Invitations have been sent for the 2015 edition of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency program titled “A Tribute to Agriculture”, according to FSA’s Jean Johnson. The event will be held at The Links at Northfork in Ramsey, MN Thurs., Dec. 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the awards program set to begin at 1 p.m.
The Farm Family of the Year in Sherburne County is being presented to the Moritz family, who has worked land near Elk River for 133 years and six generations. Martin and Caron Moritz and their sons Theodore, Kevin and David and their families run the operation which raises corn, soybeans, hay and cattle, as well as a trucking business.
Other recipients of the award will include two operators from Anoka County and two from Hennepin County. One 2015 Century Farm award will be presented to Hamilton Bros., Inc. from Hennepin County during the program.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) honoree for Sherburne County will be Dee Holt, who is currently maintaining 73 acres in Becker Township with her daughter Holly Holt-Woehl to promote native grasses, wild flowers and pollinator habitat under a 10-year CRP agreement.
The CRP is a land conservation program administered by the FSA which provides a yearly rental payment to enrolled farmers who agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from crop production and instead introduce plant species that will lead to improvement of the environment. The stated goal of the program is to “re-establish valuable land cover to help improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, and reduce loss of wildlife habitat.”
The late Vergil Holt had planned to enroll the property in the CRP, Johnson said, but he passed away in January, 2011 before being able to do so. His widow and daughter were able to enroll the acreage in the program in October of that year.
The event is being sponsored by the United States Dept. of Agriculture, the Farm Service Agency, Crop Production Services, AgStar®, THE University of Minnesota-Extension, Centra Sota, the Sherburne Soil and Water Conservation District, the Sherburne History Center and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
