WILMINGTON, Ohio – To say that longtime Wilmington College professor Monte Anderson is an advocate for agriculture is an understatement. Anderson has spent more than 35 years planting “seeds” in the minds of students at this southwest Ohio college, enticing, encouraging and leading them to become proud, productive agriculture professionals.

As chair and coordinator for the agriculture department at Wilmington College, Anderson is responsible for nearly 300 agriculture students. His focused teaching area is in agriculture education, horticulture and agronomy.

“In the late 70s and early 80s, not many people were encouraging their children to go into agriculture,” Anderson said. “It was a tough time and our numbers dwindled. Myself, professors Harold Thirey, Dr. Alfred Conklin and Dr. Don Chafin rolled up our sleeves and got to work. And rather than being a transfer model where students would come to Wilmington College then transfer to Ohio State University, we set it up off internships and got the industry involved. We built our ag program off these internship models.”

Anderson spearheaded the revitalization of the ag programs at the college and it is thriving today. He has helped transform the program into the status it enjoys today as the college’s largest academic major.

“As for me, I’ve been fortunate to have some mentors who have helped me in the community,” he said.

Anderson’s commitment to agriculture hasn’t gone unnoticed all these years. Last month, the Ohio Agricultural Council inducted Anderson into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame. Others inducted to the hall at a ceremony held at the Ohio State Fair last month were Randy Brown, of Nevada, Tim Corcoran, of Chillicothe, and Keith Stimpert, of Worthington.

“We’ve learned that the students need to get off campus and out of their comfort zone,” Anderson said. “There are three aspects of agriculture: teaching, research and service.”

Anderson began his career at Blackhawk Community College, where was the division director for agriculture. Anderson left Blackhawk to join Wilmington College in 1985 as an assistant professor in the Department of Agriculture, rising quickly through the ranks to receive tenure in 1991 and full professor status in 1994. Throughout his career, Anderson has received numerous teaching awards.

Randy Brown has made a positive impact on the industry at the county, state and national levels. Brown received his degree in business administration from Ashland College in 1976. Three years later joined his father and brother on their family farm, Maken Bacon Farm, and never looked back.

For 41 years, Brown has worked on the family farm, which includes a sow and farrow-to-finish swine operation, cattle and 1,100 acres of cropland.

From the early stages of his professional career, Brown has served on numerous committees and boards within agriculture, including as Ohio Pork Council president and board member, Ohio Livestock Coalition member and National Pork Board member. Brown is well-known for hosting personal farm tours for legislators and key leaders to educate about modern pork production. He also advocates for the pork industry in Washington, D.C., through the National Pork Producers Council’s Legislative Seminar.

Tim Corcoran, owner and partner of Corcoran Farms, has more than four decades of experience contributing to the betterment of Ohio agriculture and rural communities. He’s accomplished this through work on his farm, community service and farm bureau leadership.

Corcoran’s work has also led to more than 40 leadership appointments with at least 22 different organizations including civic groups, church and schools, community planning groups, charities, political committees and agricultural associations at the local, state and national level. Those organizations include the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, National Association of Corporate Directors, Ohio Soybean Association and the Ohio Corn Growers Association.

While he was executive director of the Ohio Soybean Association, Keith Stimpert took on legislative and education priorities with the group. With the creation of a national soybean checkoff in 1991, Stimpert worked with farm leaders to create an organization that would manage Ohio’s portion of the fund, ultimately, taking the helm of the Ohio Soybean Council.

Stimpert served as vice president of government affairs at Ohio Farm Bureau. He was part of the leadership team that helped to pass Issue 2 and the creation of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board, which is still functioning today.

The four new inductees join 237 prior recipients named since the program begean in 1966.