Thirty-Four Years of Recognizing Excellence
By Chip Blalock Thirty-four years of recognizing excellence in Agriculture is what the Sunbelt Ag Expo SE Farmer of the Year program is all about. Since 1990, we have had the honor of recognizing 296 salt-of-the-earth farm families and distributing $1,320,000 of prize money. The original eight...
National Ag Day
It’s National Ag Day! Even though we celebrate the agricultural industry year-round here at the Sunbelt Ag Expo, we wanted to honor the people in the industry who make it possible for us to live our daily lives and raise awareness of how influential the agriculture industry is. The country as a...
It Takes a Village
By Chip Blalock It takes a village to make a first-class awards program happen. Over the last 33 years, we owe a debt of gratitude to the state coordinators and nominators who make the program happen in their respective states. These folks do the behind-the-scenes leg work to get the state winners...
The Farm Families behind the Farmer of the Year Program
By Chip Blalock Over the years we have met some incredible farm families and experienced a wide variety of family farming operations. Including, traditional row crops, beef cattle, dairy, swine, sheep and goats, equine, poultry, tobacco, fruits and veggies, nurseries, Christmas trees, alligator...
The Start of the Farmer of the Year Legacy
By Chip Blalock For the 34th consecutive year, the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition is honored to salute the agricultural community and industry with the Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award. How exactly did the Farmer of the Year program get started? In the late 1980s, Swisher...
2023 Sunbelt Ag Expo: Day 3 Recap
Georgia EMC: Keeping the Lights On and Keeping Us Safe By Bethany Champion An excellent feature of the Expo is having the Georgia EMC booth provide relevant education on electrical safety. Throughout the week, the booth featured friendly faces, unique demonstrations, and snacks for everyone who...
2023 Sunbelt Ag Expo: Day 2 Recap
Backyard Garden Fun By Bethany Champion All day at the Expo, you can find backyard garden and beekeeper experts at the Flint River Fresh Backyard Garden. Walking in the exhibit, you’ll find expert beekeepers to your right giving demonstrations on using hive equipment and proper care of the...
2023 Sunbelt Ag Expo: Day 1 Recap
Sunbelt Ag Expo Announces 2023 Farmer of the Year By Pheobe Beard The Sunbelt Ag Expo is proud to name Steve Cobb as the 2023 Farmer of the Year. Cobb is a native of Lake City, Arkansas, and has been farming for over 50 years. Justin Ladd, Senior Financial Office of Farm Credit Mid-America,...
2023 Southeastern Sunbelt Ag Expo Farmer of the Year: Steve Cobb, Arkansas
News ReleaseContact: Becca TurnerEmail: [email protected] For Immediate ReleaseSTEVE COBB NAMED 2023 SOUTHEASTERN FARMER OF THE YEARSteve 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...
Spotlight Feature – Cali Mendoza
If you've ever been out to the Darrell Williams Research Farm at the Sunbelt Ag Expo, you've probably seen Cali around. Affectionately referred to as "the ‘glue’ that holds the Sunbelt Ag Expo together," Cali has served the Expo and the farm for many, many years as the foreman, putting his heart...
2023 Sunbelt Shorts
FARMER OF THE YEAR Since its inception in 1990, the Sunbelt Expo’s Southeastern Farmer of the Year award program has evolved into the most prestigious honor in the southeast and nation with 286 outstanding agribusiness leaders being honored for excellence in agriculture. The goals and objectives...
Sunbelt place for cutting-edge weed research
By Brad Haire For the past few years at the Sunbelt Ag Expo, University of Georgia Extension weed specialist Stanley Culpepper, and team have evaluated the WeedOut program, particularly looking at how the novel system might fit into a cotton production system. Culpepper and his team, along with...
Focus on the Farm – Sunbelt Expo remains key location for southeast hay research, reward
By Brad Haire The Sunbelt Ag Expo Darrell Williams Research Farms is one of the region’s top places to highlight forage research in South Georgia. The Expo hayfields provide multiple purposes, such as a classroom for the University of Georgia Extension agents' trainings, field days for farmers,...
Georgia’s EMCs
Georgia’s electric cooperatives are excited to return to the Sunbelt Ag Expo with their exhibit of electric safety, renewable resources, and interactive activities. The EMCs have been part of the Expo since the 1960s when it was known as “Dealer Days” and “Farm Power & Recreation Show” at ABAC...
Focus on the Farm – Sunbelt Expo a chance for education and comradery
By Stephanie Sokol With a constant stream of innovations, farmers have plenty to keep up with on and off the field, and they need information to help them do that. The Sunbelt Ag Expo Darrell Williams Research Farm provides a place for farmers and agriculture industry members to unite and see...
