The Indiana Certified Crop Advisers CCA of the Year award recognizes someone who has gone above and beyond in their career to help farmers and others in the industry improve their techniques in crop production. That certainly describes Bryan Overstreet, the most recent winner of the award. He was recognized at the annual Indiana CCA conference in late December.

Overstreet serves as Purdue University Extension ag educator in Jasper County. He’s served in that role for 13 years. Before joining Extension, he worked in the industry with farmers and retail employees as an agronomist for a farmer’s co-op.

Indiana Prairie Farmer website and magazine readers will likely recognize Overstreet as a frequent contributor to various columns authored by Indiana CCA members. He serves as a panelist on a rotating basis. Columns written by CCAs include Corn Corner, Soybean Corner, Corn Pest Beat and Soybean Pest Beat. Betsy Bower, Ceres Solutions, Lafayette, coordinates the column and frequently taps Overstreet to serve as a panel member on a three-month basis.

Greg Bossaer, an assistant program leader for Extension’s Ag and Natural Resources, and Ricky Foster, interim program leader, nominated Overstreet for the award. “Bryan has a unique ability to relate to farmers on a one-on-one basis,” they write. “He has a wealth of agronomic knowledge and loves serving his clientele. He has been very active in coordinating on-farm research activities with local farmers in such areas as nitrogen management, sulfur trials, irrigation management, seeding rates and cover crops.”

Overstreet is also a member of Purdue’s unmanned aerial vehicle Quad Squad and flew 40 flights with a drone in 2018 to help farmers learn about their crops and the new scouting technology.

Indiana Farm Bureau Inc. sponsors the CCA of the Year award each year. Look for more information on Overstreet and his work with farmers in the future.