In 2004, the Noble Research Institute (then known as the Noble Foundation) established an award to recognize its outstanding cooperators.
The award is called the Leonard Wyatt Memorial Outstanding Cooperator Award in honor of a man who exemplified what the term "cooperator" implies – an agricultural producer who has an active relationship with the Noble Research Institute consultants and demonstrates superb operational proficiency and willingness to share his or her experiences and expertise with other producers. Mr. Leonard Wyatt was posthumously recognized as the first award recipient, and Noble Research Institute consultants have continue to nominate deserving cooperators who exemplify the standard he set. There have been 15 recipients over the last 18 years.
And this year's
Leonard Wyatt award goes to ...
Jimmy Kinder
This year, the Noble Research Institute is pleased to recognize Mr. Jimmy Kinder of Walters, Oklahoma, as the 2018 recipient of the Leonard Wyatt Memorial Outstanding Cooperator Award.
Jimmy Kinder received the 2018 Leonard Wyatt Memorial Outstanding Cooperator Award alongside his wife, Margaret Kinder, and mother, Trudie Kinder, during the 2018 Texoma Cattlemen's Conference on June 15, 2018.
Pictured, from left, are Margaret Kinder; Jim Johnson, soils and crops consultant; Jimmy Kinder; Robert Wells, Ph.D., livestock consultant; and Trudie Kinder.
Jimmy Kinder and his wife, Margaret, have been cooperators with the Noble Research Institute since 2007. Kinder operates 5,000 acres in Cotton County, Oklahoma, as a diversified farming operation in which he raises about 1,500 head (or more, depending on season) of stocker cattle and grows wheat, canola, sesame and grain sorghum.
By every definition, Jimmy epitomizes the cooperator relationship established in the early 1950s.
Kinder was an early adopter of no-till farming practices and remains an avid investigator and adopter of farming technologies that add value to his operation. Kinder has hosted crop variety test demonstrations for Oklahoma State University and Noble, and he continues to investigate cover crops as a component in his cropping system. Kinder remains a continual learner; he is willing to attempt new management practices or try novel technologies that demonstrate potential; and he mentors other producers and students, who often visit his operation.
Kinder has served his community at the local and state levels. He is active in his local church and in community organizations as well as being actively engaged in the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, for which he served as a district director for many years. Jimmy also served the Noble Research Institute as a nonresident fellow for eight years, providing direction and support to the consultants and agricultural researchers. Kinder continues to remain active with our consultants in his operational planning and contributes to the education of other interested producers by sharing his experiences and knowledge.
I've had a passion for farming and agriculture for as long as I can remember.
— Jimmy Kinder
By every definition, Kinder epitomizes the cooperator relationship established in the early 1950s. The Kinders were honored before their peers at the Noble Research Institute 2018 Texoma Cattlemen's Conference on Friday, June 15, 2018.
Learn more about Jimmy Kinder
About Leonard Wyatt
Leonard Wyatt set the example of what the term "cooperator" implies during the entire five decades he was one. During the 1950s and '60s, Wyatt spoke at educational events with Noble consultants about small grains establishment and grazing with stocker cattle when this production practice was novel to the cattle industry. He also hosted many events on his operation, sharing what worked well for him and what did not. Wyatt would even open his cattle records and financial data to anyone interested as he always desired to help other producers in their search for knowledge. Wyatt never ceased to search for knowledge himself. He continually invited the Noble consultants to at least an annual farm visit to review the operation and to discuss new and emerging science and technologies that he should consider implementing. He was the ultimate Noble ambassador throughout his life, so it was only fitting to name the outstanding cooperator award after him. Wyatt was the first recipient with his family accepting it posthumously on his behalf in 2004.
