News & Events
Yancey Recognizes Georgia’s “2006 Farm Family of the Year”
“Gotta have faith.” That is the slogan that Scotty & Melanie Raines of Turner County live by each day and one of the reasons they were recognized as the 2006 recipients of the Georgia Young Farmers Outstanding Farm Family Award.
According to the Georgia Young Farmers Association, today’s young farm families hold Georgia’s agricultural future in their hands. They must reach their full potential if that future is to be bright for them, for their state and for agriculture in general. Throughout Georgia there are outstanding young farm families working and planning for the future, and they deserve recognition.
The objective of the Outstanding Farm Family Award is to encourage Young Farmers and their families to develop and articulate the accomplishments that have led to the success of their farming enterprise. Four finalists are chosen and each finalist hosts an on-farm visit by a panel of judges to determine a state winner. Each year, an outstanding family is selected based on their level of success in meeting the program’s goals.
The Raines family, who farm near Sycamore, Georgia, was presented with the Outstanding Farm Family Award for 2006 at the Georgia Young Farmers state convention. In addition to a plaque and cash award, the Raines received the use of a Challenger MT535B for one year, courtesy of Yancey Ag Products. After using the Challenger tractor, Scotty made the decision to purchase it from Yancey. According to Scotty, he recognized the opportunity to purchase a good used tractor that he knew the history of. He has been impressed with Yancey’s Ag Field Service. “If you call them, they’ll come to you,” he says. He appreciates “having a service man that will come wherever you’re at.”
Scotty discovered his love for farming when he began working with his father-in-law soon after he and Melanie were married. He split off and began his own operation in 1993. Since then, he and Melanie have been farming as a partnership, farming several different crops. Scotty & Melanie farm 1300 acres of cotton, 500 acres of peanuts, 200 acres of corn, 200 acres of wheat, 100 acres of seed rye, and 50 head of cows. Scotty and Melanie also own 25% of a peanut company and are investing in the early stages of an ethanol plant in Tifton.
Farming, of course, is not without its challenges and changes. Scotty said the weather, along with market prices, are the major challenges that they face. The Raines contribute their success in dealing with these challenges to family and their faith. Family is a source of pride for the Raines, who have two children, Celie, 12, and Christian, 8. The Raines strengthen their faith by being active members of Sycamore Baptist Church.
The Georgia Young Farmer program was initiated in 1951. From 1951 until 1970, the program functioned only as an instructional program coordinated by full-time young farmer teachers. In 1971, the Georgia Young Farmers Association was organized as an extension of the instructional program. The program is an educational program designed for the systematic instruction of young farmers actively engaged in the business of farming. The program is under the direction and supervision of the State Department of Education and the local agriculture departments in the high schools.