DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today announced that Kenny and Diane Cadden from Brooklyn in Poweshiek County have been named the March winners of the “Gary Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award.”
Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jay Johnson will present the award to the Cadden family on Wednesday, March 27 at the Cadden’s farm, 1645 430th Ave., Brooklyn. The “Big Show,” which airs on both WHO and WMT radio, will broadcast live from the presentation from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 27.
“The Cadden family is a great asset to our state as they go above and beyond to take great care of their livestock while also serving their neighbors and reaching out to their community,” Northey said. “The Good Farm Neighbor Award was created to recognize families like this that are an example of the great livestock farmers we have in this state.”
The Cadden’s, along with their children James, Emily, Kyle, Eric, Brian and Katelyn, farm approximately 1000 acres and also raise hogs for Eichelberger pork. In addition to farming their own land, the family also does some custom work for neighbors. The family has two hog barns that were built to help grow their operation so that their children could be involved on the farm.
In addition to the work on their farm, the family is active in the community. They are active in the local Catholic Church and supporter of the Brooklyn/Guernsey/Malcom school that their children attend.
The family was nominated for the award by Dan DeVries, who serves as their crop insurance agent and is a friend of the family. In his nomination DeVries highlights the work of the Cadden family on conservation, saying “The ground in eastern Poweshiek County has rolling hills, so Kenny is very conservation minded and implements numerous crop production practices to reduce the potential for soil erosion. He practices no-till farming, uses crop rotation, has installed grassed waterways, and has worked with his local NRCS office to build terraces on his farm.”
In closing his nomination DeVries said, “The Cadden’s represent what the Gary Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award is all about, being a good neighbor, being a good steward of the land and their livestock and being active community members.”
The Wergin Good Farm Neighbor award, made possible through the financial support of the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers, recognizes Iowa livestock farmers who take pride in doing things right. This includes caring for the environment and their livestock and being good neighbors. It is named in memory of Gary Wergin, a long-time WHO Radio farm broadcaster who helped create the award.
Anyone interested in nominating their neighbor for the award should write a letter or e-mail explaining why their neighbor should receive this designation. Applications may be submitted to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Attn: Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award, Henry A. Wallace Building, Des Moines, IA 50319 or emailed to Communications@iowaAgriculture.gov.
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