MACON, Ga. – Colquitt County Farm Bureau member Elton Baldy was one of three finalists for the Georgia Farm Bureau 2018 Young Farmer & Rancher Achievement Award.

The other finalists were Will and Heather Cabe of Franklin County and Mitchell and Becky Pittman of Toombs County. The finalists were introduced and the Cabes announced as the winners during the GFB Young Farmer Leadership Conference, held July 19-21 on Jekyll Island.

The Achievement Award recognizes agriculturalists between the ages of 18 and 35 who earn the majority of their income from production agriculture.

Baldy farms on approximately 700 acres, growing fresh peas, butter beans, winter greens, okra and tomatoes as well as traditional row crops like cotton, peanuts and soybeans. He sells his produce wholesale to several farmers markets and at numerous other markets in Southwest Georgia. He and his wife Tabitha and son Henry live in Norman Park.

As the state winner, the Cabes received an all-terrain vehicle courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance, a $500 cash award, courtesy of AgSouth Farm Credit, and an expense-paid trip to the 2019 American Farm Bureau Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, Jan. 11-16, to compete for national honors.

The two runners-up each received $500 from AgSouth Farm Credit.

Founded in 1937, Georgia Farm Bureau is the state’s largest general farm organization and has 158 county offices. Its volunteer members actively participate in local, state and national activities that promote agriculture awareness to their non-farming neighbors. GFB offers its members a wide variety of benefits, including insurance, but enrollment in any of the member benefits is optional and not a requirement for membership.