2018 Award Winners
Conservation Producer Recipient
Bruce and Rick Rominger - Winters, California
The Rominger brothers have long been leaders in conservation planning on the farm and ranchlands that they own and operate. They were pioneers in the use of conservation tillage on their highly erodible land in the 1980's, and enrolled hundreds of acres into the Conservation Reserve Program.
They have implemented over 20 conservation practices to protect the natural resources on the land they operate, including water facilities on rangeland, stabilizing streambanks with the channel bank vegetation practice, fencing, pipeline, and prescribed grazing.
Cropland practices have included conservation tillage, tree and shrub establishment, micro irrigation systems, irrigation water management, cover crops, and structures for wildlife and hedgerows.
The Romingers are also in the process of closing an easement through the NRCS Agriculture Land Easement program, protecting their land from development hundreds of acres of rangeland in perpetuity. The Rominger brothers realize that if a world with a rapidly growing population is going to be fed, then the quality of the soils they manage must improve, whether by adding compost, utilizing crop residues, or planting cover crops.
The Romingers have worked to pioneer new approaches to conservation planning long before other farmers, financial incentives, and regulations were in place. The Romingers are at the forefront in the agricultural community of innovation and adaptability, not merely complying with regulations, but showing others the way to meet these regulations. Over the decades, the Romingers have provided leadership to the farming community through one-on-one interaction with other growers.
Whenever the local NRCS or Yolo County RCD has a group coming in for a tour, the Rominger brothers are always more than willing to spend time explaining conservation is not just an add-on to their operation if they have the time, but an integral component in the overall operation.
The Rominger brothers developed a conservation plan that specifies how the natural resources on the ranch are to be protected and allowing for a profitable operation. Their conservation plans implemented throughout the decades have helped them become more resilient to even the greatest conservation challenges.
2018 Producer Award Nominations
Winner: Bruce and Rick Rominger, Rominger Brother Farms, Inc. - Winters, CA
- Yolo County Resource Conservation District
- CA NRCS Woodland Service Center
- Team Names:
- Fanny Ye, Soil Conservationist - NRCS
- Corey Shake, Biologist - Point Blue Conservation Science
- Heather Nichols, Executive Director - Yolo County Resource Conservation District
- Mary Kimball, Executive Director - Center for Land Based Learning
- Nick Gallagher, Rangeland Management Specialist - NRCS
- Jessa Kay Cruz, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist - Xerces Society
- Team Names:
- Top 3 - James E Biddle, Jr, Mill Hill Farms, LLC - Williamsburg, PA
- Top 3 - Rod Vorhees, Lazy VJ Farms - Fredonia, KS
- Guy Choiniere, Choiniere Family Farm - Highgate, VT
- Clay G., F. Logan and Frank A. Govier, Glen Govier and Sons - Broken Bow NE
- Richard and Sara Grim, Grim Ranch - Bonesteel, SD
- Lampe Farms Co. - Havelock, IA
- David Haubein, Haubein Farms - Lockwood, MO
- Aden & John Mott-Restivo, Legends Creek Farm - Foster, RI
- Scott Richardson, Warren County School System - Warrenton, GA
- Joe Rothermel, RDR Farms, Inc. - Broadlands, IL
- Mike Starkey, M&J Starkey Farms - Brownsburg, IN
- Fred Yoder, Yoder Ag Services, LLC - Plain City, Ohio
Conservation Planner Recipient
Brad Wenz - Stearns County, Minnesota
As an employee of the Stearns County SWCD for 38 years, Brad truly understands the real value of communication with both landowners and the public to get conservation practices on the land.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota in 1977. As a certified Conservation Planner, he has been an invaluable resource to the Stearns County SWCD, and other natural resource organizations in Minnesota ever since.
Wenz’s specialty is the one-on-one work he does with farmers and ranchers to engage them in conservation planning, implementing conservation practices, and showcasing their work through annual conservation tours.
Over his career, he has promoted and provided technical assistance to help landowners maintain and improve private lands and their management; implement better land management technologies; protect and improve water quality and quantity; maintain and improve wildlife and fish habitat; enhance recreational opportunities on their land; maintain and improve the aesthetic character of private land; explore opportunities to diversify agricultural operations, and develop and apply sustainable agricultural systems.
Farmers and ranchers look to Wenz for his experience and leadership. Known as the "Godfather of Conservation," he is a passionate advocate and mentor for both local staff and partners.
His extensive knowledge of conservation planning has led him to see it as the most important tool in the toolbox. He has informed farmers, ranchers, and staff of the renewed National Conservation Planning Partnership effort and has assisted to bring on-farm planning back to the forefront of conservation technical assistance.
Over his career, Brad has walked approximately 120,000 acres of land, developing plans and alternatives and implementing them.
Education of the next generation of conservationists is important to him, and he has impacted over 10,000 students over his career by teaching them the value of our natural resources.
From working with farmers in conservation planning to solving natural resource concerns, educating new conservationists, sharing natural resource conservation information with students and farmers, and developing new cutting-edge conservation planning tools, Brad is the epitome of the Hugh Hammond Bennett Award for Conservation Excellence - Conservation Planner Award.
2018 Planner Award Nominations
Winner: Brad Wenz, Stearns County SWCD - Waite Park, MN
- Top 3 - Mark Green, USDA, NRCS - Springfield, MO
- Top 3 - Megan Burgess, USDA, NRCS - Kenton, OH
- Al Craney-Skagit, Conservation District - Mount Vernon, WA
- David Daniels, USDA, NRCS - Wharton, TX\
- Donald R. Donovan, USDA, NRCS - Rockville, IN
- Calvin N. Hartman, Howard County SWCD - Kokomo, IN
- James Howard, USDA, NRCS - Half Moon Bay, CA
- Drew Mather, USDA, NRCS - Hollister, CA
- Jeffrey Parker, Steuben County SWCD - Bath, NY
- Rick Rath, Missouri Dept of Conservation - Greenfield, MO
- Kate Sayles, Northern RI Conservation District - Wakefield, RI
- Derek Thompson, USDA, NRCS - Kendallville, IN
