An ASA past president was recognized with a prestigious award this month for his work in production agriculture.

Mike Yost, ASA president in 1998-99, is a Minnesota family farmer who received the Siehl Prize in Production Agriculture. The prize is awarded annually by the University of Minnesota’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. Recipients are chosen in three categories: knowledge (teaching, research and outreach); agribusiness; and production agriculture.

Yost’s family farms about 5,000 acres in west-central Minnesota, and he’s been a state and national leader in soybean promotional organizations as well as in his home community. He’s held high-ranking positions in both the federal Farm Service Agency and the U.S. Agriculture Department’s primary international agency, the Foreign Agricultural Service. In all of those roles, he’s been a strong advocate for agriculture around the world.

The 2015 Siehl Prize laureates will be honored at a ceremony in McNamara Alumni Center on the university campus on Thursday, May 21.  The Siehl Prize was created in the early 1990s by a generous gift from New Ulm-area livestock breeder and businessman Eldon Siehl, a dedicated philanthropist who had a lifelong interest in agricultural systems. Siehl was concerned that people were losing touch with their agrarian roots and wanted his gift to ensure that achievements in agriculture would be recognized and celebrated.  Recipients receive a $50,000 award as well as a sculpture and lapel pin designed by Minnesota artist Thomas Rose especially for the Siehl Prize.