The Minich-May Family was honored as the 2009 Indiana Farm Family of the Year at the Indiana Farm Bureau state convention in Evansville. The award is presented annually by Beck's Hybrids and Indiana AgriNews. From left are Beck's Hybrids vice president Scott Beck; Angie, Steve, Drew and Adelle May; and Dave and Marilyn Minich. Photo provided by AgriNews Publicationsa The Minich-May Family is Indiana's Farm Family of the Year. The Carroll County family was honored during a presentation at the Indiana Farm Bureau state convention in Evansville.

Dave and Marilyn Minich received the award with their daughter, Angie May, her husband, Steve, and their children, six-year-old Drew and four-year-old Adelle.

The award is presented annually by two family agricultural businesses, Beck's Hybrids and Indiana AgriNews. It honors a Hoosier family for outstanding efforts on and off the farm.

This year's recipients are making history in north-central Indiana.

At the end of World War 2, Dave's parents, Ernie and Betty, started the family's farm with 200 rented acres. They bought their first 65 acres when Dave was a junior in high school in 1962.

Following their junior year at Purdue University, Dave and Marilyn married. The next year, they began renting their own land. After graduating from college in 1968, they joined forces with Dave's parents.

They progressively farmed more acres, cash-renting additional property and buying it when possible. They farmed about 1,800 acres 15 years ago.

Today, their farm consists of 4,000 acres of corn and 2,100 acres of soybeans, and they own about a third of that land.

It is a large operation. But it still is a family farm, said certified crop adviser Craig Spray, who nominated the family for the award.

"With Dave's management of the daily agronomics and Angie's expertise in running the finances, this makes for an unbeatable combination," he said.

The family attributes their success to respecting and valuing the different skill-sets of each family member and farm employee.

Angie and her brothers, Mark, who works as an engineer near Chicago, and Robb, a lawyer in Indianapolis, were very involved in the farm throughout high school and college. Mark and Robb still enjoy helping out whenever possible.

Angie works from the family's grain storage, tool shed and office complex, nicknamed "The Depot," which was built in 2005.

Managing the financial records and yield maps for more than 6,000 acres - as well as relationships with 20 landlords across four counties - isn't easy.

It's not just simple recordkeeping, Dave stressed.

"Keeping the books is not an easy job anymore," he said. "And we have numerous entities to manage."

Dave said he is particularly proud to continue his parents' farm operation and now have his daughter and son-in-law carry on that legacy.

"That's what we live for. Having family come back to farm and making it work is the success we want," he said.

"You can be all different sizes. But being able to work with your family and continue it on, that's the success I appreciate."

But, he noted, he hasn't forced any of his children into farming. Likewise, his father originally discouraged him from studying agriculture in high school and at Purdue.

"It was extremely difficult for my dad to break into farming in the 1940s," Dave said. "I know he didn't want me to have to struggle like he did."

Dave's passion for farming, however, was too strong.

"I just could not get myself away from it," recalled Dave, who ultimately graduated with a degree in agricultural economics.

Angie and Steve graduated from Butler University in 1994 with degrees in international business management. They married and took a year to work and travel before settling in Indianapolis.

Steve began working for a textbook publishing company, where he continues to be employed today. Angie worked on the farm while earning her master's degree in business administration and then gained significant business experience as a commercial banker for eight years before returning to the farm full-time.

"I wanted my kids to be involved in the family farm," Dave said. "But it had to be their decision."

The family is assisted by three full-time employees - Gerlyn Crist, John Johnson and Mike Kunkel, who have worked on the farm for 30, 22 and six years, respectively. Rita Moffitt has worked in the office part-time for 16 years.

Son-in-law Steve is very involved in management decisions and helps in the field when available, especially at planting and harvest. Dave's cousins Bill, Darren and Mark Redding and friends Gary Butts and Dick Fife also help seasonally.

Two high school seniors, Justin Moffitt and Matt Edging, also work on the farm.

Dave said he credits the family's success to extensive preparation and coordination.

"We do a lot of planning," he explained. "We plant every field on paper in the office a year before the tractor pulls into the field."

"The success has depended on details, good employees and management," he said. "We recognize that every one of us in this operation has different talents, and they seem to complement each other quite well. We try to recognize those skill-sets and utilize them to bring success to the farm and to each person individually."

Spray cited the family's dedication to being good stewards of the land and active members of the local community.

"Over the years, Dave has paid for many part-time employees' secondary schooling by allowing them to work for the operation and, in turn, pay part of their tuition. He also has had students job-shadow him," he said.

"He has always prided himself on giving an open invitation to the non-farming public to experience what true production agriculture is all about."

Dave was a member of the boards of directors for the Carroll County Co-op and the Carroll County Soil and Water Conservation District and was a 4-H club tractor maintenance leader. He also has served as an officer and leader on various projects at Logansport's Calvary Presbyterian Church, where he remains an active member.

His wife, Marilyn, is a licensed clinical social worker and was employed for 16 years as a mental health therapist. She currently works for the Salvation Army in Logansport.

She is a charter member of the Cass County Domestic Violence Task Force, as well as the Sexual Abuse Victims Empowerment organization for battered women. She has been a volunteer at the Logansport Memorial Hospital Hospice, served as president of the United Presbyterian Women and is an active member of Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Angie has served as Calvary Presbyterian Church deacon and vice president of the church's foundation, as well as a high school youth group leader. She currently serves on the Carroll County Community Foundation Board and is active at Flora United Methodist Church.

Steve also served Calvary Presbyterian Church as a high school youth group leader and youth mission trip leader. He currently is active in the Flora youth baseball program, Flora Lions Club and Flora United Methodist Church.

"In the community if we see there's a need, we volunteer to do something," Dave said. "We don't want to see something worthwhile go by the wayside - we give back to the community as best we can."

"As a farmer and a Christian, I appreciate that God is working with us and helping us along," he added.

Their concern for agriculture, each other and their community is why the family was honored as the 2009 Indiana Farm Family of the Year, said Beck's Hybrids vice president Scott Beck.

"I would describe the Minich-May Family as a family that is progressive in their farming practices, traditional in their family values and unique in how they involve family and non-family in their operation and in the community involvement," he said.

As Indiana's Farm Family of the Year, the family members received a plaque and a yard sign, as well as tickets and hotel accommodations to attend the Farm Bureau convention.

They also have been invited to attend the Farmers Day activities at the Indiana State Fair and will receive a vacation package based on their own interests.

Editor's note: The above story appeared earlier this month in Indiana AgriNews and was written by James Henry.