(La Porte County, IN) - A La Porte County farmer is taking his work in best land management practices to the state level.

 

Gene Schmidt was appointed by the governor to the State Soil and Water Conservation Board.

 

Schmidt has been a member of the La Porte County Soil and Water Conservation District Board since 1983.  He also served as chairman of the board about a dozen times during his tenure.

 

Schmidt said it’s a privilege to be appointed by the governor to play a role in soil and water conservation in all 92 counties in the state.

 

“You take pride in that,” he said.

 

Schmidt said the conservation board at the state level provides oversight of state dollars going to the local districts for programs and activities guiding the conservation movement throughout Indiana.

 

He raises corn, soybeans and wheat on about 1,700 acres south of Hanna.

 

“We’re strictly row crop,” he said.

 

Schmidt has been a farmer for nearly a half century.  His father was a farmer in central Illinois before Schmidt found his way to La Porte County.

 

“I’ve been pretty fortunate. Indiana has been good to me,” he said.