Photos by Tom Campbell Certificate of Distinction winners for 2005 are (from left to right) Harold Wilson, Bret D. Marsh, Kaye Whitehead, Bill Whitehead, Herbert W. Ohm, Terry Hayhurst, C. Leon Johnson and Ned Stump.

Eight Hoosier agricultural leaders received the Certificate of Distinction, the Purdue Agricultural Alumni Association’s highest honor, at the annual Ag Alumni Fish Fry at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

“The alumni association is always proud to pay tribute to people who represent the agricultural profession so well to others,” says Donya Lester, association executive secretary. “This year’s recipients are an exceptional group of ambassadors.”

The 2005 recipients are:

Terry Hayhurst, BS ’84, Terre Haute, owner/manager of Hayhurst Farms, a family partnership that includes 1,200 acres of crops, 30 head of Polled Hereford cattle, and a 4,000-head-per-year hog operation.

C. Leon Johnson, Orleans, founder of River View Farms, a diversified crop and livestock operation in Orange County, Indiana, where he built a legacy of innovation and community service spanning eight decades. Johnson attended Purdue’s Ag Winter short course in 1935.

Fish Fry guest speaker Tim Russert is delivered to the stage in style, on board the Boilermaker X-tra Special.

Bret D. Marsh, BS ’81, Carmel, the Indiana State Veterinarian since January 1994. Marsh earned a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Purdue in 1984.

Herbert W. Ohm, PhD ’72, West Lafayette, professor of agronomy at Purdue who specializes in wheat and oat breeding research. He joined the faculty in 1972.

Ned Stump, BS ’61, LaGrange, who was hired in 1963 as the first vocational agriculture teacher at Prairie Heights Community School Corporation. He held that position for 37 years until his retirement in 2000.

Kaye and Bill Whitehead, Muncie, who operate a 3,300-acre grain, hay and hog operation. They utilize no-till planting, modern manure management, and detailed production records for crops and livestock. He is a ’62 short course graduate.

Harold Wilson, BS ’51, Peru, a successful grain and hog farmer for almost 60 years. A consummate manager, Wilson’s farrow-to-finish hog operation has remained essentially the same size for 30 years, yet the data collected and analyzed by his feed supplier consistently rank it among the most profitable in the area.