(ATLANTIC CITY) – Mercer County farmer Scott Ellis and Rutgers Cooperative Extension specialist Andrew Wyenandt were honored February 8 with Distinguished Service to Agriculture Citations by the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture during the New Jersey State Agricultural Convention in Atlantic City.

 “New Jersey is fortunate to have outstanding individuals who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of the Garden State’s agriculture industry,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “The leadership and experience of Scott and Dr. Wyenandt have had a lasting impact on farmers and young people interested in agriculture.”

Ellis has spent his adult life as a full-time farmer taking over management of the 700-acre Ellis Farms in 1980. The farm produces primarily fresh market sweet corn and soybeans in Mercer and Burlington counties.

He has served in leadership positions while being involved in agriculture for the past 40 years, where he has helped shape New Jersey agriculture with a voice of clarity and compromise when seeking solutions to problems faced by New Jersey agricultural producers. While he is currently serving as a farmer member on the State Agriculture Development Committee, he has been the President of the State Board of Agriculture, President and Vice President of the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey, Director of the New Jersey Farm Bureau, Chairman of the Mercer County Soil Conservation District and Chairman of the New Jersey Fish and Game Council.

Ellis believes one of his most important accomplishments has been to make a full-time living as a farmer in New Jersey. Scott has been honored as the New Jersey Vegetable Grower of the Year in 2014, awarded the Farm Bureau Outstanding Service to New Jersey Agriculture award in 2005 and as the Rutgers IPM Grower of the Year in 1993.

A graduate of Steinert High School and Delaware Valley College, Ellis and his wife, Charmaine, have two children, Erin and Lauren.

Dr. Wyenandt has been an Extension Specialist at Rutgers University since 2005. He is an associate professor in the department of Plant Biology and Pathology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University.

Wyenandt combined with two others to publish the book, “Fungicide Resistance in North America” that was published in 2016. He has also written for more than 20 electronic publications and journals. The topics have included fungicide resistance, skin separation in bell peppers, cucurbit viruses in commercial fields and the effects of nitrogen fertilizer on pumpkin yield.

He has chaired and organized several organizations and activities. They include being chair of the Fungicide Resistance Development in North America for the 21st Century Workshop and Chair of the Northeast Vegetable IPM Working Group.

Wyenandt has also been President of the Northeast Division Phytopathological Society, is on the board of directors for the New Jersey Agribusiness Association and is a member of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Vegetable Working Group and Mid-Atlantic Vegetable Working Group.

Dr. Wyenandt’s service to Rutgers includes being on the Executive Committee for the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, being a section leader for Sustainable Agriculture Systems, Department of Plant Biology and Pathology and on the Greenhouse Committee for the Rutgers Agricultural and Research Extension Center in Bridgeton.

His education includes a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, a Master of Science in Plant Pathology from The Ohio State University and Ph.D. in the Department of Plant Pathology from The Ohio State University. His dissertation was on the subject of Fruit Rot of pumpkin and its control with cover crop mulches.

Organizations who qualify to send delegates to the New Jersey State Agricultural Convention may nominate a state farmer for the award.  For more information on the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, visit www.nj.gov/agriculture/about/sba/guidelin.html.

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