IFCA Honors Illinois Custom Applicators, Best Booth Display at 2024 MAGIE
The four finalists for Applicator of the Year. From left: Paul Babler from Pearl City Elevator; Marty Corbin from Carroll Service Co.; Mike Mriscin from M&M Service Co.; and Doug Berbaum from United Prairie.
At MAGIE 2024, show organizers, the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association (IFCA), also chose to honor a select few of the folks at the annual event by bestowing upon them “best of” honors. For a third year in a row, the association presented a trophy and recognition for a custom applicator within the state of Illinois that has shown “dedication, achievement, and an overall professional attitude” when applying crop protection product to grower-customer fields. The trade group accepted applications for this award throughout the early summer months of 2024, narrowing the 37 finalists down to four.
“We thought it would be nice to honor these hard-working individuals because they might not receive such widespread recognition elsewhere,” said IFCA President Kevin “K.J.” Johnson of the Applicator of the Year award. “And we further thought that the MAGIE [Midwest AG Industries Exposition] show, dedicated to the ag retail business, would be the natural place for this kind of ceremony to take place.”
Mike Mriscin from M&M Service Co., right, accepts the Applicator of the Year Award from IFCA President Kevin “K.J.” Johnson.
At the 2024 MAGIE, Johnson and IFCA’s Leslie Forrest, Director of Programs, Office & Memberships, were on hand to formally announce the winning custom applicator. That ended up being Mike Mriscin from M&M Service Co. in Marine, IL.
According to his entry, Mriscin has been spraying for 32 years. Annually, he applies products for growers across 26,000 acres in Illinois. He lives in Alhambra, IL.
The other Applicator of the Year finalists were Paul Babler from Pearl City Elevator, Dakota, IL; Doug Berbaum from United Prairie in White Heath, IL; and Marty Corbin from Carroll Service Co. in Lanark West, IL.
The Linco Precision team accepts the Image Award from IFCA President Kevin “K.J.” Johnson (right).
The Image Award
In addition to the Applicator of the Year award, IFCA also annually recognizes one exhibitor at the MAGIE show that exemplifies the best “booth display.”
In 2024, the winner of this honor was Linco Precision. The entire team from the company accepted the trophy.
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