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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — The Illinois Soybean Association has announced its ILSoyAdvisor award winners.
The two awards are one way that ISA recognizes and shows its appreciation of Certified Crop Advisers across the state. Recipients were John Pike and Janette Porter.
“ISA is proud to recognize CCAs that strive to help farmers be their very best,” said Stephanie Porter, ISA outreach agronomist.
“We also realize that many of these individuals usually don’t get the recognition that they deserve, so this is our way of saying thank you for all that you do for them and Illinois agriculture.”
John Pike
Pike was awarded the 2023 Soybean Master Adviser award, created as a way to recognize one special CCA each year for their passion for soybean management.
He lives in Marion and operates Pike Ag LLC, providing agronomic consulting and contract research services for the ag industry.
Pike is the southern Illinois coordinator for the Nutrient Research Education Council nitrogen management research conducted by the Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association and is also involved in various cover crop research projects and educational efforts.
He was formerly the crop sciences superintendent and research agronomist for the University of Illinois at the Dixon Springs Ag Center until crop sciences research was terminated at four locations across the state in April 2016.
Pike has continued to collaborate with staff at the U of I, Southern Illinois University and University of Kentucky to maintain research capacity in southern Illinois related to nutrient management and water quality, along with other industry research and product testing related to corn, soybean and wheat production.
He served as U of I Extension educator from 2001 to 2012 concentrating on aspects of value-added agriculture and specialty crop marketing and has also worked as a program specialist at SIU, served as agronomy instructor at Lake Land College in Mattoon and worked as Certified Crop Specialist/CCA for FS/Growmark member companies in Piatt and Christian counties.
Janette Porter
Porter was awarded the Dave Rahe Excellence in Soils Consulting award, an accolade named in honor of Dave Rahe, a former ILSoyAdvisor CCA Soy Envoy who passed away in April 2020.
During his year as an Envoy, Rahe authored blogs for ILSoyAdvisor covering topics such as soil compaction, micronutrient management, cover crops and more.
In addition to writing for ILSoyAdvisor, Rahe wrote his own blog, Observations in Agriculture.
Porter grew up on a family farm in Pike County. She graduated from SIU Carbondale with a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil sciences in 2010. She began working as an agricultural consultant in 2011.
Rahe and Porter formed RPM Soils in February 2016 where they shared management of the company until his sudden passing.
Porter also has been employed part-time with Bradshaw Custom Pumping since 2010. There she is involved with GPS coordinating and sending out as-applied maps and nutrient analysis to clients from their manure applications.
Porter is a CCA and a member of the Illinois Soil Classifiers Association, where she assists in classifying soils for possible septic sites.
She remembers Rahe as a great mentor and friend and recalls the many hours spent together riding in his truck or sitting alongside a picnic table discussing soils, crops and mostly life.
Porter enjoys continuing on in his honor to help farmers manage their soil and make informed decisions.
She lives in White Heath with her husband, Matt, and 4-year-old daughter, Brynnlee.
Following the ISA’s Impact Awards banquet on Nov. 29, both winners will be recognized at the 2023 Soybean Summit on Feb. 2 at the iHotel in Champaign.