MOULTRIE, Ga. – John Harrison of Tennessee and  Wesley C. Parker of Kentucky were honored at the Sunbelt Ag Expo Oct. 18-20. 

This event focuses on the 10 southeastern states outlined by Florida north through Virginia, west through Kentucky and south through Mississippi.

The Ag Expo is held at Spence Field, a World War II pilot training base. Since 1978, when the Expo moved here from humble beginnings as Dealer Days at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC), it has steadily added permanent buildings to the 100-plus acre site. Many of the buildings are operated year-round by state university departments of agriculture and education. The Expo also operates the adjacent Darrell Williams 530-acre research and demonstration farm.

The Swisher Southeastern Farmer of the Year recognizes the farmers of the year from each of the 10 southeastern states. A judging team visits each of the state winners to determine the overall winner. 

Tennessee’s Harrison traces his family as farmers in the Sweetwater Valley area back more than 200 years. The 4,000-acre Sweetwater Valley Farm is on land in an area originally settled under a Revolutionary War land grant to Gen. William Ballard Lenoir. The nearby town of Lenoir is named for him. Starting with 350 rented acres in 1984, the Sweetwater Valley operation includes mixed feed crops, with more 2,000 dairy cows and another 2,600 head of heifer, beef cows and calves. Notable is the implementation of the Lely XL robotic milking system, the first in Tennessee.

In 1998, cheese production was added, which now is part of an extensive retail distribution that includes online marketing, an on-site store and a café that features grilled cheese and milkshakes.

Harrison graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in agricultural economics and business. 

Kentucky’s Farmer of the Year, operates 1,668 acres raising corn, soybeans and wheat. He also continues a Kentucky tradition of raising burley tobacco. His seven acres of tobacco are under contract with Phillip Morris. Parker is also a conservation district supervisor implementing many new ideas and practices. He has actively worked to improve the wildlife habitat on Parker Farms.

Virginia’s Farmer of the Year, Robert E. Saunders, was named the Southeastern Farmer of the Year for 2022.

The impact on education by the Expo includes exhibits and the on-site buildings of many state university agricultural colleges. It was notable that many exhibitors offer educational materials in addition to their usual commercial material. An entire field of yellow school buses from three states had transported students to visit the Expo. In addition, the Expo staff has an intern program that involves college level students from nearby ABAC. These interns work primarily in the area of agricultural communications. They created the 92-page official printed Expo program.

This 44th Annual Sunbelt Ag Expo presented 1,200 exhibits on the 100 plus acre site. The adjoining research farm also offered demonstrations. The Sunbelt Ag Expo for 2023 is scheduled for October 17-19. For information, including exhibitor space, visit sunbeltexpo.com.