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Master Farmers to be awarded today

Five new Illinois farmers join the ranks of Prairie Farmer’s Master Farmers today, plus a new Honorary Master Farmer.

Holly Spangler, Prairie Farmer Senior Editor

March 28, 2024

4 Min Read
Pictured from left: Chris Hausman, Susan and Malcolm Head, Lou Lamoreux, and Gerald Thompson
CHAMPIONS: The 2024 Prairie Farmer Master Farmers are (from left) Chris Hausman, Pesotum, Ill.; Susan and Malcolm Head, Blue Mound, Ill.; Lou Lamoreux, Lanark, Ill.; and Gerald Thompson, Colfax, Ill. Betty Haynes

Prairie Farmer editors will present the Master Farmer award to five farmers today in an awards ceremony in Bloomington, Ill., and will recognize a new Honorary Master Farmer.

The award recognizes exceptional agricultural production skills, commitment to family and service to community, and Prairie Farmer is grateful to the Illinois agricultural community for supporting these farmers and their work.

The 2024 Master Farmers are:

Chris Hausman, Pesotum, Ill. Hausman and his wife, Evonne, raise 1,450 acres of corn and soybeans. Hausman is a director on the Longview Bank board and spent 10 years as an Illinois Farm Bureau board director. Before returning to the farm in the ’80s, he was an Illinois Farm Business Farm Management fieldman and has been a devoted FBFM client ever since. Hausman was nominated by David A. Albin.

Chris Hausman, Pesotum, Ill.

Malcolm and Susan Head, Blue Mound, Ill. Malcolm and Susan Head farm with sons Rollin and Alex, growing corn, soybeans, seed corn and beans, wheat, hay, and alfalfa. The family also raises 450 commercial cows and 300 head of feeder cattle. Susan served on the Illinois Beef Association board for a decade and was elected checkoff board president; Malcolm is a director on the Soy Capital Bank board and a past school board president. The Heads were nominated by the Illinois Beef Association.

Susan and Malcolm Head, Blue Mound, Ill.

Lou Lamoreux, Lanark, Ill. Lamoreux and his wife, Sue, raise corn, soybeans, wheat and hay; 2,250 head of finisher cattle; and 250 cows with their son Nathan, nephew Dan and Lamoreux’s brother John. Lamoreux has served on both IL Corn and Illinois Beef Association boards, and the Carroll County Board. Lamoreux was nominated by IL Corn and the Illinois Beef Association.

Lou Lamoreux, Lanark, Ill.

Gerald Thompson, Colfax, Ill. Thompson and his wife, Jayme, raise corn and soybeans with their son Reid. Thompson is a member of the McLean County Board and spent 10 years as an Illinois Farm Bureau board director. He also holds his private pilot’s license and officiates weddings in his spare time. Thompson was nominated by Ron and Melanie Warfield, 1992 Master Farmer.

Gerald Thompson, Colfax, Ill.

Prairie Farmer has also named a new Honorary Master Farmer this year: Gary Schnitkey. Schnitkey is a renowned agricultural economist at the University of Illinois who teaches, conducts research and shares farm management information with farmers across the state via the Farmdoc website, which he pioneered and has authored more than 1,000 articles for. He is one of only 17 Honorary Master Farmers to have been named by the magazine.

Gary Schnitkey, University of Illinois agricultural economist

Read more about:

Master Farmers

About the Author

Holly Spangler

Prairie Farmer Senior Editor, Farm Progress

Holly Spangler has covered Illinois agriculture for more than two decades, bringing meaningful production agriculture experience to the magazine’s coverage. She currently serves as editor of Prairie Farmer magazine and Executive Editor for Farm Progress, managing editorial staff at six magazines throughout the eastern Corn Belt. She began her career with Prairie Farmer just before graduating from the University of Illinois in agricultural communications.

An award-winning writer and photographer, Holly is past president of the American Agricultural Editors Association. In 2015, she became only the 10th U.S. agricultural journalist to earn the Writer of Merit designation and is a five-time winner of the top writing award for editorial opinion in U.S. agriculture. She was named an AAEA Master Writer in 2005. In 2011, Holly was one of 10 recipients worldwide to receive the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders in Ag Journalism award. She currently serves on the Illinois Fairgrounds Foundation, the U of I Agricultural Communications Advisory committee, and is an advisory board member for the U of I College of ACES Research Station at Monmouth. Her work in agricultural media has been recognized by the Illinois Soybean Association, Illinois Corn, Illinois Council on Agricultural Education and MidAmerica Croplife Association.

Holly and her husband, John, farm in western Illinois where they raise corn, soybeans and beef cattle on 2,500 acres. Their operation includes 125 head of commercial cows in a cow/calf operation. The family farm includes John’s parents and their three children.

Holly frequently speaks to a variety of groups and organizations, sharing the heart, soul and science of agriculture. She and her husband are active in state and local farm organizations. They serve with their local 4-H and FFA programs, their school district, and are active in their church's youth and music ministries.

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