2019 Ed Duren Memorial Young Producer Award Recipient
MaCoy Ward, Dubois
Dubois and Terreton area farmer/rancher MaCoy Ward received the 2019 Ed Duren Memorial Young Producer Award at the Eastern Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame Reception & Banquet March 22, 2019. The EIAHF launched the award in 2018 to recognize an individual under 35 years of age who is actively involved in production agriculture and demonstrating initiative and leadership benefitting the Agricultural industry of Eastern Idaho.
“I’m honored to receive this award,” says Ward. “I like being a voice for farmers and ranchers, and glad to have opportunities to communicate to decision-makers and the public about where their food comes from and challenges we in Agriculture face.”
Ward, his brother, Colby, and father, Dave, raise 4,600 acres of hay and grain and run about 250 head of black angus cows in the Terreton and Dubois areas. He’s currently serving his second term as a Clark County Commissioner, the youngest person ever elected in Clark County. He’s on the Planning and Zoning board, EI Land Fill Board, Local Emergency Planning Committee and represents the commission on the board of the Camas Creek Rural Fire Protection Association, an organization he helped establish two years ago. He’s a volunteer in the county Search and Rescue team, and helps with 4-H, FFA and high school youth activities.
MaCoy credits his wife, Ginger, and family for picking up the slack when his leadership commitments take him away from the operation.
“It’s a lot of time, but it’s also a chance to make a difference, in a good way,” he says.
The Ed Duren Memorial Young Producer Award was established by the Eastern Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame to honor the memory of inductee and former board member, Ed Duren (1935-2017), who spent his 39-year career as a University of Idaho Extension Livestock Specialist, educator, author, and mentor to hundreds of young farmers and ranchers.
Past Recipients of the Ed Duren Memorial Young Producer Award