Four new members being inducted into West Virginia Agriculture Hall of Fame

Jul 06, 2015

Ceremony will take place Saturday, July 18th, 2015

West Virginia’s Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame has called upon four members to be part of the 2015 induction class.

The four inductees, Richard J. Glass, Ephe M. Olliver, Larry Lee May, and Paul E. Nesselroad will be honored on Saturday, July 18^th, 2015 at the annual banquet held at Jackson’s Mill.

Those in West Virginia who have made contributions to establishing, improving and advancing agriculture and farm family life in the state are lucky enough to have their names called to the hall.

Hall of Fame

Each inductee has made their mark on West Virginia agriculture.

Richard J. Glass (1921-2009)
Born in Sissonville, West Virginia, Mr. Glass took an interest in agriculture and science at an early age. After majoring in biology from Morris Harvey College, Mr. Glass served in the United States Navy from 1941 – 1945. Upon his return from duty, he graduated from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science in Ag Education. From there, he went on to teach the young and eager minds at Preston Educational Center about agriculture and its impacts at home and abroad. In 1971 he received the West Virginia Teacher of the Year Award and in 1972 was honored with the Gamma Sigma Delta Special Certificate of Merit for Distinguished Service to West Virginia Agriculture.

Ephe M. Olliver (1906-2001)
Originally from Hastings, Pennsylvania. Mr. Olliver completed Penn State University’s Forestry Program in 1931. He used his education to work on the George Washington National Forest and be part of a team to buy land that became the Cumberland National Forest.

Larry Lee May
Born in Kingwood, West Virginia, Mr. May earned a Forest Management degree from West Virginia University in 1966. He used his education to promote best management practices for timber harvesting and forest management. He used his farm in Grant County to launch his company, May Tree Enterprises where he started to grow Christmas trees.

Paul E. Nesselroad
Born in Sedan, Kansas in 1924, Nesselroad earned his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from West Virginia University in 1947. In 1950, he started a graduate study in Ag Economics from WVU and was later appointed a Research Assistant in Farm Management. From there, he participated in Agricultural Economics and Farm Management at Penn State University. In 1963, Nesselroad became an Assistant Professor in Farm Management at WVU and lead the charge in using computers to do agricultural economic work.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, July 18^th, 2015 at Jackson’s Mill. Tickets are $30 and the deadline for reservations is Friday, July 10^th.

Congratulations to the 2015 West Virginia Agriculture Hall of Fame induction class.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.