This week, Prairie Farmer is highlighting each of the four recipients of the Prairie Farmer Master Farmer Award for 2013. Check in each morning to read one of our winners' bios.

Ron's ancestors have been farming in the Piper City area for over 140 years. Ron was raised on the same farmstead he and wife Celia now call home. Like most farm kids, Ron pitched in his fair share with livestock, planting, harvest and detasseling duties in the summer.

Ron and Celia Bork farm 2,800 acres of corn and soybeans. Photo by Josh Flint.

After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1973, Ron taught agriculture at Cissna Park High School. It was here Ron met Celia, who was the music teacher. Shortly thereafter, the two married and made a life together. In the early 1980s, a friend from Ron's teaching days contacted him about a new business venture. He was looking for a partner to purchase an ailing Curtis Mathes (a consumer electronics retailer) franchise in West Lafayette, Ind.  Ron packed up the family, which by this time included two little girls: Holly and Kathy, and headed to Boilermaker central.

In 1986, Ron finally got the call to come back to the farm. Ron's father, Harold, began gradual retirement working with his two sons, Ron and Gene, until he passed away suddenly in 2002, a few days after harvest.

The Borks have dealt with a couple curveballs in recent years. The first came in 2009. In the rush of harvest, Ron and Gene got a call and learned a long-standing landlord suddenly wanted out of land ownership. With the threat of taking it to auction, Ron and Gene rushed to put together a bid. They were able to buy the 400 acres, grain bins and the home that serve as the center of the operation. They were happy to own the farm where he grew up, but it was a lot to bite off financially.

The second surprise came the following year when Gene announced he was ready to begin retirement. Gene was much more flexible on the purchase terms. Ron and Celia completed the purchase last year.

This is how Ron found himself as a sole operator farming more than 2,800 acres in 2011. He needed help. Luckily he found Jon Clark, who was working for a local John Deere dealership. With a strong passion for farming, Clark jumped at the opportunity to work with Ron.