Zimpel Honored at American Ag Appreciation Banquet

T H Agri-Chemicals president lands Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award

The annual American Agriculture Appreciation Banquet is the premier Portage County event honoring agriculture and agri-businesses, 4-H leaders and youth, and FFA high school seniors. Each year at least one agri-business scholarship is presented to a high school senior pursuing a career in agriculture.

A showcase of the Portage County Business Council, the 2023 American Ag Appreciation Banquet was held March 6, 2023, at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Convention Center, in Stevens Point.

Sponsors included Del Monte Foods, Inc., the Food + Farm Exploration Center, and the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable

Growers Association (WPVGA).

Following a social hour, Portage County Business Council President Michael Witte welcomed guests to the banquet and gave an invocation before dinner.

The master of ceremonies, Portage County Ag Agent Ken Schroeder, introduced this year’s keynote speaker, WPVGA Executive Director Tamas Houlihan.

Schroeder took to the stage to say a few words about Houlihan’s career, which spans 37 years, including 27 as editor of the Badger Common’Tater, and 10 as the 13th WPVGA executive director, beginning in 2014.

Houlihan presented a history of the WPVGA, founded in 1948, how the non-profit association is funded through an 8 cent/hundredweight assessment on potatoes, and its focus on research, education, government affairs, and promotions.

Right: Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) Executive Director Tamas Houlihan, who was the keynote speaker for the Ag Appreciation Banquet, gave a brief history of the WPVGA and delved into some of the Association’s successful projects and partnerships.

The WPVGA, Houlihan noted, includes 110 grower members and 183 Associate Division members, as well as a large, active Auxiliary.

“When I started 37 years ago, our membership included 250 farms, but after a lot of consolidation, the number of farms is down, but the total acreage remains the same,” he said.

WATER, WATER, WATER

Houlihan discussed the WPVGA’s three main environmental initiatives: water, water, and water, and how the association and growers are constantly trying to improve on water quality and quantity through research, best practices, and good stewardship.

He delved into some of WPVGA’s successful projects and partnerships, including the Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project,