Nutrient Stewardship Council Chairwoman Receives Women in Agriculture Award

Carrie Vollmer-Sanders at the 4R Program Expansion event on Dec. 9, 2016

A pioneering state conservation officer and a leading advocate for sustainable farming have been named winners of the 2017 Women in Agriculture awards presented by Purdue Extension. The awards were presented Thursday (Aug. 17) as part of the lieutenant governor’s Celebration of Agriculture program during the Indiana State Fair.

Carrie Vollmer-Sanders, nutrient strategy manager for The Nature Conservancy’s North America Agriculture Program and member of a northeast Indiana farm family, received the Achievement Award, honoring women who are directly involved in a home farming operation.

“The Purdue Extension Women in Agriculture team appreciates the opportunity to recognize the efforts of these women who serve as trailblazers, role models and leaders in the field of agriculture,” said Danica Kirkpatrick, marketing and engagement manager for the Purdue College of Agriculture and co-chair of the Women in Agriculture Awards Committee. “The pool of talent we have to choose from makes it more difficult every year to select just one winner in each category.”

Vollmer-Sanders was named nutrient strategy manager for the Nature Conservancy’s North American Agriculture Program in 2016. Previously, she was the Conservancy’s director of the Western Lake Erie Basin Project. Under her leadership a broad base of stakeholders including working farmers, agribusinesses, researchers, corporations, government agencies, other non-profit agencies and conservation groups came together to form the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program to ensure sustainable nutrient management practices are adopted by the agriculture industry for long-term water quality benefits in Lake Michigan.

In 2014, President Obama honored Vollmer-Sanders for her work to reduce nutrient runoff into Lake Erie.

Vollmer-Sanders and her husband, Ryan, farm with her parents in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio. The Grains and Greens and Vollmer Farms operations raise corn, soybeans, wheat and sunflowers. The family uses precision nutrient management, conservation tillage, grassed waterways, filter strips and cover crops to improve productivity, soil and water quality.

To learn more about the award and other winners, read the original article from WCSI.