UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Two producers from Pennsylvania and one from New Jersey were honored as 2001 Master Farmers at a ceremony held March 5 at the Harrisburg Marriott in Harrisburg, Pa.

The 2001 Pennsylvania Master Farmers are Albert Ferens of Dunbar, Fayette County, and John Mason of Lake City, Erie County. The New Jersey honoree was Ronny Lee of Highstown, Mercer County.

The Master Farmer program, now in its 68th year, recognizes farmers from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia for high achievement in farming and community service. The program is sponsored by Pennsylvania Farmer magazine, Penn State Cooperative Extension and the cooperative extension systems of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia.

As a youth, Albert Ferens held offices in his local FFA chapter, completed award-winning projects and won FFA's Keystone Farmer award. With proceeds earned from growing Spanish onions, he purchased two milking machines, which he used to milk 15 cows owned by his father. After graduating from high school in 1957, Ferens went into partnership with his father. He and his wife, Margaret, gradually assumed total ownership of the Ferens Green Valley Dairy Farm.

Ferens milks a 130-cow herd and grows corn on 225 owned and 400 rented acres. He has won several awards for corn yield and placed second in the state "five-acre corn club" competition in 1999. He accomplished all of this despite losing an egg-raising operation to a barn fire in 1970 and losing a hand in a combine accident in 1981.

Ferens has served as vice president of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union and as a member of the Fayette County ASCS committee. Two of the Ferens' three children, as well as three of their grandchildren, also work on the farm.

John Mason grew up working on his parents' farm. With his wife, Susan, he started farming on the side in 1974, raising processing tomatoes, field corn and grapes.

By 1979, Mason Farms was raising 120 acres of tomatoes, 150 acres of corn and 60 acres of grapes. The business soon expanded to include pick-your-own and retail strawberries and a wider variety of vegetables. Mason also managed his father's custom grape-picking operation.

By 1992, Mason Farms was renting retail space in Erie's resort district, where the Masons established a farm market and garden center. The site, which hosts seasonal entertainment events, now includes two greenhouses, a bakery, a gift shop and an ice cream concession.

The farm produces seven major vegetable crops, pumpkins, gourds, strawberries, grapes and raspberries on 65 owned and 200 rented acres. The Masons' two sons and their wives work in the business.

Mason has won the Conservation Farmer Award and has been named Young Farmer of the Year by the local Jaycees. He's a five-time state champion tomato grower, vice-president and past president of the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association, a member of the Erie County Land Preservation Board and county Ag Security Board, and past president of the Erie County Horticultural Society.

Ronny Lee started his agricultural career early in life. By age five, he was earning a penny for each turkey box he put together. As a teen, he planted pumpkins and vegetables on a few acres given to him by his father, Master Farmer Dick Lee.

After high school, Lee worked for Lee Turkey Farms during the day, and held down other jobs at night. In 1985, he went into partnership with his father. The younger Lee managed field and orchard crops, while his father managed turkey production, processing and fresh-marketing. In 1989, Dick Lee retired and turned the business over to Ronny and his wife, Janet.

Today, Lee Turkey Farm is an intensely managed 64-acre operation surrounded by suburbia. Each year, the Lees raise 40 fruit, berry and vegetable crops and 3,200 fresh-market turkeys, which they sell through their farm market. With the help of word-of-mouth promotion and the farm's Web site, the business generates a large portion of its income by hosting school groups and bus tours from the New York City metro area.

Lee was named New Jersey's Outstanding Young Farmer in 1995. He also was a member of the first class of New Jersey's Ag Leadership Development Program. He serves on the board of managers for the Cook College/New Jersey Ag Experiment Station, as a director of the state's Vegetable Growers Association and as vice president of New Jersey's Farmers' Direct Marketing Association.

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EDITORS: For more information about the Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer program, contact John Vogel, editor of Pennsylvania Farmer, at (717) 334-4300.

Contacts: Chuck Gill cdg5@psu.edu 814-863-2713 814-865-1068 fax