|
Dwayne Edsall is a graduate of Watonga High School. The life-long farmer-rancher raises wheat and rye and also pastures his cow-calf herd on bermuda and native grasses. His mixed cattle are bred to a Limousin bull. The Edsalls in past years milked several cows without benefit of milking machines and sold to Gold Spot Dairy out of Enid. He now incorporates less tillage to reduce wind erosion and economize on fuel and also uses the crabgrass that grows after harvest for additional pasture and hay. He is a member of the Cattlemen’s Assn. and Farm Bureau. He has played guitar with several groups over the year, most recently with The Good News Singers. He has enjoyed entertaining residents at various nursing homes. The Edsalls’ children include Roger and the late Steve Edsall and his wife, Sandy, and daughter Lisa Simmons and her husband, the late Malcolm Simmons. They have seven grandchildren and a great-grandson. Edsall and his family are constantly clearing timber to make new grazing pasture but say they are careful to leave a good balance. They leave shelter belts to protect against wind and water erosion and shelter the cattle. They also do a lot of cedar control. They have invested in a bermuda digger and sprigger and related equipment to cover cleared land and counter water and wind erosion.
|
|
Okeene - 2007 Blaine County Ag Hall of Fame Henry Bierig Jr. had a Class C dairy operation when he and his wife Charlotte married Dec. 10, 1950, but they have gradually phased it into a cow-calf operation based on Registered Herefords. Bierig is proud of having won a soil conservation award previously. He raises wheat, alfalfa and bermuda and native grass pasture. For the last five years he has been breeding his Hereford heifers to Gelvibeh bulls. Addressing current high fuel prices, he has been experimenting with reduced tillage and more efficient machinery, including ones that can do more than one operation on each pass.
|
What has given him most pride is watching crop yields continually increasing since he started farming in 1950, due to improved seed varieties, better farming methods and best use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer. Conservation practices include constructing waterways and terraces and using minimum tillage and bermuda grass plantings on erodible lands. His memberships are the Okla. State Foundation Seed Assn., Farm Bureau, the National Hereford Assn. and serving on his local coop board of directors. Bierig also is a member and elder in the Fairview Central Christian Church, a 50-year Mason and an Okeene Lions Club member. His children include Jackie Sue Reed and Dr. Kirt E. Bierig, and he has six grandchildren. He enjoys overseas travel, hunting and watching sports ranging from OU football and basketball to Okeene’s sports. |
|
Geary - 2007 Blaine County Ag Hall of Fame Gerald Garrett was born in Albuquerque, NM, but graduated from Geary High School. He and his wife, Sarah Jane, were married April 18, 1959. A 48-year farmer, he has served on the FSA board for seven years, is an honorary Geary FFA Chapter Farmer, is president of the Geary Bison Boosters and has received the Blaine County Conservation Award. His operation includes a registered and commercial Brangus cow-calf herd and he also grows registered and certified wheat, alfalfa and plains bluestem and bermuda grass. He raises his own replacement heifers and breeds them to the new low birth-weight bulls. Garrett likes trying new varieties of registered seed wheat. Memberships include the FSA board, International Brangus Breeders Assn., Geary FFA, Farm Bureau and the First United Methodist Church. Garrett enjoys supporting the young people in their church, school and community in the projects and agricultural endeavors. Their family includes Randy and Valerie Garrett, Jerry “Bo” Garrett and Janie and Robert Herndon, and they have 14 grandchildren. Garrett’s favorite past-times are “farming, grandchildren and gardening.” His conservation measures include building ponds, waterways and terraces, planting grass on highly erodible land and controlling grazing on the grass.
