Photo by Jay Stone October 25, 2023
www.gfb.org
Vol. 5 No. 20
45TH EXPO CELEBRATES SOUTHEASTERN AG, HIGHLIGHTS ROAD & MENTAL SAFETY
Sunbelt Ag Expo held its 45th show this year and Mother Nature blessed the event held Oct. 1719 with terrific weather: crisp fall mornings followed by sunny days with high temperatures only in the 70s. Georgia Farm Bureau, which is a 45-year exhibitor, greeted Expo guests at the Georgia Ag Building as they streamed through the main gate under the water tower and behind the flight tower. GFB staff talked with attendees about the many activities the organization does to promote agriculture to consumers and students and how GFB represents farmers and rural communities in Atlanta and D.C. GFB’s exhibit also gave attendees the chance to write a thank-you note to a Georgia farmer for growing food to feed us, cotton to make our clothes, and timber for our homes. These notes will be displayed at the GFB convention in December for Georgia farmers from across the state to see. The Georgia Ag Experience mobile classroom, coordinated by the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, was on display near the Georgia Ag Building. Attendees had the chance to learn about Georgia’s top economic sector through interactive computer games that give participants the chance to raise broilers in a modern poultry house and drive tractors through peanut and cotton fields. Arkansas farmer Steve Cobb was named the 2024 Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern farmer of the Year during the Willie B. Withers Expo Lunch. Cobb Farms is a partnership enterprise that began over 50 years ago. Today, on 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 & Family is a leading show-pig operation that produces 1,000 plus show pigs a year as well as breeding stock for club pig production; 2) Cane Island Farms oversee production of corn, cotton, and peanuts; 3) The Cane Island Produce branch grows vegetables, specializing in year-round greenhouse tomatoes. As the overall winner, Cobb and his wife, Terri, won a $15,000 cash prize, the use of a Massey Ferguson tractor for a year or 250 hours (whichever comes first), a jacket from the Sunbelt Ag Expo, a Hays Smoker/Grill from Hays LTI, and a Henry Repeating Arms American Farmer -continued on next page