KENDAL NORRIS
Contributing Writer
THE FARMER OF the Year award is given
to an individual, but the award reflects the
innumerable contributions made by the
farmer’s family and employees to ensure the
success of the honoree. These annual awards
also highlight each farmer’s long and distinguished career in agricultural production,
marketing, business management, applied
research, environmental innovations, community service, and contributions to industry-related organizations.
Swisher International, through its Swisher
Sweets cigar brand, and the Sunbelt Ag Expo
are sponsoring the Southeastern Farmer of the
Year awards for the thirtieth consecutive year.
At the conclusion of this year’s Expo, a total
of thirty outstanding farmers will have been
recognized as overall winners of the Swisher
Sweets/Sunbelt Ag Expo SE Farmer of the Year
awards, and 266 farmers from ten states will
have been recognized as state winners.
Nominees for state awards are nominated
by local county Extension agents in Georgia,
Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee
and Virginia. Farm Bureau Federation area
organization directors, field representatives
or county presidents nominate the winners
in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, and
North Carolina. The rules, however, allow
anyone to nominate a potential Farmer of
the Year as long as they go through the local
County Extension agent or Farm Bureau
representative. Some state winners have
been nominated by fellow farmers and even
by family members.
Nominators are an important component
in the overall success of the awards, especially
as they provide ground transportation for the
judging team and help state winners plan
what to show the judges when they visit
the farm. They can also act as shepherds
in the initial application process that
requires a considerable amount of accurate
technical and yield information, a listing of
business achievements, goals summaries,
environmental and economic challenges and
solutions, and personal reflections on each
individual’s farming experience.
To ensure fairness in the selection process,
judges are limited to three hours per farm
visit. It is up to the state winners and the
nominators to decide what to showcase
during the limited time the judges are on site
at each farm.
Since the awards began, three state
winners have been women. Several years
ago the program recognized the first
fulltime beekeeper as a Farmer of the Year
state winner. This year there are three new
types of farming represented: conventional
and organic herbs (Florida), poinsettias
(Alabama), and Christmas trees (North
Carolina). It’s the most diverse representation
in the thirty-year history of the program.
One of the top commodities grown on farms
in the southeast is beef cattle. This year there
are three representatives of that side of farming
among the state winners: Tennessee, Virginia,
and Mississippi, all with varying operations,
two involving stocker cattle and another one
purebred Angus cows, heifers, and bulls.
Fruits, vegetables, and herbs — specialty,
conventional, and organic — are grown by
the Farmers of the Year in Florida and South
Carolina. The Kentucky Farmer of the Year
specializes in white food-grade corn, soybeans,
wheat, and dark tobacco. The Arkansas Farmer
of the year grows long grain, sake, and sushi
rice varieties, and the Alabama Farmer of the
Year has a greenhouse/nursery operation
featuring poinsettias, mums, caladiums, calla
lilies, and ferns. Georgia’s state Farmer of the
Year grows peaches, strawberries, pecans,
and timber. And the North Carolina Farmer
of the Year has an evergreen business with a
product line of Christmas trees, pumpkins, and
greenery products. Two of the Farmers of the
Year, South Carolina and Georgia, have state
legislative experience, either past or present.
This year’s judging tour took place during
the week of August 5 to 9. Judges included
Cary Lightsey, Lake Wales, Florida, who was
the overall winner of the award in 2009; John
McKissick, long-time University of Georgia
agricultural economist at Athens, Georgia;
and David Wildy, Manila, Arkansas, the overall
winner of the award in 2016.
Judges typically serve for three years
before rotating off the team. Cary Lightsey
is in his third and final year of his term. John
McKissick is in his second year of his second
three-year term, and David Wildy is in his first
year of his three-year term.
Each state winner of the Swisher Sweets/
Sunbelt Expo award receives $2,500 in cash
and an expense-paid trip to Sunbelt Ag Expo
from Swisher International of Jacksonville,
Florida. Other prizes awarded to state winners
include a $500 gift certificate from Southern
States cooperative and a Columbia vest from
Ivey’s Outdoor and Farm Supply.
Farmer of Year Awards highlight excellence