The Pike County Farm City Committee is seeking nominations for the 2017 Farm City Awards that will be presented at the annual Farm City Banquet on November 9 at Cattleman Park.

Jeff Knotts, Farm-City Awards chairman, said nomination applications are ready for pickup at the Pike/Bullock Farm Service Agency, the Pike County Extension Office, the Pike County Chamber of Commerce and also from any member of the awards committee.

“The committee is encouraging Pike County residents to nominate members of the agricultural community that they believe have made outstanding contributions to agriculture in 2017,” Knotts said. “The applications are rather simple to complete and the chairperson of each award would be able to answer any questions and provide other assistance in making a nomination.”

The chairpersons for the 2017 Pike County Farm-City Awards are: James O. Johnson, beef; Steve Stroud, poultry; Deborah Huggins-Davis, Carol Dorrill and Jeremy Lowery, timber; Jeff Knotts, row crops; Huggins-Davis, conservation; Steve Stroud and Ali Grace Eiland, young farmer; Emily Rolling, youth; Tammy Powell and Knotts, specialty crops; Randy Hale, Bobby Catrett, June Flowers and Keith Roling, service to agriculture; Kathy Sauer, Beth Rose, Harry Sanders, Marcus Paramore and Shannon Crawford, business award.

The deadline for the award nominations is October 13.

The Farm-City Committee has a busy year planned and the activities will get underway on Tuesday with Pike County Farm Days.

Randy Hale, committee chair, said all third grade students in Pike County will have the opportunity to experience farm life with a variety of activities at Cattleman Park.

“The third-graders will get to see farm animals up close and learn about farm equipment and how it works,” he said. “A lot of children don’t know what farm life is all about and Farm Days is a good learning experience for them.”

Hale said the Farm City Committee will have a booth at the Pike County Fair the first week in October, a Farm City display at local libraries, an entry in the annual Peanut Butter Festival in Brundidge and participate in Pioneer Days at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama.

“Other activities and events the committee will support are the Rotary tree give-aways, the downtown fall market, Touch-a-Tractor, the Ground Water Festival, the Junior Ambassador event at Clay Hill Farms and National Agriculture Day,” Hale said.

“We have several members of the Farm City Committee that are available to speak at schools, clubs and events about the partnership between the rural and urban communities.”

Tammy Powell said the committee will highlight women in agriculture this year in an effort to bring greater awareness to the roles women play on the farm and in agriculture related businesses.