AUSTIN — Glenn Schur of Plainview and Jim Prewitt of Coppell have been honored by the Texas Agriculture Lifetime Leadership, or TALL, a program of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.
Schur, a farmer, was named the 2012 TALL Alumni of the Year. Prewitt was honored with the Tribute to Texas Lifetime Achievement Award.
TALL is a two-year leadership development program for adult professionals in Texas agriculture. The program develops understanding and encourages positive action on key issues, theories, policy and economics to advance the agriculture industry, according to Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, director. The program has trained more than 300 people who are now serving in leadership roles in the agricultural industry.
Schur is a 1980 graduate of Texas Tech University with a degree in agricultural economics. He farms 1,800 acres in Plainview, including 650 acres of cotton, 200 acres of grain sorghum, 350 acres of wheat, 500 acres of seed crops and 100 acres of sunflowers. He also manages 100 registered Limousin cattle.
Since his graduation from the TALL Program, Schur has continued to be an active leader from the local level to the national level. In the Plainview area, he serves as president of the United Farm Industries Co-op, is a Hale County 4-H Shooting Sports instructor and is chairman of the St. Paul Lutheran Church building committee. He is a past president and current board member of Hale County Stock Show.
In 2008, Schur was honored as a Texas Tech University College of Agricultural Sciences Distinguished Alumni. In 2011, he was selected the Agricultural Award Winner for the Blue Legacy Award. He also serves as board chairman for the Texas Alliance for Water Conservation, and as board member for Panhandle Parade of Breeds and Plains Cotton Growers. He is a past board member of the Texas Grain Sorghum Association, American Cancer Society Cotton Baron’s Ball, National Sorghum Producers Legislative Working Committee and Southwest Council Agribusiness.
Prewitt, founder of Landmark Nurseries in the early 1980s, transitioned from providing landscaping services for commercial and residential customers to opening the first of his wholesale nurseries in Garland, Texas. Landmark Nurseries has evolved into one of the largest, wholesale grower/distributors in Texas.
“Jim Prewitt’s virtue and sincerity in supporting agricultural education have challenged each of us to rise to the occasion and help change the world through education,” Mazurkiewicz said. “His legacy of teaching others will continue for generations through the lives that he has touched and the impact he has made.”
Mazurkiewicz said the Tribute to Texas Agriculture award was established in 1999 to honor people who have given exceptional service to agriculture throughout their career.
Prewitt currently serves on the Happy Hill Farm board of directors, Texas A&M University College of Agriculture Development Council, Texas Tech University College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Advisory Board, State Fair of Texas Board, Texas Nursery and Landscape Association and the Texas Water Smart Steering Committee.
He is a founding member and chair of the Floriculture Advisory Committee at Texas A&M University, and a member of the American Nursery & Landscape Association, Ohio Florist Association and Southern Nurseryman Association. He is a supporter of the Dallas Summer Musicals organization, Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo Auction, National Association of Agricultural Educators, Texas A&M and Texas Tech Congressional Intern Programs and San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Prewitt has served as president of the TALL Foundation and chairman of the TALL Advisory Board and on the National FFA Sponsors Boards, Texas FFA Foundation and was founder of the Texas Agricultural Science Leadership Institute.
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