BARTHOLOMEWS HONORED

Waukesha County's Robert (Bob) and Carol Bartholomew have received the highest award that Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation bestows upon its members.

Carol Bartholomew was presented the 'Distinguished Service to Farm Bureau' award during the organization's virtual 101st Annual Meeting on Dec. 5. "For their commitment to making Farm Bureau a strong organization in Waukesha County and in Wisconsin, I am pleased to present our Distinguished Service to Farm Bureau Award to Bob and Carol," said former WFBF President Joe Bragger. "Although Bob passed away earlier this year, his legacy and the work that he did continues to thrive and help future generations of members."

Bob and Carol were actively involved in Farm

legislators continue to attend meetings to keep Farm Bureau members informed. Bob also helped start the county Ag in the Classroom program and enjoyed visiting fourth-grade classrooms to teach students about agriculture. Bob and Carol also served as general leaders for their local 4-H club. Bob and Carol attended AFBF Annual Conventions from 1987 to 2014. In addition, Bob served as a delegate to the WFBF Annual Meeting for many years. He served on many state committees and he was involved in the first steps of use-value assessment with state legislators and other county Farm Bureau directors. Carol served as chair of the county women's committee for 18 years. She was the chair of the publicity and newsletter committee from 1987 to 2008. Carol also was the county historian and did a majority of the research for Waukesha County Farm Bureau's 75th, 80th and 100th anniversaries. Bob and Carol enjoyed the silent auction and reception at the 2018 WFBF Waukesha County Farm Bureau President Annual Meeting and YFA Conference. Tom Oberhaus said, "When individuals think of Bureau for many years. During his time as county president, Farm Bureau they think of Bob and Carol Bartholomew and Bob invited guest speakers to several board meetings and the the many contributions they made and continue to make. They county annual meeting. The tradition has continued and UW- embody the definition of 'Farm Bureau Proud' and are most Extension and county sheriff personnel; local, state and national deserving of this recognition."

The American Farm Bureau Federation, in partnership with Farm Credit, is advancing ag innovation by supporting start-ups from across the country through the 2021 Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. AFBF and Farm Credit today announced the 10 semi-finalist teams in the competition. "The hard-working entrepreneurs recognized today are committed to providing solutions for some of the biggest challenges facing agriculture," said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. "This includes supporting farms, ranches and rural economies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic."

The competition provides an opportunity for individuals to showcase ideas and business innovations in agriculture. This is the seventh year of the Challenge, which was the first national business competition focused exclusively on rural entrepreneurs launching food and agriculture businesses.

1. AgriHood Baltimore, Baltimore,

Maryland. Team lead:

Richard Francis 2. Agro Empresas Black Belt, Coamo,

Puerto Rico. Team lead: Luis

Raimundo Bures Martinez

4. Matthieu Vollmer BoldCypress LLC, Oran, Missouri. These are screen shots from Arbré Technologies Inc.'s presentation. To view the video, visit bit.ly/AgInnovation10.

Team lead: Nathan Holmes 5. Butter Meat Co., Perry, New York. Team lead: Jill Gould representatives on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, to win: 6. Harvust, Walla Walla, Washington. Team lead: Riley Clubb • Farm Bureau Entrepreneur of the Year, for a total of $50,000 7. Insulights.com, Akron, Iowa. Team lead: Bill Brown • People's Choice Award, for a total of $20,000 8. Parasanti, Thrall, Texas. Team lead: Max Adams The top 10 semi-finalist teams will participate in pitch 9. Row Shaver Systems LLC, Great Bend, Kansas. Team lead: training and mentorship from Cornell University's SC Johnson

Dave Button College of Business faculty, and network with representatives 10. TerraClear Inc., Grangeville, Idaho. Team lead: from the Agriculture Department's Rural Business Investment

Trevor Thompson Companies. Farm Bureau would not be able to recognize and support

The 10 semi-finalist teams will compete during the AFBF these rural businesses without generous funding provided Convention on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, to advance to the final by sponsors Farm Credit, Bayer Crop Science, Farm Bureau round where the four finalist teams will receive an additional Bank, Farm Bureau Financial Services, FMC Corporation and $7,500 for a total of $15,000. The final four teams will compete John Deere. live in front of Farm Bureau members, investors and industry, To learn more about the Challenge, visit fb.org/challenge.

John and Melissa Eron of Stevens Point have been selected as About John and Melissa Eron the recipients of the 2020 Wisconsin Leopold Conservation The Eron's conservation story is one of innovation and Award®. ingenuity. Their farm's heavy clay soils were often wet during

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the spring planting season, dry by summer, and wet again by fall. the award recognizes farmers and John devised a common sense foresters who inspire others with their (though untested) plan: he'd dedication to land, water and wildlife capture and store runoff water habitat management on private, and use it later to irrigate crops. working land. John renovated used excavation

In Wisconsin, the $10,000 award is and irrigation equipment. He presented annually by Sand County dug a series of strategically Foundation, American Farmland Trust, placed ponds in partnership Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and with the Portage County Land Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. Conservation Department,

