The McLean County Conservationist of the Year is awarded to farmers and landowners that strive to protect and preserve our precious resources through conservation efforts. McLean County has a long history of conservation champions. To nominate a farmer or landowner, please contact our office.
2022 Conservationist of the Year
Congratulations to Eric & Jenny Mennenga!
Our 2022 recipient of the McLean County Conservationist of the year award goes to a farm family in LeRoy. Their operation focuses on premium-based markets including non-GMO, seed production, farm to table finished beef cattle, and a trucking for hire business. Eric and Jenny Mennenga are the primary owner/operators of Dolly Farms. Their three children, Emily, Ella, and William can be found mowing, building fence, working in the pasture and maintaining trees throughout the farm.
Aldo Leopold once said, “There are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other and the relation of people to land.” I can personally attest that the farmers of this McLean County community have a true relation to this land. Dolly Farms is one great example of just that. They have adopted a no-till and reduced tillage system, accompanied by variable rate fertilizer application and split applied nitrogen application. Their fields are protected by grassed waterways and designed native filter strips have been planted along their creeks and streams. They have protected highly sensitive areas through the Conservation Reserve Program to diversify and promote pollinator and wildlife habitat alike. Emily, Ella and William aren’t just great athletes at LeRoy schools, but also great stewards working with their mom and dad to plant more than 300 trees within their rotated cattle pastures. A relation to people, a relation to the land, congratulations to Eric & Jenny Mennenga, of Dolly Farms on being awarded for this year’s McLean County Conservationist of the year!
McLean County Conservationists of the Year
Jim Rutherford, 1984
Bill Freed, 1985
Jim Kinsella, 1986
Bill Beeler, 1987
Virgil Andrews, 1988
Dan Koons, 1989
Robert Hartzold, 1990
Dale Ernst, 1991
Virgil/MaryAnn Hinthorn, 1992
Don Pleines, 1993
Bill Bryan, 1994
Harold/Joe Necessary, 1995
Mark Freed, 1996
Sally Breese, 1997
John English, 1998
Al Weishar, 1999
Paul Duzan, 2000
Terry Schneider, 2001
Bob Whitwood, 2002
Paul Kelley, 2003
Randy Rengel, 2004
Michael C. Miller, 2005
Chris Anderson, 2006
Erik Sloneker, 2007
Larry L. Schaefer, 2008
Franklin Family Partnership/Barbara Franklin-Allsup, 2009
Steve Myers, 2010
Ed Kline, 2011
David Freed, 2012
Howard Heatherwick, 2013
Chip Henrichs, 2014
Scott Clement, 2015
Brian Carlson, 2016
Bruce Thomas, 2017
Irvin Bane, 2018
Ben Peters, 2019
Mike Steffa, 2021
Eric & Jenny Mennenga, 2022