Prairie Farmer will continue accepting applications for 2020 Master Farmers until Sept. 1.

A Master Farmer is a person in your community who shows up, who volunteers and who makes the community better, all while raising a family and producing the best crops and livestock around. Prairie Farmer is looking to honor a new class of Master Farmers in 2020 — but your help is needed.

You can nominate parents, siblings, neighbors, friends or even yourself. Don’t wait, as this lifetime achievement award is competitive, and applications require time to fill out before they close in September.

You can nominate individuals, a husband and wife, or a sibling duo. In 2016, four farm couples received the award. Siblings Doug and Tom Block, who farm in partnership, were named Master Farmers in 2009. They joined a list of names that now tops 350.

Community involvement is weighted highly as judges select winners, but so too is a farmer’s agricultural production skills and dedication to family.

Prairie Farmer agrees wholeheartedly with one farmer who wrote in support of his friend who was named a Master Farmer: “In my view, a Master Farmer needs to be an individual who does well with their farm, and in their local community, but sees the importance of also working for the greater community represented by farm organizations.”

In his speech at the annual awards luncheon, 2018 recipient Bill Sahs of Lincoln, Ill., reflected on the deep appreciation the honorees feel for their profession. “It is quite an honor to get an award for doing things that you love,” Sahs said.

You can find the 2020 application online. Download it, fill it out and send it in, complete with letters of support, by Sept. 9. Email [email protected] for more information or to have an application sent to you.