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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) The North Dakota Agriculture Hall of Fame Committee selected Al Gustin, and the late Alfred Black both of Mandan to be inducted into the Agriculture Hall of Fame.

Al Gustin, was a familiar face and trusted voice across the region for 45 years as a nationally recognized farm broadcaster. Gustin was raised on a farm south of Mandan, he remains an active partner with his brother’s family raising small grains, row crops and running a cow herd.

The late Alfred Black was a soil scientist for the USDA for 40 years and from 1979 to 1993, the Director of the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, ND. He was the inspiration and founder of the Area 4 S.C.D. Cooperative Research Farm, which has been supporting N.D. farmers with field-sized research, in Mandan, for 30 years. He was a leading researcher, providing information about crop residue management for improving water conservation, crop water-use efficiencies and controlling soil erosion. He was recognized nationally and internationally, as a leading expert in dry land agriculture, and consulted not only throughout the U-S, but also in the former U-S-S-R, Australia, Canada and India.  Alfred Black passed away in July of 2013, in Colorado; he is survived by his wife Jerry and two daughters.

The recognition ceremony was held March 8 in the main arena of the North Dakota Winter Show PRCA Rodeo.