Farm-City awards 2020 winners, marks 65 years
Franklin County celebrated the 65th anniversary of Farm-City with this year’s Farm-City Awards, which highlighted local agriculture and products of farmers in Franklin County.
This year’s Citizen of the Year Award went to Ila Scott, who has been an active Civitan member since 2002.
She serves on the board of directors as secretary and has worked to allow the organization to accomplish its goals of community service, giving local scholarships and raising money for various charities.
The Agricultural Lifetime Achievement Award (posthumous) went to Tim Reed, who worked with many farmers across the county to help them with decisions concerning seed placement and pest management to save money without compromising crops.
Another Agricultural Lifetime Achievement Award went to Ralph Winchester for his 40 years of work in the cattle business and his time in the Franklin County Cattlemen’s Association.
Jimmy Dale Seay also received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his 31 years in the poultry industry. He is in Pilgrim’s Pride’s top 25 percent of growers.
The final Lifetime Achievement Award went to Calvin Channell, who grows broilers for Pilgrim’s Pride. Channell is also the top poultry producer for three different companies.
The Farmer of the Year Award went to Tommy Murray, who produces cotton, corn, peanuts and soybeans. Murray has also participated in several variety trials, including cotton, corn and peanuts.
The Farm Family of the Year went to the Lemay family. Their operation consists of 30 cattle, 25 bee hives, pigs and chicken.
The Agricultural Community Based Business of the Year went to Premiere Angus Genetics for its 45 years in the cattle business working to produce high quality beef with the very best genetics, health programs and nutrition.
Glendy Ramos from West Elementary School received first place in the Farm-City Coloring Contest for Pre-K. Audree Snow from Tharptown Elementary placed second, Saylor Mathhues from Tharptown placed third, and Stetson Sparks from West Elementary and Kylee Frederick from Tharptown received honorable mentions.
For the Farm-City Poster Contest in the kindergarten through third-grade category, Tharptown’s Christian Galindo placed first. Belgreen High School’s Logan Everett placed second, and Phil Campbell Elementary’s Saxton Oliver placed third.
For the poster contest in the fourth- through sixth-grade category, Russellville’s Ethan Colagross placed first. Red Bay Elementary’s Sara Beth Fuller placed second, and Belgreen’s Alejandro Gonzalez placed third.
For the essay contest, Belgreen’s Lindsay Everett placed first for the seventh- through ninth-grade division.
Phil Campbell’s Colt Thomas came in first for the essay contest in the 10th- through 12th-grade division. Belgreen’s Bailey Oliver came in second, and Phil Campbell’s Oscar Molina came in third.
