Day 2 of 46th annual Sunbelt Ag Expo celebrates 150th anniversary of Georgia Department of Agriculture and features FFA CDE competitions

MOULTRIE, Ga. – The day kicked off with a celebration as the Georgia Department of Agriculture marked its 150th anniversary.

Being the oldest department of agriculture in the U.S., it proudly originated in 1874.

“So, the Georgia Department of Agriculture was established in 1874. So, this year, 2024 is the 150th anniversary of the Georgia Department of Ag. And, we’ve been celebrating all year long, 150 years of service to the people of the great state of Georgia, 150 years of service to Georgia agriculture, Georgia farmers, Georgia Farm families, ranchers, producers and consumers alike. You know, it’s just an awesome opportunity to help tell that story about what the importance of Georgia agriculture means to every citizen in the state at the end of the day. Agriculture impacts every Georgian. And, the Georgia Department of Agriculture impacts every Georgian every day. And, the work that we do. And, I think it’s vitally important for for those to understand what the department does. And, so, the celebration of 150 years is multifaceted. You know, one, it’s it’s a celebration of who we are as a department and just a celebration of the fact that we’ve hit this milestone, but also an opportunity to tell the story of not only the Department of Agriculture, but the story of Agriculture as well. So, it’s been an awesome yearlong opportunity to celebrate 150 years. And, we’re doing that continuing that celebration right here at the Sunbelt Expo with the displays we have here in our Georgia Ag Room,” said Tyler Harper, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

Now onto some friendly competition…

Do you smell what these kids are cooking? I sure do!

Teams from various counties are firing up their grills to prepare barbecue for judging later tonight.

The presentation will be evaluated by the Southeastern Farmer of the Year, miss Faylene Whitaker.

Kids and adults are teaming up at their grills and smokers, all vying for that coveted first-place ribbon!

“A lot of teams got here last night and set up and they smoke their Boston Butts. We also had a horseshoe competition and we judged and one of our counties won. I’m not sure which won yet, but the barbecue cooking. They’re cooking Boston Butt they’re presenting them and our guys from the Air Force Base are going to judge them. And, then, we’ll announce the winner this afternoon at at supper,” said Kevin Walraven, Georgia Young Farmers Association President.

Off to the center stage at the expo, hundreds of people gathered to see if they placed after taking the Youth Educational Agriculture Challenge Quiz.

Awards were given for 1st to 3rd place, with cash prizes up for grabs.

Participants included high school and college students, along with teachers, all eager to show off their knowledge of agriculture.

“Today, we were able to award students who participate at Sunbelt. We have youth educational challenges as well as the Advocacy and Action Contest, as well as the State FFA Tractor Driving Contest, and all of those awards were presented here and we’re grateful to host those at the Sunbelt Ag Expo. Yeah, sometimes people say, gosh, we don’t like to have all these kids flooding Expo. But, the wonderful thing about all of these students being here is that these students are the ones that are going to be our farmers. They’re going to be the people that are in Ag Business. They’re going to be the ones that are your lobbyists, your lawmakers in the future. And, so, we want them to have an understanding of what is involved in Ag. Even if they don’t have an ag background, it’s important for them to understand what it is that you’re current, what’s currently going on in Ag, what the nature of and the hot topics are in Ag. So, that when they’re in the positions of leadership later that they’ll understand what it is that we need,” said Becca Turner, Marketing and Public Relations for Sunbelt Ag Expo.

It was an incredible experience for everyone, especially the kids who got to skip school for a day filled with fun and learning!

The 46th annual Sunbelt Ag Expo will wrap up with its final day tomorrow.

Gabe Hutton reporting.

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