Onondaga Fruit Grower Receives MSU Distinguished Service Award
Onondaga Fruit Grower Receives MSU Distinguished Service Award
3/6/08
Contact: Francie Todd
517-432-1555, ext 168
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Donald Gibbs, of Onondaga, Mich., has received the Michigan State University (MSU) Distinguished Service to Agriculture and Natural Resources Award.
MSU President Lou Anna Simon and Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, presented the award March 4 during the Agriculture and Natural Resources Week luncheon at MSU.
Gibbs owns Gibbs Berry Farm, a 284-acre operation that grows strawberries for U-pick buyers and farmers’ markets, as well as asparagus, apples, blackberries and black raspberries. The farm also supplies raspberries and strawberries to Sandhill Crane Winery in Jackson, Mich.
A staunch supporter of MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, Gibbs has participated as a grower cooperator in MSU field research for more than 20 years. He has provided numerous field plots for horticulture, plant pathology and entomology research, taking crop losses in stride as part of his ongoing commitment to advancing knowledge. Gibbs plans to retire this year.
Raised on an apple farm in West Branch, Mich., Gibbs first came to MSU to attend a horticulture short course, then, in 1964, received a bachelor’s degree in crop science. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service from 1964 to 1974 before returning to farming full-time.
Gibbs is one of two individuals recognized this year with the MSU Distinguished Service to Agriculture and Natural Resources Award for their success in Michigan agribusiness or natural resources-related enterprises and their commitment to leadership in community, state and national activities. The other recipient is Paul J. Rood, Jr., of Covert, Mich.
#ft#
