Illinois natives turn family farm into the gold standard for habitat conservation
Pheasants Forever’s 2024/2025 Farmer of the Year Award, sponsored by John Deere, is presented to John Dassow and Dassow Family Farms of Chatsworth, Illinois. The annual award recognizes the innovative use of precision ag technology and utilization of data to identify profitable solutions for agriculture and wildlife on working lands throughout America.
“John really embodies stewardship from an agriculture perspective, but also from a conservation perspective,” said Dave Hoffman, the eastern regional sales manager for John Deere. “If you think about generations of sustainability, it’s hard to think about anybody but John.”
WATCH: Pheasants Forever Farmer of the Year 2024/25
The Dassow's have owned their family farm in east central Illinois since 1981. John’s dad, Duane, originally purchased the property and was attracted to its potential for both agriculture and wildlife. In the 40 years since, the family has used a blend of pollinator habitat, wetland restoration and sustainable row crop production to remain successful, while helping others in the community integrate conservation into their operations.
“Everybody in the area says they wish we had twenty John Dassow’s around here,” said Jason Bleich, a private lands biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “He’s doing prairie restoration seedings, controlled burns, moving dirt on wetland restoration — he’s a jack of all trades. And now the pheasant numbers have exploded in the area, and on top of that, we’ve even had quail coming back. The change he’s made on the landscape in a ten-mile radius is incredible, and imagine if every county had a farmer like that.”
Dassow Family Farms is a prime example of what healthy wildlife populations look like when conservation-minded operators take full advantage of local resources. The Dassow’s fully support the Pheasants Forever mission and have worked alongside the organization for years to accomplish their habitat goals.
“This is an award for the farm, not an award for the farmer,” Dassow said. “I’ll take credit for a slim part of what’s happened, but it’s really a culmination of everybody’s work coming together. Now our goal is to keep it going. This is a good thing for us, for the land, for the public — it’s a good thing for everybody, and we’re going to make it work and enjoy it.”
Thank you to national sponsor John Deere for supporting the conservation work of farmers and ranchers throughout the pheasant and quail range!