Minich is named Top Producer
By Jennifer Archibald Staff writer

Top Producer award Dave Minich is the winner of the 2008 Top Producer of the Year award, presented by Top Producer magazine. The award recognizes him as one of the top farm managers in the nation. Sponsor of the award is Challenger tractor. As one of his prizes, Minich receives a six-month or 200-hour lease of a Challenger MT 700 track tractor or a Challenger MT 600 wheeled tractor. Pictured l-r are Steve Custer, executive vice president of Farm Journal Media, parent company that includes Top Producer; Dave and Marilyn Minich; Greg Vincent, Top Producer editor. Photo provided

Washington Township farmer Dave Minich of Minich-May Family Farms has been named Top Producer of the Year by a national agribusiness magazine.

Greg Vincent, editor of Top Producer magazine, said nominations for the award were received from across the United States and all commodity groups.

The competition recognizes farm operators who demonstrate excellence in farm management. Judging is based on long-term achievement.

Vincent said specific criteria include entrepreneurial originality, financial and business progress, and industry or community leadership.

Farmer/innovator Dave Minich stands beside one of the many modified pieces of equipment on his farm. The bucket on this machine was replaced with a tree clipper, and a camera was added. Able to cut branches 25 feet high, Minich calls the innovation "T-Rex." Minich was named Indiana Prairie Farmer Master Farmer in 2000 and was just named 2008 Top Producer by Top Producer magazine. Comet photo by Jennifer Archibald

"Minich stood out in all three of these categories," he said.

According to the Top Producer website, the award has been given since 2000, and Minich is the first recipient from Indiana.

He received the award Jan. 17 in Chicago at the magazine's annual business seminar for farmers.

Minich was nominated by AgriGold Hybrids seed corn company, and one of the nomination references was written by Monty Edging of Lafayette Bank & Trust Company.

"David's farming operation is very impressive," wrote Edging. "He has taken it upon himself to cautiously expand upon the base, which his father, Ernie Minich, started in the late 1940s. He has done this by being a very goal oriented, progressive and innovative operator, whether it be expanding the size of the operation or just looking for a more efficient way to do things. His attention to detail is nearly unmatched and it is evident from the time you arrive at the operation. This attention to detail has, in no doubt, helped him elevate the combined operations to where they are today."

Edging added that Minich's attention to detail is also evidenced in his financial management, record keeping, and forecasting.

Minich's nomination highlighted his farming operation, equipment innovations, and employee and family business relationships.

The family enterprise is owned by Dave and Marilyn Minich and their daughter and son-in-law, Angie and Steve May. The business has three full-time employees and seven part-time.

The operation farms 6,000 acres, two-thirds of which are rented. The farm is 100 percent crops (corn and beans).

The Minichs used to have the farm office in their mud room. In 2005-2006, the family constructed a new facility in a centralized location. The complex, affectionately called "The Depot," includes a spacious office, two machinery storage buildings, a grain leg and bins.

Minich adds to the efficiency of his operation through innovative ideas. An example is a hydraulically operated, mounted disk blade on the back of his field cultivator to mark the distance from the edge of the field. This guide allows him to plant as close to the edge as possible with his 36-row planter.

They also have welded hitches on the front of all their trucks and on the back of other equipment so they can move from field to field without waiting for assistance.

They modified a telehandler by replacing the bucket with a tree clipper. It will reach 25 feet high and cut limbs to 14 inches in diameter. They added a camera to show what part of the tree they are clipping.

"Your ability to retain and develop employees is a testament to your forward thinking and management ability," said Vincent in a letter notifying Minich that he was a finalist. One of Minich's employees, Gerlyn Crist, has been with him for 28 years.

"Further proof," continued Vincent, is your daughter and son-in-law returning to the farm to make their own careers."

The Mays contribute to the business part of the operation. Angie has an MBA degree, and Steve has a degree in business management.

The Minichs also have two sons, Mark and Robb, who pursued careers away from the farm.

Minich graduated from Purdue in 1969 with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture. Following graduation, he and Marilyn rented a farm with a house and 112 acres. He joined forces with his father in 1969, and the Mays came on board in 1999. The founder of the Minich farm, Ernie Minich, died in 2006.

Minich grew up farming with his dad, and now he's the patriarch of the family farm.

"I have just enjoyed farming to such a high extent," Minich said. He said his goals at this stage are to enjoy life, be a steward of the land, and make a rewarding income.