2025 Pheasants Forever National Farmer of the Year, John Dassow

2025 has been a big year for habitat restoration for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Partners for Wildlife program in Illinois. This program, known as the “Partners Program,” specializes in collaborating with diverse partners across the state to restore prairies and wetlands. To obtain the greatest return on investment, the Partners Program strategically focuses efforts and initiatives. One region where they have seen a big payoff is in a focus area in the southeast corner of Livingston County. There, the Partners Program cooperatively works with various agencies, NGOs, conservation-minded landowners and producers to restore prairie and wetlands on privately owned lands. This landscape is seeing the return of pheasants, quail, pollinators, waterfowl, shorebirds, sandhill cranes and even the occasional whooping crane.

Commitment to Conservation

In the heart of this focus area, one family has been dedicated to restoring native prairie and wetlands for over 40 years. Duane Dassow of Dassow Family Farms began this undertaking in the early 1980s. More recently, his son John has continued their legacy on their farms and neighboring farms across multiple counties. John Dassow also works seasonally on the IDNR Habitat Team in Gibson City to improve and maintain habitat on Pheasant Habitat Areas in east-central Illinois. Their committed efforts over the last five decades have led to thousands of acres of restored prairie and hundreds of acres of restored wetlands. It is no surprise that wildlife populations in this area have made a huge comeback.

The Dassow home farm lies a few miles south of Chatsworth, a small town that has been coined the Bluebird Capital of Illinois. The 320-acre farm features a mosaic of habitat types, including high-quality oak savanna, hundreds of acres of native prairie, and several historic and restored wetlands. It is also home of “Turtle Pond,” a large glacial wetland, one of the few remaining natural wetlands in east central Illinois.

Recognition of Conservation Efforts

The Dassow family’s conservation efforts have not gone unnoticed. This year, Pheasants Forever honored them with the 2025 National Farmer of the Year award. This award, sponsored by John Deere, is given to only one producer in the country each year. This is the first time an Illinois native has received this honor. The Dassow’s impact on the landscape goes far beyond their farms. Both John and Duane work with neighboring landowners to assist with restoration efforts. They also collaborate with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, USFWS, USDA/SWCD, and NGO partners to promote conservation programs and host landowner workshops and habitat tours.

Training the Next Generation

The Dassow’s farms have also served as training grounds for young biologists, agency partners and local producers. Their land showcases the use of cover crops, no-till practices, and Conservation Reserve Program practices (CRP) to create high-quality habitat in a working landscape. The farm serves as a benchmark for utilizing precision agriculture technology. It successfully combines pollinator habitat, wetland restoration and sustainable row crop production. The efforts of the Dassow family ensure that local wildlife populations will have places to thrive for decades to come.