The Dubois County Soil and Water Conservation District honored farmers, installed new board members and heard about the impact of prehistoric humans on the land at their annual meeting Tuesday night.
Kenny Beckman of Marion Township was named the Otto J. Bauer conservation farmer of the year for his good soil and water conservation practices on the farm and the extra effort he puts into conserving natural resources.
Meanwhile, Ron and Matt Lueken of Jefferson Township were honored with the OFS Forest Stewardship Award.
The Jasper High School team of Alexa Hopf, Wyatt Street, Justin Street and Katie Stenftenagel were presented the Ken McWilliams Award for soil judging excellence in local competition. Alexa Hopf was given a special plaque as the high scorer in the competition. Kurt Voelkel was named the Indiana Conservation Farmer of the Year and River Friendly Farmer Awards and Signs were given to Mark and Robert Jochem and Susan Kruger.
Guest speaker for the annual meeting was Dr. Stephen Ball, Indiana’s Cultural Resources Specialist who spoke of the prehistoric peoples who resided in Indiana preceding the buffalo and buffalo trace and how those peoples cleared and farmed the land.
As part of the annual meeting, the Soil and Water Conservation District elected Alex Hohl to serve a three year team on the local board as a supervisor replacing John Jackle. The board also appointed Patrick Eckerle as a new board member last night and was sworn in to his term replacing Alan Smock. The board consists of a mix of elected and appointed members.
Tuesday night’s meeting was the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Dubois County Soil and Water Conservation District with nearly 200 people in attendance.
