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A recent dual award to Mike and Susan Brocksmith is well-deserved and brings back memories of other conservation stewards.

January 31, 2019

3 Min Read
Susan and Mike Brocksmith
CONSERVATION COUPLE: Susan and Mike Brocksmith were honored as Conservation Farmers of the Year and received a career award as well at the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts annual meeting.

Indiana is blessed with many outstanding conservation farmers. It’s a tradition going back in history. Often both spouses in a farm operation go all in to make conservation farming work. There’s no better example than Mike and Susan Brocksmith, who farm rolling soils near Vincennes in Knox County.

The Brocksmiths say they originally began no-tilling because of a limited labor supply, and because they wanted to minimize soil erosion. Today they wouldn’t farm any other way, both note. They’ve incorporated cover crops in their cropping operation and installed various conservation practices where no-till and cover crops alone won’t take care of a potential gully problem. Visit their farm, and you’ll find water and sediment control basins, filter strips, buffer strips and more.

It’s possible you or your kids have already visited their farm. They’ve hosted soil conservation field days, and they host events annually for high school students. Besides being actively involved in the farm, Susan heads the ag business department at Vincennes University.

“We like to bring students here and let them do their own demonstrations that show the advantages of no-till and cover crops,” she says. She notes that students really get into participating in demonstrations, even if it’s watching a mock rain simulator show how crop residue and/or cover crops prevent soil erosion vs. rain falling on bare soil.

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HANDS-ON LEARNING: Susan Brocksmith and her husband, Mike, have hosted hundreds of adults and students on their farm, teaching them basic principles about no-till and cover crops.

Special recognition
Mike and Susan were recognized at the 2019 Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts annual meeting as Conservation Farmers of the Year. Indiana Farm Bureau Inc. sponsors the award to recognize an outstanding conservation farmer.

This year it was a joint award. Not only that, but the Brocksmiths received a second recognition. Because they’ve practiced conservation tillage and conserving soil for over 25 years, they were presented with a special recognition for career achievement. It’s an honor reserved for those who aren’t only doing a great job of conservation now, but have done it for a long time, as well.

Here’s a brief history of that recognition. Around 1990, Indiana Prairie Farmer and IASWCD formed a partnership to recognize farmers and farm couples who had practiced conservation during their career with the Master Farm Conservationist award. One requirement was that the individual or individuals must have practiced conservation over their lifetime.

The winners in the early days weren’t always no-tillers. One early winner was the late Al Meyer of Greenwood. He owned and managed nearly 800 acres of timber in Johnson and Brown counties, and was a longtime Johnson County SWCD supervisor and associate supervisor.

Four to five winners were recognized each year, with the program running about 20 years. Some 100 farmers who might not otherwise have been recognized earned recognition through the program. When IASWCD changed its award recognition program a few years ago, the “career award” designation was developed to be added to a winning Conservation Farmer of the Year who also qualified as a lifetime conservation farmer.

Coincidentally, Mike Brocksmith was named a Master Farmer in 2004. That program is sponsored by Indiana Prairie Farmer and the Purdue University College of Agriculture. Mike’s father, the late Paul Brocksmith, was named a Master Farmer in 1996. 

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