There’s a long pause and then laughter be­­fore Bruce and Jenny Wessling can answer a question about what their environmental awards mean to them. It’s a tough question to answer, they say.

That’s because the Greene County hog farmers didn’t add terraces or buffer strips to their fields or four rows of trees on the north side of their hog buildings near Grand Junction to win the awards.

"It’s always shocking (to re­­ceive the awards), and it’s an...