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Parkers, Bernsee honored for commitment to agriculture
Agriculture isn’t a matter of speed. It’s about incremental processes and planning for the long haul.
And so it is that each year with the Agriculture Hall of Fame awards, the Putnam County Ag Day Committee honors people who have been plying their trades for decades.
Saturday was no exception at the Putnam County Fairgrounds Community Building, as Rex and Judy Parker of Jefferson Township were named the Farmers of the Year, while longtime Banner Graphic Editor Eric Bernsee was honored as Friend of the Farmer.
For Rex Parker, that longtime commitment dates back to when he was still a kid. His father got sick and he was the only boy, so he was pretty much running the farm when he was 12.
He and Judy, both Putnam County natives, were married in 1960. Over the years, they had a large swine operation that had 13,000 head when they retired. Now the farm is about 2,200 acres of crops with family taking over.
The have three children, Ron (wife Donna), Ryan and Lynette, as well as four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
“I always tell him how blessed he is,” Judy told the Banner Graphic. “How many people get to work their whole life and get to do something they love?”
“It’s not necessarily for money,” Rex added “You farm because maybe next year I’ll have a better crop or next year I’ll have a better herd of Angus cattle because I got a new bull.”
Their life isn’t simply tied to the land, as they are proud to have driven in all 48 continental states, as well as visiting Alaska and Hawaii, as well as the Holy Land and six out of seven continents.
In fact, the Parkers were not in attendance on Saturday, as they had already made plans to be traveling.
“We were quite honored. We were quite surprised,” Judy said. “It was hard for me to leave, but we’d had these plans paid for a year ahead of time, not knowing this was going to happen.”
All the same, both were happy to share a bit of their history as well as that of the Parker family.
Both Rex and Judy have both been Fair Board members and have helped with 4-H livestock projects. Rex is a lifetime Aberdeen Angus Association member. He has also served on state and national swine boards.
Judy was a 55-year member of the Double Friendship Extension Club. She served in all offices of the Putnam County Extension Homemakers Council. She also served four terms on the Extension Board. They are members of Cloverdale Church of Christ and love God, each other, family, farm and travel.
Accepting the award on their behalf was grandson Aaron Parker, the youngest family member currently part of the farm operation, and wife Sarah.
Aaron has also been one who has done some research on family history, with Rex proudly pointing out that the Parkers came to the United States in 1721. Aaron is actually the seventh great-grandson of John Parker, who emigrated from England.
However, Rex knew quite a bit of the history before that. The Parkers of southeastern Putnam County came from North Carolina and settled in what is now Jefferson Township. Both the Parkers and the Broadstreets homesteaded on 640 acres, “which was a lot of land back then.”
The two families lent their names to Broad Park, the little town in the area.
Proud residents that they are, Rex and Judy are happy with the award, but mainly happy to be a part of Putnam County.
“We like to support the community,” Judy said.
Bernsee, meanwhile, was not born into agriculture. Instead, he grew up in the suburbs of Chicago before metriculating at the University of Missouri and working as a sports journalist in Bloomington and Richmond, Va.
He came to the Banner Graphicas editor in 1975, a post in which he remained until 2004 and returned to in 2011. In 2020, he was named editor emeritus.
Over the years, he was the person who was mainly in charge of putting together the Ag Day coverage — although it was still Ag Week for much of the time.
And then there’s coverage of the fair.
“We joke about the fair around the office and what a long, hot week it’s going to be,” Nees recounted, quoting a Banner Graphic colleague, “and yet there’s never any doubt that (he) will be out there doing whatever needs to be done to give the event the attention it deserves.”
Over the years, Bernsee’s job has also meant spending plenty of time with local farmers over the years, on their property, out in the community, as well as plenty of Saturday mornings at the Putnam County Farm Bureau legislative update sessions.
And even though he’s probably never been behind the wheel of a “tractor” per se, Bernsee’s years at Dixie Chopper from 2005-10 give him a knowledge of lawn tractors that surpasses most.
While agriculture is not an interest that comes naturally to him, he knows it’s important, particularly in this community, so he’s never let it affect his or the paper’s coverage. He truly believes that if it’s important to Putnam County, then the Banner Graphic needs to make it important to its staff.
First awarded in 1983 and 1990 respective, the Farmer of the Year and Friend of the Farmer honor individuals who have made significant contributions toward furthering agriculture either technically or in informing the non-farm sector about the workings of agriculture in the community.