Ag News
Pridgen, Scruggs & Sizemore win top prizes in YF&R contests
Posted on Jul 23, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Walt Pridgen, Haley Scruggs and Kylie Sizemore won state honors in Georgia Farm Bureau’s 2025 Young Farmers & Ranchers competitive events held during the YF&R Summer Leadership Conference on Jekyll Island July 16-19.
Pridgen, from Coffee County, won the YF&R Achievement Award, given to recognize those for whom farming is their primary source of income. Scruggs, from Bibb County, won the Excellence in Agriculture Award, which honors agriculturalists whose income is derived mostly from other sources. Sizemore, from Franklin County, won the YF&R Discussion Meet, a series of committee-style dialogues focusing on agricultural themes.
Torrie Reed of Gilmer County won the Collegiate Discussion Meet. She will receive an expense-paid trip to compete in the American Farm Bureau Collegiate Discussion Meet at the AFBF YF&R Conference in Portland, Oregon, next March.
Conference attendees chose a photo by Chase Berry of Newton County as the winner in the 2025 GFB Photo Contest. Berry's photo will be featured on the cover of the 2026 GFB YF&R calendar and he received $150.
As state winners, Pridgen, Scruggs and Sizemore will each receive a John Deere Gator, a $500 cash prize and an expense-paid trip to the 2026 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in Anaheim, California, in January to compete for national honors. All prizes are courtesy of GFB.
Pridgen was chosen by judges to receive the Achievement Award over finalists Allie Andrews of Lamar County and Toni Gaines of Bartow County. As finalists, Andrews and Gaines each received a $500 cash prize courtesy of GFB.
Pridgen is a fifth-generation farmer who owns and operates Seven Creeks Farm and partners with his father, Jeffrey, to operate Claw Hill Farms. Walt raises broilers (chicken grown for meat) and cattle, and grows hay and corn for feed. He has a bachelor’s degree in diversified agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, live in Broxton.
Andrews and her husband, Luke, raise cattle and poultry while growing hay on approximately 250 acres. Their farm, Rainbow Farms, hosts summer farm camps. They live near Barnesville with their three children.
Gaines operates Gaines Beef, which she established in 2024, selling beef directly to the public. She and her husband, Clay, live in Taylorsville, where her husband's family runs Gaines Cattle.
Scruggs was selected by judges to receive the Excellence in Agriculture Award over finalists Tyson and Anna Strickland of Madison County and Ashley Smith of Coffee County. As finalists, the Stricklands and Smith received $500 courtesy of GFB.
Scruggs, who serves as president of Bibb County Farm Bureau, helps run her family’s farm, producing pecans, hay and choose-and-cut Christmas trees on approximately 80 acres. Scruggs works as a nurse practitioner specializing in vascular surgery. She and her husband, Seth, live in Macon.
Anna and Tyson Strickland both serve on the Madison County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, Anna as chair of the Women’s Leadership Committee. She also serves on the GFB Women's Leadership Committee. She served as president and CEO of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce, while Tyson works as a veterinarian and runs Custom Livestock Solutions, which offers a full slate of herd management and business support for livestock owners. The Stricklands live in Comer.
Ashley Smith works with UGA Cooperative Extension as an agriculture and natural resources agent in Coffee County, where she assists local farmers with production challenges they face.
Sizemore emerged from a field of 24 competitors to win the Discussion Meet. In the final round, she faced off with Josh Daniel of Madison County, Bristol Peterson of Wilcox County and Abbey Aycock of Oglethorpe County. Daniel, Peterson and Aycock each received $350 as finalists in the competition.
In the first round on July 17, Discussion Meet participants talked about strategies to ensure Farm Bureau members are fully informed about the organization’s benefits. In round two on July 17, the conversations centered on how Farm Bureau can promote responsible growth while preserving the agrarian way of life. In the round of 16 on July 18, competitors mulled over farmers’ and ranchers’ role in advancing environmental stewardship while balancing the needs f their farms.
The final four round, also on July 18, centered on how Farm Bureau can leverage digital engagement to connect members with elected officials.
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