Ag Hall of Fame thrives with farm credit association, FFA Foundation partnership

When Logan County Commissioner and former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg is inducted into the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame later this month, he will bring to one dozen the number of Logan County agriculture leaders named to that prestigious station.

The Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame began in 1989 with the induction of Dave Hamil of Sterling and James Patton of Denver. The induction this year of Sonnenberg, Ben Rainbolt of Platteville and Eric Wilkinson of Greeley, will bringthe number of honorees enshrined in the Hall of Fame to 116.

The actual Hall of Fame is housed in the CoBank Center for Agricultural Education on Colorado State University’s ARDEC research campus in Fort Collins. The Colorado FFA Foundation is custodian of the HOF, and in 2013 Premier Farm Credit took over presenting sponsorship of the HOF’s annual induction banquet, which always follows the day-long Colorado Forum on Agriculture in February.

Don Thorn, executive director of the Hall of Fame, said the partnership is advantageous to all entities involved.

“Having a naming partner always brings stature to an organization and their named events,”

Thorn said “The advantage to Premier is they get to be part of a statewide program that has inducted several people from their trade area.”

While the Hall of Fame doesn’t award scholarships per se, Thorn said support for the Hall of Fame allows the FFA Foundation to have general support, which then allows his organization to work on specific programs.

“Annually we invest over $400,000 into FFA members and agricultural education instructors across Colorado in a variety of programs that we support,” he said.

Besides Hamil, ten other Logan County people have been inducted into the Ag Hall of Fame: Hilbert Kahl, 1993; Jack Annan, 1998; Keith Propst, 2002; Helen Budin, 2003; Bill Jackson, 2004; E.S. “Bud” VanBerg, 2006; Don Ament, 2008; Jim Read, 2010; Charlie Bartlett, 2017; and Chris Dinsdale in 2020. Although Jackson was inducted primarily for his work with the Greeley Tribune, he began his ag journalism career with the Journal-Advocate.

Anyone who would like to attend this year’s induction banquet can do so by going to the FFA Foundation’s website at www.coloradoffafoundation.org and then selecting the green tab at the top. Registration is $150 per plate and closes on Feb. 13.