Maine Agricultural Commissioner Walt Whitcomb presented the 2014 Commissioner’s Distinguished Service Award on Tuesday to Ralph and Lisa Turner of Freeport. The annual award has been given since 2001, in recognition of notable contributions to Maine agriculture. The Turners were honored at the commissioner’s luncheon during the Maine Agricultural Trades Show.

“Their willingness to help educate the FDA concerning the negative impact of one-size-fits-all federal rules on Maine’s agricultural community is greatly appreciated,” said Gov. Paul LePage, who was on hand for the event.

“As a farm operating team, Ralph and Lisa Turner challenge conventional wisdom, while putting their experimental urges and engineering skills on full display for the rest of us to study,” said Whitcomb in a press release. “Today we thank them for channeling their outspoken energy into a greater public understanding that sustainable locally grown, nutritious and safe food occurs when a farm survives as a business.”

According to the press release, the Turners have been involved in Maine agriculture since 1997, as well as being registered engineers. They are graduates of the University of Maine; Ralph as a mechanical engineer and Lisa as a civil engineer. Farming since purchasing the property in 1984, they started the commercial scale Laughing Stock Farm in 1997. They first built the soil back to health on their 12 acres.

The Turners, said the release, have mastered four-season growing with the addition of 15,000 square feet of greenhouses.