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Stuart Newcomer of Seville in Medina County was the winner of the first-ever Excellence in Crop Advising Award. The newly created award recognized the vital contributions certified crop advisers make in assisting Ohio farmers as they produce crops in an economically and environmentally acceptable fashion.

Newcomer owns and operates Newcomer Consulting, a soil fertility consultation service for farmers in Ashland, Medina, Stark and Wayne counties. The nomination submitted on his behalf cited Newcomer's ability to advise customers on cost-efficient, environmentally sound fertilization practices. Newcomer combines personal service with modern technologies to the benefit of his customers and nature.

Newcomer was presented a plaque from OFBF and CCA by Harold Watters of Union County, president of the Ohio Certified Crop Advisers (CCA) Association. Newcomer also received $500 from Pioneer, a Dupont company. In addition, he will be Ohio's representative in a similar national competition sponsored by the American Farm Bureau and the American Society of Agronomy at the AFBF annual meeting in Tampa in January.

The Excellence in Crop Advising Award was established to nurture a link between Ohio's 600 certified crop advisers and their farmer-customers who rely on CCAs for assistance with nutrient management, soil and water management, integrated pest management and crop production.

According to Constance Jackson, OFBF vice president of agricultural ecology, "With increasing farm size, complexity of management options and increasingly complicated regulations, we foresee farmers relying more and more on the advice of specialists who are certified crop advisers."

Jackson said the award increases awareness that "farmers and their service people strive to do their best in not only making economically sound cropping decisions but also ones that are environmentally sound."