DOUG LECHLIDER PRESENTED MID-ATLANTIC
MASTER FARMER AWARD By Suz Trusty
Family members joined Doug Lechlider for the Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Award presentation. Pictured from left to right are: Kevin, Cortney, Robin, Doug, and Sara. Photo courtesy of Sara Lechlider
Doug Lechlider, incoming TPI Board of Trustees member and owner of Laytonsville Turf Farm, joined the elite list of recipients of what is called “the most prestigious honor bestowed on a farmer.” Doug was presented the Mid- Atlantic Master Farmer Award on July 17, 2025, during the Mid-Atlantic Master Farmers Association annual banquet.
The Lechlider Family
Many know Doug and his wife, Robin, from their involvement in TPI, seeing them at conferences and TLI fundraising events. Robin is a key part of the business, handling the sod marketing. Te couple’s older son, Matthew, has worked as the field manager on the farm since 2017. He and his wife, Patty, have three sons. Younger son Kevin is a mechanic and shop manager for a local company, Ligon and Ligon. He and his wife, Cortney, have two daughters. Doug and Robin’s daughter, Sara, who is a past TLI Dr. Henry W. Indyk Scholarship recipient, graduated from Purdue University with a double major in Agribusiness Management and Turfgrass Science. She works as an agronomic products sales representative and the business development manager for TPI member, Newsom Seed.
Doug reports that Robin, Sara, Kevin, and Cortney attended the award presentation. He says, “Matt had to stay home and keep the business going. Robin headed back the following day to run the office side of the business. Sara was able to stay and join me on the farm tour fundraiser.”
Award Background
Christian Torres, editor of American Agriculturist magazine, provided the following background.
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Te Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Award is America’s longest-running and most prestigious agricultural honors program. Less than one percent of all farmers in the mid- Atlantic region have been bestowed the honor of Master Farmer over the years. It’s the “gold standard” award that recognizes a farmer’s achievements on and off the farm.
It sprouted in 1927 as part of a Master Farmers of America program to foster stewardship and leadership. At that point, the program was initiated by Pennsylvania Farmer magazine and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). (Te awards program was suspended during World War II, making 2025 the 92nd
year the awards were presented.)
Today, the award is co-sponsored by American Agriculturist magazine and by Cooperative Extension programs in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and West Virginia. It is the lifetime achievement award of agriculture that recognizes exemplary role models of outstanding management, land stewardship, and community leadership.
Award Process
Tis year’s award process began early in 2025. Typically, a previous recipient of the award recommends a worthy individual for the honor. Tis was the case for Doug, who was notified of the recommendation and asked to submit an application form. Doug says, “I was honored to be recommended and felt completing the application was the appropriate response to that honor.”
Te application was extensive, 14 pages in all. Doug says, “It asked for the basics that I had anticipated, such as
TPI Turf News September/October 2025
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