SUNBELT AG EXPO FARMER OF THE YEAR

Recognizing excellence in farming across the Southeast for over 34 years.

The Sunbelt Ag Expo is proud to continue the tradition of the Farmer of the Year Program into 2024. The Farmer of the Year Program selects one farmer from each of the participating states and recognizes them at the Sunbelt Ag Expo, where the overall winner is announced.

 

In 2023, the Sunbelt Ag Expo launched the Friends of the Farmers of the Year (FOFOY) Fund to ensure this award program continues for years to come.

 

We are grateful for our 2023 sponsors Massey Ferguson, Harper Family Holdings, and the 10 Southeastern Farm Bureaus (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia).

 

To learn more, click on the FOFOY Information Sheet and the FOFOY Press Release. If you have any questions or would like to donate and join the FOFOY family, please reach out to Chip Blalock ([email protected]) or Becca Turner ([email protected]).

 

JOIN THE FRIENDS OF THE FARMER OF THE YEAR (FOFOY) FAMILY TODAY. 

FOFOY Donor InformationFOFOY Press Release

Nominate for 2024 Farmer of the Year Today!

Do you know someone who would be an excellent candidate to represent your state in the Farmer of the Year (FOTY) program? Nominate them today by contacting your state coordinator.

Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern 2023 Farmer of the Year

Sunbelt Ag Expo Farmer of the Year 2023 Steve Cobb
Steve Cobb 2023 Farmer of the Year Southeastern Sunbelt Ag Expo

Steve Cobb, of Lake City, Arkansas, has been selected as the overall winner of the Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award for 2023.

Cobb Farms is a partnership enterprise that began over fifty years ago in Craighead County. Today, on a total of 4,500 acres (2,500 rented and 2,000 owned), it grows row crops, produce, and show pigs. Three entities make up the partnership: 1) Steve Cobb and Family is a leading show-pig operation that produces 1,000+ show pigs a year as well as breeding stock for club pig production. 2) Cane Island Farms oversee the row crops of corn, cotton, and peanuts. 3) The Cane Island Produce branch grows vegetables, specializing in year-round greenhouse tomatoes.

In addition, Circle L Farms handles all of Cane Island Farm’s trucking needs as well as Steve Cobb and Family’s grain hauling. The company runs eight trucks daily and helps out local brokers as well.

2023 State Winners

Arkansas

Mississippi

Alabama

North Carolina

Georgia

South Carolina

Florida

Tennessee

Kentucky

Virginia

Heath Cutrell | Virginia Farmer of the Year 2023

Heath Cutrell | Virginia Farmer of the Year 2023

Heath Cutrell of Chesapeake, Virginia, is a fourth generation farmer who grew up working alongside his father on his uncle’s farm. Just after high school he showed early entrepreneurial skills by starting a small, successful hauling business. In 2006, he secured a...

Kyle Owen | Tennessee Farmer of the Year 2023

Kyle Owen | Tennessee Farmer of the Year 2023

Kyle Owen (born Jonathan Kyle Owen) realized his dream of farming full time in 2004 at the age of 21. His father was a local elementary school principal who had always grown a few acres of tobacco and had a small cow/calf operation. Early on, Kyle developed a deep...

Brad O’Neal | South Carolina Farmer of the Year 2023

Brad O’Neal | South Carolina Farmer of the Year 2023

Brad O’Neal is a minority owner in Coosaw Farms, which is located in Fairfax, South Carolina, and takes its name from the nearby Coosahatchie River. O’Neal said, “My parents started the farm at a time with high interest rates and low commodity prices. My dad worked...

Jerry Wyant | North Carolina Farmer of the Year 2023

Jerry Wyant | North Carolina Farmer of the Year 2023

Jerry Wyant was raised on the same farm in Vale, North Carolina, where he’s been planting crops and raising livestock for the last 52 years. Wyant said, “I’m the fourth generation to live on this property. My great-grandfather bought 280 acres in the mid-1800s and...

Kendall Garraway | Mississippi Farmer of the Year 2023

Kendall Garraway | Mississippi Farmer of the Year 2023

Gaddis Farms, in Bolton, Mississippi, is a multi-faceted agricultural operation that includes Gaddis Farms, Gaddis & McLaurin Hardware Feed & Seed, and Gaddis & McLaurin Cotton Gin. Kendall Garraway, of Jackson, Mississippi, is Vice President of Gaddis...

Gary Cecil | Kentucky Farmer of the Year 2023

Gary Cecil | Kentucky Farmer of the Year 2023

Gary Cecil, of Owensboro, began his 50-year farming career by renting ten acres of tobacco land and hauling hay for area farmers and ear corn to local elevators. Today he operates 2,414 acres, 180 of which are owned and 2,234 are rented on which he grows watermelon,...

Bart Davis | Georgia Farmer of the Year 2023

Bart Davis | Georgia Farmer of the Year 2023

Bart Davis, of Doerun, grew up on his parents’ farm of around 500 acres that had a small herd of mother cows and a hog operation. He recalled, “While I was growing up, I always planned to farm alongside my father and was involved in FFA and Young Farmers...

Wade Purvis | Florida Farmer of the Year 2023

Wade Purvis | Florida Farmer of the Year 2023

In early childhood Wade Purvis began helping his grandfather on his vegetable farm and tended to a small garden at home. So farming became an integral part of his youth as he continued to help family members and friends with various crop and cattle operations. In high...

Steve Cobb | Arkansas Farmer of the Year 2023

Steve Cobb | Arkansas Farmer of the Year 2023

Cobb Farms of Lake City is a partnership enterprise that began over fifty years ago. Today, on a total of 4,500 acres (2,500 rented and 2,000 owned), it grows row crops, produce, and show pigs. Three entities make up the partnership: 1) Steve Cobb and Family is a...

Darrel Haynes | Alabama Farmer of the Year 2023

Darrel Haynes | Alabama Farmer of the Year 2023

In the winter quarter of his senior year at Auburn University studying Animal and Dairy Science, Darrel Haynes went home to Cullman County to plant a crop with the help of a family friend. He secured a loan from the Production Credit Association and bought a used John...

Media: Get Farmer of the Year Photos

If you are looking to have a photo accompany releases in your state, download your state’s winner photo now. 

Click here to view an archive of all previous winners by state.

2022 Overall and State Winners

2020-2021 Overall and State Winners

2019 Overall and State Winners

2018 Overall and State Winners

2017 Overall and State Winners

2016 Overall and State Winners

2015 Overall and State Winners

2014 Overall and State Winners

2013 Overall and State Winners