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.

PROBLEM SOLVER: “I’ve tried to make whatever I was involved with better after I left,” says Chris Hausman, Pesotum, Ill. (Holly Spangler)

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.

TEAMWORK: “It’s impossible to imagine one of us without the other,” says Malcolm Head of his wife and farm partner, Susan. “I couldn’t have done it without her, and I hope she couldn’t have done it without me. It took both of us to make the village work.” Susan agrees: “We’re a team that worked together from the get-go.” The Heads farm near Blue Mound, Ill. (Betty Haynes)

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.

GIVING BACK: “Decisions are made by those who show up,” says Lou Lamoreux, Lanark, Ill. “Someone once told me, ‘If you’re not at the table, don’t be trying to make a statement.’ And they were right.” (Courtesy of Illinois Farm Families)

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.

RIGHT WAY: “The great thing about agriculture is that people talk about a way of life, and it’s so true,” says Gerald Thompson, Colfax, Ill. “I farmed with my dad, and now I have the privilege to farm with my son, and it doesn’t get any better than that.” (Betty Haynes)

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.

MASTER PIVOT: Gary Schnitkey’s career as a University of Illinois agricultural economist has seen a monumental shift in the delivery of Extension, from dozens of local county meetings to the birth of the successful Farmdoc website. “You gotta think first about the electronic delivery and second about meetings,” he says. (Holly Spangler)