Winners announced for Elkhart County Conservation Awards

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. – The 78th annual Elkhart County Conservation Award Ceremony was held on Thursday and it recognizes farmers, educators and business leaders for their efforts in protecting the environment.

The Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District hosted the award ceremony, which began at 6:30 p.m. with a dinner and was topped off with a media photo session at 7:15 p.m.

While there, farmers were also educated on the best ways to treat their soil and improve conservation. Jim Hess, the District Manager at Elkhart County Soil and Water, says that protecting the environment requires a generational effort.

“Tonight we’ll go through and show that conservation doesn’t just happen overnight,” Hess said. “It’s generational. So, the things that we’re doing and putting in place today we may never see the rewards for it but generations from now they can look, see it, and look back and say ‘Hey, they did a good job, they did this for us’.”

Here is a full list of the award winners:

• Agri-Business of the Year: T & T Fertilizer, Inc.
• Conservation Educator of the Year: ACCELL Farm
• Conservation Farmer of the Year: Morehouse Grain Farms, LLC
• Friend of the SWCD: Ryan Owen, Pheasants Forever
• River Friendly Farmer: Roger Hibschman, Oneeda Farms
• Urban Conservationist of the Year: Andy Knox

Poster Contest Winners: Pinewood Elementary, Elkhart

• Kathelyn Bravo, 1st Place
• Nathan Windy 2nd Place
• Jack Graham 3rd Place