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Former Purdue specialists Howard Doster and Tip Cline died Feb. 13.

Tom J Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

February 18, 2020

2 Min Read
Purdue’s Jim Mintert shakes Howard Doster hand at the Purdue Top Farmer Workshop
LEADER IN AGRICULTURE: Purdue’s Jim Mintert (left) recognized Howard Doster for outstanding work in ag economics at the Purdue Top Farmer Workshop in January. Doster died Feb. 13.

Agriculture lost two men who made great contributions in their respective fields on the same day. Howard Doster, a retired Purdue University Extension ag economist, died on Feb. 13 in Waynesville, Ohio. Tilford Tip Cline, a retired teacher and researcher in the Purdue Animal Sciences Department, died in West Lafayette, Ind., on the same day.

Doster, 86, received three degrees from Ohio State University. He retired from the Purdue Ag Economics Department in 2001 after 35 years of working with farmers, farm managers and students through Extension and teaching.

Doster helped start the Purdue Top Farmer Workshop, which continues today. He also was a key leader for the Purdue Farm Management Tour in conjunction with the Indiana Farm Management Association for many years.

Even after retirement, Doster was an avid supporter of Purdue, continuing to attend annual farm management tours, Top Farmer workshops and the Purdue Ag Alumni Fish Fry. He was a fixture as a server in the early days of the Fish Fry, when the late Mauri Williamson and his cohorts put together a raucous annual affair that established it as a unique, premier event across the country.

Doster was recognized as an Indiana Prairie Farmer Honorary Master Farmer in 2004 and was a source for numerous articles in Indiana Prairie Farmer and Farm Progress magazines, even after his retirement from Purdue.

Honored teacher, researcher

Tip Cline grew up in Cass County, Ill., and received three degrees from the University of Illinois. He then joined the Purdue animal sciences staff as a professor and stayed 40 years, until his retirement. His specialty was swine nutrition, and along with the late Hobe Jones, he taught both students and farmers as swine production transitioned from labor-intensive outdoor housing to intensive confinement operations.

Cline was a charter member of the Midwest Swine Nutrition Conference and chaired it for 15 years. He received the American Society of Animal Science Fellow Award for Teaching in 1998.

About the Author(s)

Tom J Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

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