Carl Weiler

Inducted in 2011

Mar 1

Phoenix - Maricopa County

Inducted in 2011

Carl E. Weiler was born in 1932. He is a third-generation Arizonan. His family owned a dairy in Phoenix, where he grew up. Carl’s grandparents, immigrants from Germany, pioneered the family's American farming tradition. His grandfather, a butcher in San Francisco, opened a butcher shop in Phoenix in 1893. They married and homesteaded a piece of land in south Phoenix, where they laid the foundation for the family’s farming legacy. This commitment to their roots was a value that Carl deeply cherished and upheld.

Sports and education were two pillars of Carl’s youth. He was a proud graduate of St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix and a dedicated student at the University of Arizona, where he excelled in academics and lettered in football for three of his four years. His youthful enthusiasm and passion for sports and education were evident in his every endeavor.

After a stint in the U.S. Airforce as an adjunct personnel officer, Carl returned to the Valley and started farming in the Laveen area, where he grew cotton and grain. It wasn’t long before he moved his farming headquarters to 115th Avenue and Van Buren. “I didn’t stay in Laveen that long after I started farming,” he recalls. “I farmed in Laveen all the time, but I had a foreman there, and I also had a large operation in the Cashion/Tolleson area, and I also had another operation out in the Avondale area with a foreman in each of those places.”

At the urging of his son, who was also deeply involved in the family's farming operations, Carl expanded his crops to include alfalfa and a variety of produce such as broccoli, watermelons, cantaloupe, and cabbage. He was a major wheat producer, and “ I was the largest watermelon grower in Arizona for several years,” he remembers.

His involvement in the cotton industry includes work at both the local and national levels. He was a member of Cotton Incorporated, an organization responsible for promoting a resurgence in the use of cotton in the early 1980’s. He was a long-time member of the Arizona Cotton Growers Association, a member of the National Cotton Council, and served as the chairman of the Producer’s Steering Committee from 1980-1981. In this capacity, he was instrumental in the passage of the 1980 Farm Bill.

Understanding the importance of water, Carl undertook a statewide campaign to communicate the need for conservation and educate the public about how Arizona farmers manage precious resources. His campaign included public speaking engagements, educational materials, and partnerships with local water conservation organizations.

Carl Weiler was a crucial player in the survival of Farm Credit Services Southwest. In 2009, Gary R. Dyer, president & CEO of Farm Credit Services Southwest, said that Carl “was instrumental in saving our association from financial collapse in 1990 and helping us serve agriculture by growing our assets served from $150 million to $1.3 billion today.”