PrecisionAg names Farmer Award winner
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — Ken Dalenberg, a Mansfield, Ill., corn and soybean farmer, is the 2010 Farmer Award winner in the PrecisionAg Awards Of Excellence program sponsored by The PrecisionAg Institute.

Dalenberg has played a leadership role for many years in evaluating and adopting improved crop management systems. He has worked closely with universities, industry, commodity organizations and others, sharing his farm for testing and demonstrating new technologies.

He has worked with a number of research projects on his farm to evaluate precision farming technology, along with other innovative products and practices through the University of Illinois, the Potash & Phosphate Institute, the United Soybean Board (USB) and others. He has also served on several boards and research committees for the American Soybean Assoc., USB and Illinois Soybean Assoc. He has also been involved in numerous overseas programs to help improve soybean production and markets globally.

Barnes in Animal Sciences Hall of Fame
COLUMBUS, Ohio — On May 19, The Ohio State University Department of Animal Sciences celebrated the achievements of those who have enhanced student education and enriched the animal sciences industry through the annual Hall of Fame ceremony.

This year, it inducted Tim Barnes, Shropshire breeder, livestock judge and industry leader, into the Animal Sciences Hall of Fame. Barnes earned his induction through continued leadership in the agricultural community. A 1972 graduate of the OSU Department of Animal Sciences, he has been active in the sheep industry since he first showed Shropshires at his county fair in 1959.

He is a two-time past president of the Ohio Sheep Improvement Assoc. (OSIA) and the Ohio and American Shropshire Breed Assocs. and has served on the Ohio Sheep and Wool Program for several years. Last December, OSIA, in cooperation with ABN, awarded him with the Charles Boyles Master Shepherd Award, which he helped develop several years ago.

Barnes and his family operate the family sheep farm and their family’s grain operation, Scioto Farms in Delaware County.

Farish, 2 others named to university board
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Horse breeder William Farish Jr. is among the new members of the University of Kentucky’s board of trustees.
Farish manages his family’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles and is chairman of the Breeders’ Cup. He is also a founding member of the Kentucky Equine Education Project and a board member for the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Assoc.

He joins businessman Oliver Keith Gannon of Mount Sterling and alumni representative Terry Mobley of Lexington as the board’s new members. Gov. Steve Beshear announced the appointments June 16.

Farish attended the University of Virginia. The others are UK alumni. Mobley spent 33 years working at UK in various roles. Gannon is CEO and principal owner of Boneal, Inc.

TDA employee Arson Investigator of the Year
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Advisory Committee on Arson named Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) criminal investigator Mike Whaley Arson Investigator of the Year.

Whaley, while investigating multiple hay fires, had discovered some discrepancies in regards to arson and spontaneous combustion of hay. He recently obtained grants and conducted experiments on the causes of hay fires and how they are investigated. The results of this study have changed the way hay fires are now investigated.
Whaley’s dedication and diligence in pursuing the investigation of hay fires contributed to him receiving this award. He is from Manchester, Tenn., and has worked for TDA for more than 20 years. He joined the TDA’s Agricultural Crime Unit in 2002.

Sorensen nominated to EPA committee
Washington, D.C. — Dr. Ann Sorensen of the American Farmland Trust (AFT) has been nominated to serve on the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee. The committee advises the EPA on environmental issues related to agriculture and rural communities.

Sorensen, a certified entomologist, currently oversees AFT’s research, directs AFT’s Center for Agriculture in the Environment at Northern Illinois University and helps prioritize that research to meet the needs of the organization. She has published a large number of scholarly papers, served on numerous committees, is a past chair of the National Foundation for IPM Education and has spoken frequently on agricultural and environmental issues.
As a committee member, Sorensen will provide insight to the agency on a number of issues, such as water and air quality, environmental markets, renewable energy and climate change and how environmental policy issues affect farms, ranches and rural communities.

Bardole and Leeds to help lead soy council
ANKENY, Iowa — Two Iowans were named to leadership positions when the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) seated its newly restructured board of directors during the annual USSEC board meeting June 7.

Roy Bardole, a soybean grower from Rippey, Iowa, was elected chair of the board, and Kirk Leeds, CEO of the Iowa Soybean Assoc., is the new secretary. They join Doug Grennan of the Scouler Co. and Danny Murphy of Mississippi, who will serve on the executive board as vice chair and treasurer, respectively.

Created in 2005, USSEC is a partnership of key stakeholders representing soybean producers, commodity shippers, identity preserved value-added merchandisers, allied agribusinesses and agricultural organizations. The USSEC is overseen by a board of 15: four representing the American Soybean Assoc., four from the United Soybean Board and seven from industry and state organizations.