The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) will present the 2010 winner of the R.J. Vollmer Sustainable Agriculture Farmer Award on Aug. 17 during Agriculture Day at the Illinois State Fair (ISF).  This year’s winner is Chad Wallace of Oak Tree Organics. Oak Tree Organics, located in Ashland, is a family owned and operated farm offering a wide variety of fresh produce, fruits and eggs.  Oak Tree Organics has been providing naturally grown produce to the local farmer’s market for the past six years and offers weekly deliveries to the Springfield and Jacksonville areas. 
Oak Tree Organics is truly a family affair.  Wallace, his wife Dana and their three children all work on the farm.  Their oldest daughter, Amanda, takes care of the books and son, Kyle, works on the equipment.  Five year old, Erin, has worked on the farm, side-by-side with her dad since she was in a stroller.
Wallace grew up on what is now Oak Tree Organics Farm.  When Wallace was a kid, the farm was a conventional corn and bean operation of several hundred acres but after Wallace’s father retired from farming, he embarked on a different path, converting 18 acres of the family farm to chemical-free fruit and vegetable production.