Editor's note: We're featuring the 2015 Master Farmers this week, thanks to interviews by University of Illinois student Kelsey Litchfield, completed during her RFD internship last summer.

As 2015 draws to a close and the staff at Prairie Farmer is gearing up recognize the 2016 Master Farmer class, we wanted to take a look back at the 2015 class.

During her summer internship at RFD radio, University of Illinois student Kelsey Litchfield interviewed each of the Prairie Farmer Master Farmers. "It was the highlight of my summer," Kelsey confided.

We'd tend to agree.

Don and Karen Schrader

Check out Kelsey's interview below with Don Schrader, and stay tuned throughout the week for more interviews with 2015 Master Farmers, Bill Christ, Randy DeSutter and John Werries.

The 2016 Master Farmers will be announced in early March.

Don Schrader: Committed to the community

Whether he's playing Santa Claus or serving as president of the Monroe County Fair, Waterloo farmer Don Schrader is truly a man of the community.

Schrader has hosted numerous groups on his farm over the years. His favorite farm visit came in 2013. Don and wife, Karen, hosted five-year-old Joe-Joe as part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer that develops from immature nerve cells, Joe-Joe's wish was to be a farmer and a cowboy. The Schraders happily fulfilled the farmer part of his wish.

The Schrader farm turned 150 years old last year. Don's great-great-grandparents, Christian and Caroline Meyer, were the original homesteaders in 1864. Don and Karen purchased the farm from his parents, Victor and Esther, in 1987. Don represents the fifth generation to farm the same ground.

Follow along this week as we profile the 2015 Master Farmers (L-R) Don Schrader, John Werries, Bill Christ and Randy DeSutter.

Today, the Schrader farm is primarily a cash grain operation. For about 15 years, Don has focused on conservation farming. Fertility recommendations are based on harvest data collected from previous years. All fertilizer is applied using variable rate technology. Soybeans, including the double-crop soybeans, are no-till. Don does some minimum tillage prior to corn and wheat planting.

Don met his wife Karen on a blind date that was set up by mutual friends. Karen grew up just north of Don in St. Clair County near Mascoutah. Her parents were also farmers. She brought two children, Amy and Mike Kolweier, to the marriage. Amy works for The Maschhoffs as a grain originator. She'll finish her masters in crop sciences this spring. Mike is a mortgage consultant. He and wife, Sarah, have three children, twins Luke and Lilly, and Tessa.

After Karen's father died in 1976, her mom began renting out the farm. Things continued in that manner until the mid-2000s. Then, two of Karen's nephews, Andy and Doug Sax, started talking about working the land in their spare time. They each have their own construction businesses.

"The boys started throwing hints my way that they might want to start farming, but they needed some help," Don remembers. "I'm glad they asked me to be part of this. And, their grandma is happy to have family back working the ground."

Meet the Master Farmers:
Bill Christ
Randy DeSutter
Don Schrader
John Werries