citizens at an ideal location. Thank you, Warrick 4-H Center Board, for your willingness to partner with us! |
|