The Master Farmer award is reserved for a very elite group of individuals who consistently demonstrate outstanding farm management, innovation, conservation and leadership.

Ohio Farmer has bestowed the prestigious Master Farmer award on individuals who have demonstrated how to farm more effectively, efficiently, environmentally and economically.

This year’s winners are Steve Reinhard of Bucyrus, Ohio, and brothers Les and Jerry Seiler of Fayette, Ohio.

Reinhard, who has the help of his brother Tim, is farming 1,200 acres of mainly corn and soybeans with a few acres of hay. The Reinhards recently added malting barley to the rotation.

The Seiler brothers farm in Fayette in the Western Lake Erie Basin. They have been continuous no-till farmers for 35-plus years, growing 1,650 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, malting barley and wheat.

Master Farmers are nominated by peers and acknowledged for a lifetime of achievement rather than a single year.

As Master Farmers, Steve, Les and Jerry all received plaques from Michigan Farmer magazine and a Carhartt jacket donated by Carhartt.

Videos were developed by Nicole Heslip and Shannon Yokley of Brownfield Ag News to help tell their stories. View the videos at brownfieldagnews.com.

Read more about these Master Farmers in the coming days online at OhioFarmer.com and in the April issue of Ohio Farmer.