The Erons were revealed as this year's Wisconsin Department of award recipient at the Nov. 19 meeting Natural Resources, and U.S. of the Board of Agriculture, Trade and Army Corps of Engineers. Drain Consumer Protection in Madison. They tiles were directed to the ponds. received $10,000 and a crystal award for Any flooding from the ponds is being selected. A video celebrating their directed via pipes to a wood chip conservation success premiered during the bioreactor to remove nutrients. virtual WFBF Annual Meeting on Dec. 4. John excavates sediment deposits in the ponds and recycles "Wisconsin Farm Bureau is proud to work with the Sand those nutrients back onto his fields, which reduces his need for County Foundation to recognize and highlight farmers for fertilizer while boosting yields and profitability. The positive their outstanding conservation efforts," said former WFBF results have prompted the Erons to install similar water and President Joe Bragger. "The Erons are extremely deserving of nutrient recycling systems on their other farms. this honorable award. John is known as the go-to conservation This 'closed system' the Erons created protects Mill Creek. person in his area of the state and has great compassion in This Wisconsin River tributary that runs through their farm has caring for the land. As farmers, John and Melissa understand long been on a list of phosphorus-impaired waters. As president the importance of working with a variety of groups so together of the Farmers of Mill Creek Watershed Council, John leads we can make the land better for future generations." farmer-led efforts to promote farming practices that ensure

The first Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award was clean water and healthy soils. presented to woodland conservationist Gerry Mich of Appleton The Erons manage soil moisture and health through the use in 2006. The 2019 recipient was Jeff Lake of Boyceville in cover crops and no-till planting. They are growing fewer row Dunn County. crops by experimenting with raising alternative forages for area

The Leopold Conservation Award in Wisconsin is made dairy farmers. possible thanks to the generous contributions from Dairy Field corners and other hard-to-farm areas are planted Farmers of Wisconsin, WFBF, Compeer Financial, Culver's, with native wildflowers and grasses to create pollinator and McDonald's, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation wildlife habitats. The Erons have worked with their county's Service, We Energies Foundation, Wisconsin Corn Growers conservation staff to develop a program that educates youth Association, Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board, Wisconsin about native plants and the importance of pollinators. They Land and Water Conservation Association, Wisconsin Potato understand that the future of agriculture must consider the & Vegetable Growers Association. environment, and future agriculturalists must be educated about

Sand County Foundation presents the Leopold Conservation it today. Award to private landowners in 20 states with a variety of John serves as the appointed Weed Commissioner for Portage conservation, agricultural and forestry organizations. Other and Wood counties, where he works with local and regional finalists were: Mike Berg of Lafayette County, Charlie Hammer stakeholders to combat wild parsnip and other land-based and Nancy Kavazanjian of Dodge County, Brian Maliszewski invasive species. He also serves on the local school board and of Trempealeau County and John and Dorothy Priske of chairs the planning commission in his township. The Erons, Columbia County. who diversified their business by converting a former dairy

For more information about the award, visit barn into an event venue for weddings and other gatherings, are leopoldconservationaward.org. parents to two young children.

Amajority of U.S. adults have a positive view of farmers' infrastructure (78 percent) to support agriculture. sustainability practices, and an overwhelming majority At a time when some corporations are making sustainability trust farmers, according to a new national public opinion poll commitments that include or impact agricultural production, from the American Farm Bureau Federation. a bipartisan majority of adults (62 percent) say corporations

The survey of 2,200 U.S. adults found that more than half should compensate farmers for the additional cost of (58 percent) rate the sustainability practices of U.S. farmers implementing environmental practices to help achieve positively, with broad agreement from a majority of adults across sustainability goals. demographic groups. The survey also revealed there is still work to be done

Nearly nine in 10 adults (88 percent) trust farmers, a 4 percent to increase awareness of agriculture's comparatively small increase from AFBF's June 2020 polling, which is evidence the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. More than public recognized that food supply chain challenges brought on four in five adults (84 percent) were not able to correctly identify by the pandemic were not within the control of farmers. agriculture's impact. On a brighter note, nearly half of adults (45

The survey also explored public attitudes about the percent) correctly ranked agriculture as the smallest contributor environmental sustainability achievements of farmers, as well as to greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector. According future direction to advance climate-smart farming. Overall, the to the latest EPA data, agriculture accounts for 10 percent of public agrees farmers shouldn't be expected to bear the financial total U.S. emissions, far less than the transportation, electricity burden alone. More than four out of five adults (84 percent) production, commercial and residential, and industry sectors. say environmental sustainability and economic sustainability are both important for farmers, and most adults say both are very important. More than four in five adults (84 percent) also say feeding the world and farmers passing farms on to future generations (83 percent) are important. "Americans have a high level of trust in farmers, and they understand that we're committed to protecting the soil, air and water," said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. "We want to leave the land better than we found it for our children and grandchildren, as well as our nation. Our survey demonstrates that Americans are impressed by advancements in climatesmart farming and we look forward to building on that success."

Support for farmers' sustainability efforts swelled when government data was shared about achievements. More than eight in 10 Americans (81 percent) were impressed when they learned that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and Agriculture Department, farmers have put 140 million acres in conservation programs, more than doubled the amount of renewable energy sources they use, and nearly tripled the amount of food grown in the last 70 years with the same or fewer resources.

Looking to the future, the survey explores how Americans think sustainability efforts on farms and ranches should be funded. Seventy percent of adults say government incentives to encourage farmers to adopt additional sustainable agricultural practices would be effective. More than three-quarters of adults believe it is important for the government to fund science-based research (76 percent) and improve