Steve and Andy Diercks recently were presented an Honorary Recognition Award from the University of Wisconsin-College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The father-son team own and operate Coloma Farms of Coloma, Wisconsin, as Lynn Grooms reports for AgUpdate’s Agri-View.
“It’s quite an honor and we’re proud to receive it, but there are a lot of other people who have helped (the industry) just as much,” Steve Diercks said.
They represent the third and fourth generations of the Diercks family to grow potatoes – as well as field corn, soybeans, red kidney beans and other crops for rotation acres. The two have followed the lead of their ancestors by serving in leadership roles in their state agricultural organizations.
“Steve and his son, Andy, are the epitome of farmers in service to agriculture,” said Irwin Goldman, a professor of horticulture at UW-Madison.
Tamas Houlihan, executive director of the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, has known Steve and Andy Diercks for about 35 years. “What stands out to me about them is their integrity, intelligence and generosity,” Houlihan said. “They think outside the box.”
Source: AgUpdate/AgriView. Read the full story and listen to an audio version here
Photo: Steve Diercks, left, and Andy Diercks are celebrated at the University of Wisconsin-College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Honorary Recognition banquet and ceremony in Madison, Wisconsin. Credit Michael King/University of Wisconsin
