Jeff Burbrink, agriculture and natural resources educator for Purdue University Extension in Elkhart County, has received a national Distinguished Service Award for his excellent work in the Master Gardener and farm management programs.
Burbrink, a 32-year employee of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, was honored during the convention of the National Assn. of County Agricultural Agents, held July 12-19 in South Dakota.
"During his 32-year career, he has built a specialty around crops and farm management programs," according to a press release from NACAA, referring to Burbrink. "He has a very successful Master Gardener program, hosting the state Master Gardener Conference in two of the last seven years."
The press release also notes that Burbrink, a Middlebury resident, serves on the Purdue Land Use Team.
Burbrink has served two stints in Elkhart County, from 1982 to 1990, and again from 1994 to present. He also worked on the Purdue campus for a year before coming back to Northeast Indiana in 1992, serving as an Extension educator in Noble County for two and a half years.
Burbrink started the Master Gardener program in Elkhart County in 1996, at the request of the Extension advisory board.
"From the beginning, I wanted the Master Gardener program to be more than just a gardening class," Burbrink said. "I wanted the program to focus on training Master Gardeners to pass information on to the public. So my focus has been to teach them how to find answers that are science based, and on diagnostic/troubleshooting training.
"Rosie Lerner (the state Master Gardener coordinator at that time) told me that to be successful with that approach, I would need to cultivate a club or an association, because they could accomplish things as a group they could not as individuals. Turned out, the very first group of Master Gardeners I taught formed our association, the Michiana Master Gardeners Assn., on their very last day of class because they enjoyed being together so much."
That Master Gardener group has become well-known for its enthusiasm. The organization holds several public events each year, including a garden tour, tree sale, Spring Celebration and seminars each winter.
During Burbrink's 32-year career as an Extension educator, he has helped farmers weather the ups and downs of the farm economy, particularly the farm crisis of the 1980s and the drought years of 1988 and 2012. He recalls those periods of time being very difficult for local farmers, because of the economic pain they experienced. But he said those were also times when he was able to make a difference.
"When you deal with people going through a crisis, you can't help but get close to them," Burbrink said, referring to the farm crisis of the 1980s. "And the pain they went through was terrible."
Among other highlights, Burbrink worked with local leaders to create a Rural Business Development program in the Nappanee area in 2010. He also writes a weekly column in The Farmer's Exchange and serves on the county plan commission. Earlier this year, the plan commission successfully completed a re-write of the countywide zoning ordinance, incorporating public input into the new land use rules.