|
|
Canton - 2007 Blaine County Ag Hall of Fame Rodman Brown is an old-hand at conservation, having started stubble mulching in the early 1950s. Since then he has added more minimum tillage and some no-till. We tried a small amount of Roundup-ready canola for a crop rotation and to clean the ground. He runs a commercial cow-calf herd using Angus-based crossbreeds and also pastures stockers; raises wheat, sudan and grass. He and his wife, Avona, have been married since 1959.He takes great pride in the family involvement in his operation, including son Roger and his wife Beverly and their children, Monty and Kristi. We believe in conservation tillage, in terracing and waterways; spraying all of our native grass to kill weeds; and try to fertilize our improved grasses. They use soil tests in fertilizer applications. Quality forage in native and improved pastures is maintained by herbicide applications as well as fertilizer. Grazing wheat followed by forage sorghum production for hay has worked well for the Browns to clean up farm ground and provide needed winter forage supplement for their cow-calf operation. Memberships include the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Assn., Farmers Union, Farm Bureau and Canton United Methodist Church. |
|
Watonga - 2007 Blaine County Farmer/Rancher of the Year Bill Williamsen is from Brush, Colo., and his wife, Janet, was born in Alva; they met at a Merle Haggard concert and were married Feb. 14, 2004. For the past four years they have raised Angus cattle and Quarter Horses on the former Cronkhite ranch northwest of Watonga, where they also grow wheat and rye. They have a cow-calf operation. The Williamsens’ conservation practices include building two ponds for erosion control and providing wildlife refuge. Their children include Amy, Alyssa, Chad, Aaron and Stacy, and they have seven grandchildren. The Williamsens’ favorite activity is riding their Quarter Horses. |
 |
Watonga - 2007 Blaine County Farmer/Rancher of the Year Darlene Butler Widney graduated from Watonga High School and married her late husband, Wilford, on May 9, 1959. She has been in farming 48 years. Besides raising wheat and bermuda and native grass pasture for their cow-calf herd (mainly Herefords, Angus and Charolais), the Widneys for 25 years have operated Flying W Livestock Equipment that manufactures hydraulic livestock equipment. In the past the Widneys received the Bankers Soil Conservation Award and were 1982 Chamber of Commerce District Farmer-Rancher of the year, 1982 Farm Bureau county farmer-rancher of the year and 1995 Chamber of Commerce bosses of the year. Memberships include Farm Bureau, Oklahoma and National Cattlemen’s Assns., National Bison Assn. and the Chamber of Commerce. She served as Farm Bureau county women’s committee president for 17 years and served on the state Farm Bureau women’s committee four years. She also has held various positions in the Eagle City Christian Church. |
|
Eagle City - 2007 Blaine County Farmer/Rancher of the Year Mary Cox is originally from the Fay area. She and her husband, the late Loren Cox, were married May 28, 1950. Her cattle are Polled Hereford and Angus and she grows wheat, Sudan or feed crops and grass pasture for the cow-calf herd. We have been using no-till and minimum till whenever possible and plan to rotate to control weeds and rye to reduce the use of chemicals.” She also plans to continue planting grasses and alfalfa for better nutrition for the cows and bulls without using wheat pasture for the mother cows. Her children include Lou Ann Wooley, Alan Cox, Joyce Barclay, Bryan Cox and Mark Cox, and she has 12 grandchildren. She received the Canton Chamber of Commerce “farmer of the year” award. Memberships include Farmers Union and she has been a Sunday school teacher, treasurer and women’s group member at Eagle City Christian Church. Cox enjoys gardening, quilting, reading, visiting with her children and grandchildren, eating at the Overlook cafe and church activities. Conservation practices include grass planting, utilizing terraces, minimum and no-till, pasture spraying, waterways, controlling cedars and reducing cattle numbers to avoid overgrazing.
|
|
Geary - 2007 Blaine County Farmer/Rancher of the Year Aaron Base mainly produces wheat and cattle but says he also has tried milo, soybeans, canola, sesame and grapes, along with bluestem and bermuda grass. New methods he has incorporated include minimum tillage, Roundup- ready crops and Clearfield wheat. His cow-calf herd is based on Angus and crossbreeds. He is the son of Glen and Glenda Base. After graduating from Geary High school, he earned a degree in Ag Economics from OSU. He and his wife, Jennifer, were married in 2001. They have a daughter, Daphne. Jennifer Base is taking viticulture courses at Redlands Community College to enhance their grapes project. Base chairs the Central North Canadian River Conservation District and he is an advisory board member at the Hydro coop. He also is a member of the Geary United Methodist Church. Base, who has farmed for 10 years, says he is most proud that “I am able to live and work full-time on the farm with my family.” Current conservation projects include building and maintaining terraces, pond dams, waterways and diversion structures.
|
|
Hitchcock - 2007 Blaine County Farmer/Rancher of the Year Meier Brothers (Michael & David) have a joint operation in the Hitchcock area that includes Angus and Angus Crossbreed cattle, wheat, sorghum and native and improved grasses. They run both a cow-calf and stocker herds. Both have been Wheat Kings. The Meiers are using minimum-till practices to save fuel costs and conserve soil moisture. They are members of Blaine County and Okla. Cattlemen’s Associations and also are active with Hitchcock Fire Dept. and the Chisholm Trail Cowboy Church. The brothers are Okeene graduates and Kelly, a Watonga graduate, is active with the Watonga Foundation for Academic Excellence. As for conservation practices, they report, “We farm everything on the contour to prevent erosion and conserve terraces. We also try to plant grass on erodible land. If we rent a farm, we like to leave it better than we found it.” Michael and Kelly Meier’s children include Tyler & Kelsey Meier and Kelsi & Cody Parker plus one grandchild. David has one son, Cass Meier. |
