Five Illinois farmers have been selected as 2011 Master Farmers by Prairie Farmer magazine. The five will be honored for their exceptional community service and farm management abilities at a ceremony in Bloomington, Ill., on March 22. Linnea Kooistra (McHenry County) will be the first female to be recognized as a Master Farmer. Linnea and her husband Joel operate a 250 cow dairy operation and grain farm Northwest of Woodstock.
Other Master Farmer recipients include David Bliss, Maquon (Knox County); Ken Greene, Durand (Winnebago County); Jim Purlee, Galesburg (Knox County); and Ron Tombaugh, Streator (LaSalle County).
Candidates are nominated by farmers, agribusiness leaders and agricultural extension specialists from throughout the state. Judges for the awards were Robert Hoeft, interim associate dean of the University of Illinois Extension; Gordon Roskamp, professor of agronomy with Western Illinois University; Kent Krukewitt, 2001 Master Farmer, Altona; Bob Boesdorfer, senior vice president of First Midwest Bank; and Frank Holdmeyer, executive editor of Prairie Farmer.
Former Prairie Farmer editor Clifford Gregory started the program in 1925 as a way to recognize the finest farmers in both Illinois and Indiana. That first year, 23 Master Farmers were recognized. From the very beginning, the award was unique in that a significant portion of the judges' scoring hinged on the farmers' community involvement.
Building on the success of last year's program Growmark remains the sole financial sponsor for the Prairie Farmer Master Farmer awards program. Like the Master Farmer award, the Growmark system was born during the 1920s, when grower cooperatives began organizing. In 1927, nine local cooperatives came together to form the Illinois Farm Supply Co. Today, Growmark serves nearly 250,000 customers through local FS companies.
