Cooperator of the Year

Every year our office hosts a dinner to celebrate all the hard work our producers and landowners have done to improve conservation on their farms. We choose one producer that has gone above and beyond that year to be our Cooperator of the Year.

 
 
Ronnie and Loretta Gail Dierker have been chosen to be our 2023 Cooperators of the Year.  Ronnie started planting cover crop in 1994.  He protects the environment via Precision Nutrient Management and wildlife through pollinator planting, field borders and developing shallow water areas.  If you know Ronnie, you know that he is the salt of the earth.  We are really pleased they agreed to be honored.
 
Below please find our invitation and sponsorship form.  We would love you to join us in celebrating the Dierker family for their land stewardship.  We have three levels of giving with benefits and would appreciate your help.  

Please click 2024 Cooperators Dinner Invite revised for the invitation. 

Please click Sponsorship Form for the sponsorship form.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our 2022 Cooperator of the Year is Richard Winters of Winters Farm.  He was given the award for this tireless commitment to soil health. On the row-crop farms he owns and operates he uses no-till, cover crops, and crop rotation to protect and build the soil. He is a leader in the community in no-till and has helped with NRS soil health trainings and videos. He is also a participant in the Million acre Challenge to improve soil health on million acres of Maryland farms.  Congratulations to the Winters family!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On August 10, 2022, we honored The Clark Family (Goose Haven Enterprises) as our Cooperator of the Year. The festivities were held at Rock Hall Volunteer Fire Department.

Left to right Nancy Metcalf, NRCS, Charles Miller, Chairman, William (Cody) Clark, Cindy Clark, Jordan Boone, Jay Jacobs, Hans Schmidt and Ronald Fithian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On September 11, 2021 was our day of celebration with Jeff and Doug Galt at the forefront. Jeff and Doug are second generation Eastern Shore farmers. Their parents came here with “High Hopes” of giving their family a solid future. They participate in cover crops or plant small grains on 100% of the acres, and they no-till to maintain healthy soil. Many of their farms are near water, such as Langford Bay, so they make it a point to install buffer strips by any stream. Family and farming are what Jeff and Doug are all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 2017: Congratulations to Harborview Farm, this year’s Cooperator of the Year. Trey Hill and his team manage over 10,000 acres of row crops and use new and innovative practices and technologies to protect soil and water quality and wildlife on their farms.

 

 


 

 

 

 

March 2016: Congratulations to Ron VanCulin of White Stone Farm, this year’s Cooperator of the Year . Ron, along with his son Eddie and brother Sam, grow chicken for Perdue and have won multiple awards for their good growing practices and conservation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 2015: Congratulations to Jack Fernwalt Cooperator of the Year  for his great conservation work on his grain farm.