Hall honored for soil health efforts

NORMAL, Ill. — Whether it’s working with farmers to improve their soils or mentoring FFA students, Brandon Hall wants to make a difference.

In recognition of his work and outstanding contributions to soil management, Hall, of Williamsfield, was the recipient of the Illinois Soybean Association and Field Advisor’s prestigious Dave Rahe Excellence in Soils Consulting Award.

The award honors the legacy of the late Dave Rahe, a passionate advocate for soil health. Rahe specialized in soil fertility, site specific fertilizer application, and soil management and was a Certified Professional Soil Scientist, Certified Professional Soil Classifier, 4R Certified Crop Adviser, and an ILSoyAdvisor CCA Soy Envoy.

Hall, location operations manager at West Central FS in Wataga, has worked in crop production for over 10 years.

A CCA since 2018, he has expertise in soil and crop management, rooted in his education at Black Hawk East and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, as well as his participation in collegiate soil judging teams. His dedication to soil health is further reflected in his recent completion of Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership’s Advanced Soil Health Leadership program.

“Brandon exemplifies the passion and dedication that the Dave Rahe Excellence in Soils Consulting Award was created to honor,” said Bryan Severs, ISA Soybean Production Committee chair.

“His commitment to advancing soil health practices, mentoring the next generation of agricultural leaders, and serving his community sets him apart as a true advocate for agricultural and environmental stewardship.”

Leadership Roles

Hall is actively involved in leadership roles within the agricultural community, including serving as Knox County Farm Bureau Young Leaders chair and Cover Crop project chairman. In 2023, he was named Illinois Farm Bureau CCA of the Year. He also serves on the Knox County Cattlemen board.

He lives in Williamsfield with his wife, Tillie, and their three children.

“To be selected as the David Rahe Soils Consultant Award winner is such an unbelievable feeling. I’m not doing it for the recognition by any means. There’s several of these awards that I’ve been recognized for are people nominating me. What I do every day, I’m not doing it to get recognized. I’m doing it to make a difference,” Hall said.

“I just want to make a difference. I want to make a difference in everything I do. I come in, challenge the people around me, they challenge me, and then we go home and we reflect on what we did, and continue to challenge ourselves.

“I’m a passionate, proud guy. I absolutely love where I work at West Central FS. I work with an amazing group of individuals from top to bottom. The key to my success is all provided by the people that are in my circle.”

PIVOTAL POINT

During ISA’s Impact Awards program the coincided this year with the organization’s 60th anniversary, a video of featured some of Hall’s business colleagues and customers.

“The pivotal point for me when I decided that soils were going to help me in this role is when Adam Dexter (West Central FS CCA) introduced me to a farmer, Bob Hennenfent in Knox County,” Hall noted

“Brandon’s advice in our farm operation has been on how we treat our soil, what we can look at for the health of our soil, different things that we can do to enhance that capability of the soil to release the nutrients that are already there,” Hennenfent said.

“It’s easy to keep working with Brandon because he always has the customer’s best interest and he’s always looking out for his customers,” added Jessie Maska, Knox County farmer.

“The difference that Brandon makes with his customers is that he cares about their operation, he worries about their return-on-investment, and one thing about Brandon is he promotes being a steward of soil.” said Rich DeSchepper, West Central FS agronomy sales and marketing manager.

“He’s a genuine guy. What you see is what you get, and there’s no guesswork involved and that’s what I like most about him,” noted John Stockton, applicator at West Central FS.

“I kind of helped coin the term soil nerd for him because over the years of knowing him I’ve seen the passion and he lives and breathes this stuff,” said Brandon Landon. West Central FS operator.

Ag Advocate

Hall is a committed advocate for the future of agriculture. He’s vice chair of the Williamsfield FFA Alumni and Friends and vice chair of the Black Hawk College East Foundation.

In his free time, Hall enjoys mentoring students from Black Hawk East and local FFA chapters in Section 3 and Section 4, sharing his knowledge and passion for soil science and sustainable agriculture.

He coached the 2024 Illinois State FFA Land Use Judging team to a first place finish and contributed as assistant coach to multiple national champion teams and individuals at Black Hawk East.

Sidney Stiers, Illinois FFA state reporter and 2024 graduate of Williamsfield High School, credited Hall for sharing his knowledge of soils.

“At first it was tricky for me to get excited about soil judging. It wasn’t until my sophomore year when I got to experience Brandon’s coaching. He was so knowledgeable that it was really just awe-inspiring to see how much he knew about it. We learned so much about Illinois soil,” Stiers said.

“There’s so many different things he has brought to our program. It’s people like Brandon that’s really driven our program to where it is today,” added Kent Rigg, Williamson High School ag teacher and FFA adviser.