N.C. Small Grain Growers Association honors Angell with Lifetime Service Award

The N.C. Small Grain Growers Association honored Mocksville farmer Madison Angell with its first Lifetime Service Award.

Angell was on the original steering committee that formed the association, initially serving as chairman of the interim board of directors along with Phil McLain of Statesville, who now serves as an advisor to the board.

He not only helped form the organization, he went on to work at the state and national level to fulfill the goals of the association. In 1987 he worked with the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service in Washington on new guidelines for growing wheat, in 1988 he went to Washington to lobby Congress for drought relief, and actively led commodity groups to help NCDA&CS raise money through the N.C. General Assembly for a new Agronomic Lab to better serve the needs of N.C. farmers.

In 1992, Angell was elected national president, serving eight years as a national officer.

He served in the Air Force as a pilot flying over 5,000 hours, including a tour in Vietnam, and was in the Air National Guard upon his return home. Angell and his wife, Elsie, operated a successful farm operation for 56 years in Davie County and for a while in Columbus County, farming 4,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat as its peak. The couple have two daughters.

Angell recently announced his retirement. He finished with a strong growing season, placing second in the state in the National Foundation Wheat Yield Contest and sixth in the NCSGGA Wheat Yield contest with a yield of 92.353 bushels per acre.