DLF's Derek Woodfield Receives AFGC Medallion Award
The American Forage & Grassland Council (AFGC) bestowed its highest honor, The Medallion Award, upon Derek Woodfield during their 2024 Annual Conference in Mobile, Alabama, on January 9th, 2024.
Derek provided the following remarks upon receiving the award:
“I am very humbled to have been nominated and selected to receive this prestigious award. A quick review of the previous winners shows many people that I have looked up to throughout my career. To be numbered among these winners feels surreal indeed.
I have had the privilege of collaborating with exceptional researchers in the USA over the past 30 years. There have been many highlights in working with these colleagues, including a range of clover and grass cultivars developed for US farming systems that are making a real difference for the farmers who have adopted them.
In 2023, DLF Seeds purchased the Alforex alfalfa breeding from Corteva, and this has resulted in myself leading a talented team that has already been delivering great results for US farmers, while also being able to integrate fresh innovations from DLF's other alfalfa research efforts in Australia, France, New Zealand, and South America. This completes a circle for me having graduated with my PhD in alfalfa genetics.
I believe the future for alfalfa is bright.”
Derek is the first researcher from outside North America to be awarded the AFGC Medallion.