Aquaponics: Farming for the Future
With the global population on the rise, sustainable farming is stealing the spotlight. Meet aquaponics – the dynamic duo of aquaculture and hydroponics.If you're interested in broadening your understanding of fish farming, hydroponics, or sustainable food production methods, you're in luck – the...
Poultry: Get All The Answers About Georgia’s Top Commodity
With Georgia being the number one state in broiler poultry production, it comes as no surprise that the poultry barn is quite the happening place. Whether you are a commercial grower or have a backyard flock of ten birds, you are destined to learn practical information to better your operation....
Equine in Action at Sunbelt
BRIDLE UP and trot over to the Priefert Arena to experience an equine extravaganza from all aspects of equine. At the Expo this year, you will be able to watch multiple events including reining, ranch riding, trick riders, and the crowning of a new court of the Sunbelt Ag Expo Rodeo Queens. Trevor...
Evolving educational seminars and vendors in the Beef Pavilion
The beef industry is advancing every day and there are many new inventions under the Beef Barn (also known as the Beef Pavillion). The beef barn is designed to hold many different experts and professionals in the cattle industry. Within this fast-paced industry, the Expo prepares all aspects and...
Sunbelt Ag Expo showcases Dairy
Dairy farming is one of the most important and essential industries in the United States. Not only do dairy farmers provide us with delicious and nutritious products, but they contribute billions of dollars to the economy each year. This year, the Expo will be highlighting several different...
Sheep and Goat Seminars
While grazing through the Sunbelt Ag Expo this year, you will be able to experience regenerative agriculture, a topic of growing interest where you will also be able to experience many hands-on, physical, and social activities through seminars with many experts in the sheep and goat industry....
Focus on the Farm – Spray drones getting attention, demos at Sunbelt Expo
By Brad Haire Drones aren’t new to agriculture. They’ve received ample attention. But drones with expanding onboard capacity to apply useful chemistry to fields and crops are recatching interest. Simer Virk, a precision ag specialist with the University of Georgia Extension based in Tifton, Ga.,...
Cultivating Backyard Gardens with Farmer Fredo
Georgia is one of the top-ranking states in many sectors of agriculture, but many cities are facing urbanization. Since 2015, the Backyard Garden exhibit has become a staple at the Expo. This exhibit focuses on showing how to easily grow and harvest fruits and vegetables within the comfort of your...
Focus on the Farm – Managing agriculture financial risk during inflationary times
By Adam N. Rabinowitz Farming comes with a variety of business risks that have the potential to significantly affect the operation and farm family. Some of these risks are related to production activities, such as the impact of weather, pests and diseases. Other risks are borne from the broader...
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 rental agreement on 120 acres,...
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 love for the land and growing...
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 for years as a loan officer for...
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 cleared approximately 40 acres to...
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 Farms, and runs the multi-layered...
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, corn, soybeans, mixed...
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 organizations. Unfortunately my father and...
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 school he was active in FFA...
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 leading show-pig operation that...
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 Deere 4030 and disc. His...
Field Day Highlight: Simplot Grower Solutions
Each year in July, the Sunbelt Ag Expo Darrell William’s Research Farm hosts Field Day. Field Day is an opportunity for farmers and growers to visit the Research Farm to see firsthand the new varieties and technologies being tested that they can implement into their own operations. This is one of...
Field Day Highlight: Bayer – Dekalb
Each year in July, the Sunbelt Ag Expo Darrell William’s Research Farm hosts Field Day. Field Day is an opportunity for farmers and growers to visit the Research Farm to see firsthand the new varieties and technologies being tested that they can implement into their own operations. This is one of...
Field Day Highlight: R.W. Griffin
Each year in July, the Sunbelt Ag Expo Darrell William’s Research Farm hosts Field Day. Field Day is an opportunity for farmers and growers to visit the Research Farm to see firsthand the new varieties and technologies being tested that they can implement into their own operations. This is one of...
Field Day Highlight: Americot NexGen
Each year in July, the Sunbelt Ag Expo Darrell William’s Research Farm hosts Field Day. Field Day is an opportunity for farmers and growers to visit the Research Farm to see firsthand the new varieties and technologies being tested that they can implement into their own operations. This is one of...
Field Day Highlight: Bayer – Delta Pine Cotton
Each year in July, the Sunbelt Ag Expo Darrell William’s Research Farm hosts Field Day. Field Day is an opportunity for farmers and growers to visit the Research Farm to see firsthand the new varieties and technologies being tested that they can implement into their own operations. This is one of...
Field Day Highlight: Corteva Agriscience
Each year in July, the Sunbelt Ag Expo’s Darrell William’s Research Farm hosts Field Day. Field Day is an opportunity for farmers and growers to visit the Research Farm to see firsthand the new varieties and technologies being tested that they can implement into their own operations. This is one...