Clean Farm Families
Jim Melichar
Annual Soil Health Award
Nominate someone who....
Strives to be the best steward of their land
Makes efforts to better soil health and water quality
Takes pride on their farm and community
The Clean Farm Families foundation was built in part with the leadership of its first President, the late Jim Melichar. He led the group in advocating for soil health and improved water quality by promoting the soil health principles; the very principles he practiced on his own farm.
In his honor, the Clean Farm Families would like to award a member of the community for outstanding work in advancing agriculture by improving soil health and water quality. This award includes a plaque and recognition for their efforts in the agriculture community.
Applications for the annual Jim Melichar Soil Health Award can be found at the link here. Applications will be accepted until December 31st, 2025, and the award will be presented during the Annual Soil Health Workshop on February 2026.
See below for previous year's winners of this award for their exceptional work in Ozaukee County!
2025
Steve & Kay Castner have a 90 acre farm and have been rotationally grazing for 30 years! They use a suite of other sustainable agricultural practices like overseeding of pasture, grassed waterway, nutrient management, and no commercial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides.
2024
Brian Huiras Sr. crops 700 acres, has 62 beef cows + young stock, and has been no-tilling all of his fields for the past 16 years! Brian also uses multi-species cover crops after wheat harvest and has a manure storage facility and barnyard runoff practices.
2023
Joel Kasten grows corn grain, soybeans, and wheat in the Town of Cedarburg. He began his no-till journey about 30 years ago when he first no-tilled corn into an alfalfa field, intrigued with how well the corn did he expanded his no-till planting over the years and presently does no-till planting on all his cropland most years. He strives to plant a multi species cover crop following wheat and also will use some oats as a cover crop on occassion. Joel is a soil health leader in our area and is willing to try new ideas and share information with other farmers. He attended the National No-till Conference in 2025, and attends local field days and events sponsored by the Clean Farm Families and Cedar Creek Farmers
