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.

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

The 2016 Master Farmers will be announced in early March, here online.

Bill Christ: Work hard and persevere

Bill and Sandy Christ

Ask Bill Christ about the biggest lesson he's learned in his farming career and he doesn't miss a beat: "Hard work and perseverance."

It would've been easy to throw in the towel in the early '80s, he says. But Bill and his wife, Sandy, were determined to do whatever they could to make sure their Metamora farm survived. 

"Heritage is one thing we try to instill in our kids. Farming isn't just about making money," he explains. "We take care of what we've had so the next generations can benefit from it, too."

In those days, "doing whatever they could" meant working off the farm, for a lot of farmers. The local insurance agency management position opened up at that time and Bill was encouraged to take it, with assurances that he could both farm and sell insurance. 

Thirty years later, he's still managing the Country Financial office in Metamora and running their farming operation, which has grown to include 1,500 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, grapes and a small herd of registered Hereford cattle.

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

Bill follows a three-year rotation of corn, soybeans and wheat on all their timber soil farms, and uses a combination of no-till and conservation tillage. He's pattern tiled his own ground and worked to install a variety of conservation practices, including waterways, buffer strips and other measures to manage the water runoff from very nearby Metamora. 

Bill has plans to expand his registered Hereford herd to 50 cows in the near future. The Christ family also operates a trucking company with another local farmer; CW Logistics delivers seed and hauls grain and fertilizer for local farmers. In 2008, they planted 2.5 acres of French wine grapes and will sell wine under their own label, Black Partridge, this year. 

Over the years, Sandy has helped at the insurance office and partnered with Bill in all aspects of their businesses.

"We are cognitive in our belief that in those tough times, we wouldn't have made it without our faith," Bill says. "We try to take credit and honor and glory, but we're thankful and we know what we have is because of our faith in Him."

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