GFB News Magazine
Pridgen, Scruggs and Sizemore win YF&R competitive events
by Jay Stone
News Writer
Posted on September 2, 2025 7:20 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.
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.
GFB Achievement Award
Walt Pridgen, from Coffee County, won the YF&R Achievement Award, which recognizes farmers and ranchers aged 18-35 who earn most of their income by farming.
Pridgen is a fifth-generation farmer who owns and operates Seven Creeks Farm and partners with his father, Jeffrey, to operate Claw Hill Farms. He raises broilers (chicken grown for meat) and cattle and grows hay and corn for feed. Pridgen has a bachelor’s degree in diversified agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, live in Broxton with their son.
Allie Andrews of Lamar County and Toni Gaines of Bartow County were finalists for the Achievement Award. As finalists, Andrews and Gaines each received $500 courtesy of GFB.
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. She is chairing the GFB YF&R Committee this year.
Gaines operates Gaines Beef, which she established in 2024, selling beef directly to the public. She and her husband, Clay, live in Taylorsville, with their two sons, and are actively involved with her husband’s family’s Gaines Cattle ranch. She is a Bartow County Farm Bureau director.
The finalists in the 2025 YF&R Achievement Award competition, from left: Toni Gaines, Bartow County; event winner Walt Pridgen, Coffee County; and Allie Andrews, Lamar County. / Photo by Jay Stone
GFB Excellence in Agriculture Award
Haley Scruggs, from Bibb County, won the Excellence in Agriculture Award, which honors agriculturalists aged 18-35 who are active Farm Bureau members, promote agriculture in their community, and earn most of their income off the farm.
Scruggs, who is president of the Bibb County Farm Bureau, has served on the BCFB Board of Directors since 2018 and served as vice president the past three years. She and her husband, Seth, have served on the GFB YF&R Committee the past two years.
In addition to being a nurse practitioner who specializes in vascular surgery, Scruggs helps run her family’s farm, producing pecans, hay and Christmas trees on about 80 acres. She regularly welcomes the public to the farm to educate consumers about agriculture.
Finalists for the award were Dr. Tyson and Anna Strickland of Madison County and Ashley Smith of Coffee County. As finalists, the Stricklands and Smith received $500 from GFB.
The Stricklands both serve on the Madison County Farm Bureau Board of Directors. Anna serves on the GFB Women’s Leadership Committee. She is past 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 with their two daughters.
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. She works closely with the CC Farm Bureau on Ag in the Classroom programs and farm days. After Hurricane Helene, she helped farmers in her county navigate applying for USDA disaster programs.
The finalists in the 2025 YF&R Excellence in Agriculture Award contest, from left: Ashley Smith, Coffee County; Anna & Tyson Strickland, Madison County; and event winner Haley Scruggs of Bibb County. / Photo by Jay Stone
The finalists in the 2025 YF&R Discussion Meet, from left: Josh Daniel, Madison County; Abbey Aycock, Oglethorpe County; event winner Kylie Sizemore, Franklin County; and Bristol Peterson, Wilcox County. / Photo by Jay Stone
GFB Discussion Meet
Kylie Sizemore, from Franklin County, won the YF&R Discussion Meet, a four-round series of committee-style dialogues focusing on ag issues. Sizemore emerged from a field of 24 competitors to win the competition.
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 of competition, Discussion Meet participants discussed strategies to ensure Farm Bureau members are fully informed about the organization’s benefits. In round two, the conversations centered on how Farm Bureau can promote responsible growth while preserving the agrarian way of life. In the Sweet 16 Round, competitors mulled over farmers’ and ranchers’ role in advancing environmental stewardship while balancing the needs of their farms.
The final four round centered on how Farm Bureau can leverage digital engagement to connect members with elected officials.
Torrie Reed of Gilmer County won the Collegiate Discussion Meet for the second consecutive year. Bethany Brockman and Allison Cook, both of Henry County, and Kaleb Chambers of Carroll County were the event finalists.
Reed 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.
GFB YF&R Coordinator Levi Davis congratulates Torrie Reed of Gilmer County for winning the Collegiate Discussion Meet. / Photo by Logan Thomas