Bramlets Named Illinois Farm Family of the Year

This article was adapted from one written by James Henry of the Illinois AgriNews.

Joe Bramlet, director of Southern FS, Inc., and his family have been named the Illinois Farm Family of the Year. They were honored during the Salute to Agriculture Day at the University of Illinois this fall. Receiving the award with Bramlet were his father, Henry, and mother, Rita; his fiancée, Rona; and children Jarrett and Jaden.

The annual award has been presented by Burrus Hybrids and Illinois AgriNews for 10 years. It honors an outstanding Illinois family for contributions on and off the farm and is aimed at increasing awareness of the important contributions farm families make to everyone’s daily life.

“Any successful situation is not because of just one person,” Bramlet said after receiving the award onstage before more than 900 people at the recent U of I event. “It takes a group effort, a team effort — a family effort.”

The Bramlet family members are devoted to each other, as well as the day-to-day operations of running a successful farm in far southern Illinois. That includes raising about 2,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat, as well as a few show pigs for 4-H and selling seed.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Joe Bramlet is a board member of the Saline County Farm Bureau, the Saline County Soil and Water Conservation District, as well as Southern FS.


Pictured (from left) are: Illinois AgriNews Executive Editor James Henry, Rona Littlefield, Jaden Littlefield, Rita Bramlet, Henry Bramlet, Jarrett Littlefield, Joe Bramlet and Burrus Hybrids sales agronomist Craig Kilby. Photo courtesy of Illinois AgriNews.