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Former Register Farm Editor Perkins to receive Iowa 4-H honor

Former Des Moines Register Farm Editor Jerry Perkins joins the Iowa 4-H’s Hall of Fame this Sunday.

4-H Foundation Executive Director Emily Saveraid tells Brownfield the induction is meant to honor someone who has made a significant contribution the 4-H program, “Jerry, through his involvement with the Des Moines Register, helped secure some great sponsorship of the National 4-H Conference and lots of other participation.”

The Register’s sponsorship and a luncheon for Iowa 4-H members headed to the conference ended with Perkins’ tenure as Farm Editor.

Perkins, currently the editor of BioFuels Journal magazine, says that recognition was important because the students were going to be a part of the future of agriculture in Iowa, “I think it’s a very worthwhile program. I think it serves a positive function for Iowa agriculture and I was just lucky enough to be able to provide some small input into the success of the program. I’m very proud of that.

“The 4-H students that we would judge every year were very impressive, they had a lot of poise, they had obviously learned a lot from their 4-H project, and they were great representatives from the state of Iowa to send to the Washington D.C. conference. I was very proud to be a part of that.”

Another part of that recognition for Iowa 4-H, and FFA, students at the state fair was appearing in the Register, acknowledging their participation in the year’s events. Perkins says that was important to him, because it was like a recognition he received while he was a student, “I spent many hours at the Iowa State Fair typing in agate of 4-H and FFA livestock shows. People ask me why it was so important to me to spend all that time inputting names of students who participated, in the sheep show, or the hog show, the cattle show, the horse show. I had a very personal reason for that. When I was a high school senior, at Des Moines Roosevelt, I was able to earn an academic scholarship to George Washington University. My name was listed, in a long list (chuckles), of students that year who had received scholarships. It always meant a lot to me that I got to see my name in print, to be recognized for an academic achievement. It was important to me to recognize the 4-H and FFA students who worked so hard to show their livestock. I thought that they deserved the recognition as a reward for all the time they put in, whether they won or not, I thought it was important they received recognition for their participation. That was the reason why, to me, it was worthwhile to spend that time, hunched over my computer/word processor, kind of crossing my eyes after all of that work, but it was worth it to me to know those students got rewarded that way.”

Perkins is the father of Brownfield Commodity Market Reporter John Perkins.

The event will take place in the 4-H Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon.

Jerry Perkins talks about his induction into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame (5 Minutes, 43 Seconds, MP3)

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