(AREA) – Sanilac County farmer Dennis Gardner has been recognized for his many years of working on, and now running, Gardner Family Farms, LLC.
Gardner, who along with many helpers, including his family, works just under 2,000 acres of land planting corn, soybeans, wheat and sugar beets.
He was honored as a 2022 Michigan Master Farmer at a reception held last week in Mt. Pleasant. Among many committees he serves on, Gardner has been on the Michigan Soybean Committee for the past nine years serving as secretary, vice-president and President.
He has also served on the East District Michigan Sugar Board for nine years. Under his leadership, the farm focuses on land and crop management more than owning and working more land.
The farm has also hosted several farm research trials over the years as area farmers learn how to best produce soybeans and other crops.
Gardner, along with his wife, Reta, and their four daughters successfully farm their land in and around Fremont Township in southern Sanilac County, leading his two oldest daughters, Kristin and Jenna to also enter the agriculture business. His two other daughters, Dana and Lauren are students in the Cros-Lex school district.
Gardner is also very active in the community, serving on various boards at his church, Colonial Woods Missionary Church in Port Huron and on the Croswell-Lexington School Board.
He has also ventured into the world of radio broadcast business, working with Sanilac Broadcasting in his spare time as an announcer for high school sports.
The revered Michigan Master Farmer award carries with it agriculture’s highest honor, recognizing outstanding farm management, innovation, conservation and leadership.
Each year for the last 18 years, Michigan Farmer has bestowed the prestigious Master Farmer award on three individuals each year who have demonstrated how to farm more effectively, efficiently, environmentally and economically.
The award acknowledges a lifetime of achievement and not a single year.
Master Farmers are nominated by peers and are chosen by a committee of agriculture industry leaders.
