Correction

KNIGHTSTOWN, Ind. — In the Oct. 15 Farm World “Names in the News,” it was incorrectly reported that the Jack Spaulding who recently joined Seed Consultants, Inc. (SCI) as area seedsman for Sharpsville, Ind., is the Jack Spaulding who writes the FW column “Spaulding Outdoors.” It is not; these are two separate people.

We apologize to seedsman Spaulding for the mistaken attribution (and writer Spaulding adds his sympathies if seedsman Spaulding does, in fact, look like him him), as well as to writer Spaulding.
Seedsman Spaulding may be reached for business on his mobile phone at 765-438-0484. Writer Spaulding may be reached, as always, through this publication or at jackspaulding@hughes.net

Hepler to lead ISPFMRA
DECATUR, Ill. — The membership of the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers elected Fred L. Hepler, AFM, AAC as its new president during the organization’s annual meeting.

As president of the ISPFMRA, Hepler will be the official spokesperson for the Congress. He previously served as the organization’s vice president and president-elect. He is a senior portfolio advisor with Wexford Capital, LLC, based in Greenwich, Conn.

Hepler has been a member of both the Illinois Chapter and the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers since 1982. He received his designation as an Accredited Farm Manager in 1982 and as an Accredited Agricultural Consultant in 1997.

Joining Hepler in the leadership of the chapter are: President-Elect Bret Cude, AFM, CCA, Farmers National Co.; Vice President Mark Wetzel, AFM, Busey Ag Services, Decatur; Secretary/Treasurer Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D., University of Illinois; Academic Vice President Dale Lattz, University of Illinois; and Past President Mac Boyd, ARA, Farmers National Co.

Kokomo Grain welcomes Fix
EDINBURGH, Ind. — Kokomo Grain Co., Inc. is proud to announce and welcome Andy Fix as a new grain originator at the Kokomo Grain Co. grain elevator facility in Edinburgh. He will be responsible for grain originations and customer service activities at the Edinburgh facility.

Fix graduated from Purdue University in 2004 with a degree in agricultural economics and a minor in crop science. He comes to Kokomo Grain from the USDA, where he served for years as a grain warehouse examiner. Fix is also actively involved in a Shelby County farming operation with his father and uncle.

Harris is senior CAPS manager
LISLE, Ill. — Capital Agricultural Property Services, Inc. has hired Tim Harris, AFM, as a senior manager joining the company’s Lisle office. He will report to Royce Bryant, AFM, CAPS regional vice president based in Memphis, Tenn.

Harris, from Princeton, Ill., has extensive grain and livestock experience, having spent 20 years in the dairy business. He became involved with farm management in 1995 and received his Accredited Farm Manager designation from the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers in 2001. He is also an Illinois real estate broker.

In his position with CAPS, Harris will be managing farmland and handling real estate transactions for clients in Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois from his office in Princeton.

Harris is involved with local activities, including serving as a Trustee for Greenfield Retirement Home, on the board of directors for the Bureau County Health and Wellness Clinic, Princeton Community Band and as an active member of the Evangelical Covenant Church where he served as a church chair.

More recently he was chair of the 2008 Bureau County United Way campaign and is now co-chair of the Princeton Theater Conservatory School fundraising campaign.

UT adjunct named Fellow
JACKSON, Tenn. — University of Tennessee adjunct professor of plant science and USDA soybean breeder Dr. Prakesh Arelli has been elected to the position of Fellow by the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), a prominent international scientific society.
This honor places Arelli in an elite group, as fewer than 1 percent of CSSA members may be elected Fellow.

Arelli is a supervisory research geneticist and soybean breeder with the USDA, based at the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Jackson.

His research focuses on breeding soybeans for disease resistance and high yields, using both conventional and genetic marker technology. Arelli is developing a breeding line that led the yield trials in 10 southern locations last year. He will be releasing this line if it performs well this year.