[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 92 (Monday, June 18, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S4237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RECOGNIZING INDIANA PRAIRIE FARMER MAGAZINE

 Mr. LUGAR, Mr. President, today I would like to recognize a 
publication in the State of Indiana that is not only making sure to 
supply useful information that will help Hoosier farm families thrive 
but is also taking the time to honor exceptional families through the 
Master Farmer award program.
  As one of 18 State and regional subsidiaries of Farm Progress, 
Indiana Prairie Farmer is constantly striving to ensure that our 
farmers are equipped with the information and support necessary to 
handle the difficult tasks facing agriculturalists. At the helm of this 
initiative is editor Tom Bechman who not only brings experience from a 
small tenant dairy farm but is also nationally known for his coverage 
of Midwest agronomy, conservation, no-till farming, farm management, 
farm safety, high-tech farming and personal property tax relief.
  Considered one of the top honors an Indiana farmer can receive, the 
first Master Farmer was presented in December 1925 in Chicago. The 
first 21 Indiana farmers to receive the award had an average farm size 
of 202 acres. The program was discontinued in 1935 due to the Great 
Depression and reinstated by James C. Thompson, then-managing editor of 
the Prairie Farmer, in 1968. More than 200 Indiana farmers have been 
recognized since the program was reborn. In addition, roughly a dozen 
people who are not farmers but who made great contributions to Indiana 
agriculture have been recognized as Honorary Master Farmers. In 2006, 
Purdue University's College of Agriculture joined Indiana Prairie 
Farmer as co-sponsor of the award and has since been supported by two 
Glenn W. Sample dean's of the College of Agriculture, making sure that 
it maintained its reputation as a top award.
  As a farmer myself, I am honored as both a Hoosier and member of the 
agriculture industry to have the great work of my fellow 
agriculturalists recognized by Mr. Bechman and the Indiana Prairie 
Farmer. Their tireless efforts to identify and reward Indiana farmers 
for their work to provide the safest, most abundant and least expensive 
food supply in the world is humbling and deserves the utmost 
recognition.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Indiana Prairie Farmer for 
their work on behalf of Indiana farmers and the Master Farmer award 
program. I am privileged to represent a State so dedicated to this 
vital industry and its participants.

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