Wright County Soil and Water Conservation District
Stacey and Ingrid McCallister
This award was established in 2006 in memory of our friend Gary Raney. It is intended to recognize farmers who are doing an outstanding job of using innovative practices and techniques to improve the management of their farms, while protecting and conserving the natural resources.
It is very fitting that this year's award recipients were encouraged by Gary Raney to participate in the soil and water conservation district's practices. This year's recipients operate a dairy and beef operation on farms that they own and lease. They have constructed a new dairy parlor with an animal waste management system and earthen lagoon at the dairy. One of the unique parts of this system is that the feed mixer was placed under the feeding floor roof and a conveyor takes the feed from the mixer to the cows. The cows can eat on concrete and out of the weather, which allows a good portion of the manure from the cow to be collected and stored to be used as fertilizer where it is most needed on the farm. This young family is working hard to make many improvements to their farm.
That is why this year's Gary Raney Memorial Progressive Farmer Award goes to Stacey and Ingrid McCallister.
