Noah Sanders, a senior at Charles Henderson High School, and Morgan Graham, a junior at Pike Liberal Arts School, are the recipients of the 2011 Pike County Farm-City Youth Awards.

The awards were presented at a banquet hosted by the Pike County Chamber of Commerce Farm-City Committee and the Kiwanis Club.

Noah, the recipient of the Farm-City Male Youth Award, lives on a 650-acre farm near Frisco and is the fifth generation to do so.

“We’ve got 150 head of cattle and grow corn, cotton and peanuts,” he said. “I like being a part of a farming operation. What I do mainly is feed the cows and do work on the tractor.”

The Sanders farm also includes seven poultry houses and Noah is learning all about “chicken farming.”

“We use the litter from the poultry houses to fertilize the crops,” he said. “The litter conserves money and the environment. The discarded chickens from the poultry houses are frozen so they can be recycled.”

Noah helps plant cover crops on a majority of the fields during the winter months. “Planting the cover crops prevents soil erosion. It also naturally preserves and replenishes soil quality and nutrients,” he said. “The cover crops also act as a supplemental feed for the cattle to graze during the winter months.”

Grazing the cattle on the cover crops reduces both feed costs associated with winter feeding and dependence on outside feed resources.

“That lessens the need for transportation and there less waste products associated with feed manufacturing,” he said.

Noah is involved in 4-H, has served as president and treasurer of FFA and is a member of FBLA. He has attended the Joint Leadership Development Conference four times and the Sunbelt Ag Expo twice.

He has received awards at the local, county and state competitions. In addition to FBLA, he has been involved with dairy judging, Dairy Quiz Bowl and livestock judging.

Noah plans to attend Auburn University and become an environmental engineer.

Morgan is the recipient of the Farm-City Female Youth Award. She has grown up on farm near Brundidge and enjoys life on the farm.

“I really like being outside,” she said. “I enjoy being out in nature and a farm is where I want to live. I like everything about the farm and I like animals, especially farm animals.”

Morgan has been a member of the 4-H Clubs of Pike County for eight years. She has shown calves and received multiple awards over the past few years. Most recently, she placed in her class for showmanship at the Alabama Junior Cattlemen’s Round-Up event in July.

“I also showed the Reserve Champion Division 4 Steer and the third place Market Heifer at the Round-Up,” she said.

Morgan helps her family farm about 500 acres in Pike County.

“We raise Brangus cattle on the farm and plant about 100 acres of rye grass for grazing and cutting hay,” she said. “We have planted corn in the past.

“I help out with cutting hay, treating and feeding cattle and preparing and working the show cows. I enjoy everything I do on the farm.”

Morgan is a member of the Alabama Junior Cattlemen’s Association and the Pike County Junior Cattlemen. At PLAS, she is a member of the Government Club and Spanish Club.

She has served in numerous leadership positions, including treasure and at-large director of the Alabama Junior Cattlemen’s Association, treasurer of the Pike County Junior Cattlemen and editor of the PLAS Yearbook. She has been in the honors program at PLAS for five years.

Noah is the son of Mark and Jennifer Sanders and Morgan is the daughter of Mark and Vonda Graham.