ND Ag Hall Of Fame Inductees

Otis Tosset

This Landsford, North Dakota, resident was instrumental in organizing the North Dakota Wheat Commission and served as its first chairman in 1959.  He was also an early pioneer in the state’s conservation movement, establishing state tree nurserys and is credited with having one of the first "mile-long" shelter belts in the state.  Otis was born in 1902 and moved with his parents to Landsford in 1905.  He was a successful grain and livestock farmer for many years and purchased the elevator at Forfar in 1945.  He was also a proponent for expanding world trade and promoted the export of the state's ag products to nations around the world.  Tossett also served as chairman of the Great Plains Wheat Association and was named a delegate to the World Wheat Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 1962.  Some of the awards he received are the 1967 Man of the Year from the North Dakota Association of Soil Conservation Districts and the 1974 NDSU Agriculturist Award.  Tossett will long be remembered for his consistent devotion to conservation, development and self-government.

Year Inducted: 2001