CANAL WINCHESTER, Ohio – John Hummel, of Canal Winchester, is winner of Ohio Farm Bureau’s Ohio Outstanding Young Farmer Award for 2022 due to his farming business skills, marketing strategies and overall accomplishments.  Hummel, and other finalists, were judged on the growth of their farm businesses and involvement in farm bureau and their community.

“During my senior year in high school our farm added 1,000 acres, and I made the choice to stay on the farm and commute to a satellite branch campus for college so that I could be on the farm to help every day,” Hummel said. “I have never regretted my decision to be on the farm full time as soon as I could. My long-term goal is to keep the family farm alive and thriving well into the future.”

Hummel is an active member of the Franklin County Farm Bureau, where he serves as vice president on the board of trustees. He is a member of the Ohio Soybean Council and the National Corn Growers Association.

As the 2022 winner, Hummel receives an expenses-paid trip to the 2023 Young Agricultural Professionals (YAP) Winter Leadership Experience and a $3,000 prize. He will compete at the American Farm Bureau Annual Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico in January 2023.

Other YAP finalists included Aaron Harter (Preble County), Katie Esselbrun (Wayne County), and Isaac Gray and Susan Manchester (Auglaize County).

 

 IOWA

Dave Lubben, of Monticello, Iowa, was recently honored as the 2022 Iowa Conservation Farmer of the Year for his ongoing efforts to protect water quality and soil. This award is sponsored by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. His prize is the free use of a John Deere 6E Series utility tractor for up to 12 months or 200 hours of use.

Lubben, owner of Lubben White Oak Farms, implements management intensive grazing, a practice that rotates the cattle through paddocks daily to keep the grass fresh and limit access to the stream for only watering purposes. He discovered this method in a magazine nearly 30 years ago.

“Management intensive grazing allows for the natural propagation of grasses and legumes, gives each area a rest period, and provides cattle with fresh pasture every day,” he said.

Lubben has 770 acres of conservation tillage, 307 acres of no-till soybeans, 160 acres of dry hay, haylage and baleage. He has 450 acres of pasture for 220 head of commercial beef cattle with a 500-head feedlot.

Strip till, vertical till and no-till beans were among the first practices enacted on the farm, along with the management intensive grazing. They have since been complemented with waterways when needed, a prairie strip and a pond. Cover crops and trees are additional practices employed during the past 10 years.

“Cover crops are pretty neat,” Lubben said. “We seed some winter rye and are seeing the benefits. The things we’re noticing the most are weed control and less soil erosion. Having the rye grow green into the beans and terminating it weeks following planting helps with weed control.”

Five years ago, Lubben planted 8,000 hardwood trees, creating a timber stand on the farm.

“My grandfather planted some walnut trees about 100 years ago, and so I thought, well, I’m going to do my part, too,” he added.

With the trees, Lubben’s farm is diversified with five different environments – pond, slough, pasture, corn/beans and timber.

 

ILLINOIS

Dave Campbell, of Maple Park, Ill., was named 2022 Organic Farmer of the Year. The honor was presented by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Services. Dave and his wife, Mary, are the owners and operators of Lily Lake Organic Farm.

The award recognizes one Midwest farmer/farm family each year for outstanding land management, innovative farming practices and the outreach they to do teach others how organic farming works. Campbell is known throughout the Midwest farming community for his work as a vocal advocate for integrity in organic movement.

Campbell started learning about organic farming from his father, who began farming organically in 1967. With his father’s guidance, he began selling organic meat to a local health food store under a de-facto, two-party organic certification. Upon graduation from college, Campbell went into a partnership with his father on the family’s organic dairy farm in Illinois and later, in Wisconsin.

In 1988, he and his wife returned to Illinois to start Lily Lake Organic Farm, on the land that had been farmed by Mary’s family since 1834. They immediately began transitioning the land to organic and by 1990 the entire farm was certified. Today, the 224-acre farm is rooted in Campbell’s knowledge and experience growing small grains, row crops and forages organically in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin the past 40 years.

“The challenge to produce nutrient dense organic crops with a very minimal amount of weeds inspires me,” he said. “I have found it to be very satisfying for the past 36 years, both in grain and hay/dairy operations, to be able to accomplish what naysayers said could not be done.”

Campbell has served as the vice president and certification chair for the Illinois Chapter of the Organic Crop Improvement Association, and on the board of the Midwest Cover Crop Council.

 

INDIANA

Beck’s Hybrids and Indiana AgriNews are looking for nominations for the 26th Indiana Farm Family of the Year. One Indiana farm family is honored annually for its work on the farm, service to their community and the agricultural industry. The family chosen will be recognized at the Indiana Farm Bureau State Convention on Dec. 17, 2022, at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis.

To nominate an Indiana family to go https://bit.ly/FarmFamily 2022. The deadline to submit nominations is Nov. 1, 2022.