Tim Cobb

It gets awfully tough for the Excellence in Agriculture award committee to make a final decision when reviewing the nominees.

“Many of them are making an impact in any way or shape they can,” said Tim Cobb, committee chairman. “No impact, large or small, is ever overlooked. … We’re looking for the heart of a teacher and the hands of a producer.”

That can be a farmer or someone educating others about farming, he said.

“It takes all kinds,” he said. “You can be a producer of many things.”

The Ag Show hosts the award because of the depth of leadership within the industry, Cobb said. This year’s winner will be announced during the opening session Tuesday, Feb. 6.

“These are responsible people who give much of their time, much of their life, to this industry,” he said. “(They) may have years that are quite abundant, and others that are very lean, and yet they’re still in it. This is an opportunity to recognize folks that not only put their heart and soul into things, but essentially everything that they have.”

Last year’s recipients, Ben and Janet Barstow, wheat and barley farmers near Palouse, Wash., say they’re still surprised and humbled by the award.

“It still kind of surprises me every time I walk by and see it — ‘Wow, they gave that to us,’” Ben said. “It’s still a little hard for me to believe.”

“It feels to me like, ‘Geez, we better keep working hard since we earned that, to deserve it,’” Janet said with a laugh.

Old friends, new faces

The Barstows in 2023 celebrated another milestone — the 140th harvest of their farm, with relatives and hosted a dinner in an alfalfa field with their friends and neighbors.

“It was really special,” Janet said.

The couple is hopeful for the next 140 years.

“I’m encouraged every time I go to a meeting somewhere and meet somebody new, somebody in their 30s or 40s,” Ben said.

Meeting fresh faces validate the hard work of those leaders who have come before, Janet said.

“It really is nice to have fresh blood,” she said.

‘Step up in a big way’

“We need this next generation to step up in a big way,” Ben said. “The public, who knows nothing about agriculture, is demanding change. If we don’t have a big bunch of people out there trying to explain the realities of agriculture to them, they’re going to demand change that just flat doesn’t work, that will end up causing people around the world to starve.”

Those people who “know something about agriculture” need to “do more than just stay on the farm and produce,” he said.

“You’ve got to get out there and justify what you do, to people who have no clue,” he said.