MOUNT VERNON — Monday was “Ag Day” for the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club, which named long-time farmer and educator Brian Breece as the recipient of the 2012 Luke B. Biggs Award during its regular Monday luncheon at The Alcove.
Also recognized was Student of the Month Steven Shannon, a senior at Mount Vernon High School. Guests included County Commissioners Teresa Bemiller, Roger Reed and Allen Stockberger, and the featured speaker was State Senator Kris Jordan (R-Dist.19).
Breece and his wife Jenny have a 650-acre farm in Wayne Township where they primarily grow corn. They have raised cattle and sheep in the past and currently rent out pastureland for a sheep operation.
Breece is the agri-science teacher and FFA advisor at Mount Vernon High School. He attended Buckeye Valley High School and received his degree in agricultural education from the Ohio State University. A teacher for 23 years, he has been on the faculty in Mount Vernon for the past 15.
In presenting the award, Kiwanis Agriculture Committee Co-chair David Greer praised Breece as a good steward of his land and mentioned several specific conservation efforts at the Breece farm. Among them were installation of more than one-half mile of grassed waterways for erosion prevention, use of 1.5 miles of fencing for better livestock management and use of off-stream livestock watering systems.
The award, which was presented for the 20th consecutive year, is named after the late Luke Biggs, a lifelong resident of Knox County who was a farmer and an active Kiwanis member for 44 years. Biggs traveled internationally in support of the Christian Rural Overseas Program (CROP) and trained young farmers in India for two years.


