Bob Muth grew up on a farm, raising crops with his father while holding a second job. Bob left left New Jersey after college to work as a cooperative extension agent in South Carolina. After three years few years he returned to his home state of New Jersey to work on his Master's Degree.

"One day, I looked out the window and realized I'd rather be sitting on a tractor seat than working in a lab, and I've never been back." In 1990, Bob returned to farming full time, and has never looked back.

"I hear all this gloom and doom about farming, but I like where I am and I wouldn't change a thing about how I got here." It is truly a labor of love.

Through the years, Muth Farm has gained recognition as one of the leading regional farmers in areas of sustainable agriculture, soil development, community supported agriculture and organic farming. Muth Farm recently received the 2007 Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Award for his work in these areas and more.

Bob and Leda Muth, Gloucester County Farmers, will receive the 2007 Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Award on March 19, 2007. The award is co-sponsored by The American Agriculturalist Farm Progress publication and Cooperative Extension, a unit of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES).

The Mid-Atlantic Master Farmer Award program was created in 1927. It is co-sponsored by American Agriculturist magazine and by Cooperative Extension of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia. The award, which recognizes outstanding management, land stewardship and community role models, is considered the "Academy Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award of Agriculture."

"This award is a 'win' for New Jersey Agriculture and recognition of agriculture's finest producers," said Mark Robson, director of the NJAES. "This celebration is an excellent way to confirm agriculture's vital role, showcasing the stewardship and community involvement of Master Farmers."

Bob and his 6 siblings were raised on the family farm in Williamstown, Gloucester County. Bob attended Cumberland County College from 1976-1978 and then he earned a Bachelors degree in plant science at Rutgers Cook College in 1981.

In 1990, Bob made a commitment to farm full time after his father retired. In 1991, he and Leda married; their son Daniel was born in 1996. The couple worked together to make the farm what it is today, and have 118 acres in production. Bob utilizes sustainable practices, has transitioned to organic production for some crops, and has focused the major marketing to retail through an organic community supported agriculture (CSA) system and farmers markets. The CSA began in 2001with about 30 families purchasing shares of produce for the season. Now, in 2007 the farm will have around 300 member families in the CSA.