The words to the old song "Cotton Fields" kept running through my mind as we drove by hundreds of acres of white fields of cotton on the way to the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition in Moultrie,Georgia. Our dairy farmer friends Bill and Delia Haak represented Arkansas in the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year competition and invited Ryan and I to attend this event as their guests. Ten farmers representing Alabama,Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,Tennessee, and Virginia were judged before the announcement from a thirty page nomination form and an individual visit to each farmer's operation. Each farmer represents the very best of American agriculture--innovation,creativity, hard working,love of the land, and devotion to family. Georgia farmer Robert Dasher was selected as this year's Farmer of the Year but truly each of these candidates are the cream of the crop! Before leaving the Expo to return home, we tried to see as much as possible of the 1201 exhibits spread across 100 acres. Sunbelt Ag Expo really does have something for everyone.Ryan came home with arm loads of tractor and parts catalogs and I bought the complete set of vegetable peelers! You can find out more information about the Expo and Georgia agriculture at http://www.sunbeltexpo.com/or georgia.org.
