Planting Seeds, Making Waves: Young Farmers Gather in Gulf Shores

Alabama’s top young farm families were honored among their peers during the Alabama Farmers Federation’s Young Farmers Conference Feb. 28 in Gulf Shores. 

Of contest entrants, three families will now compete for title of Outstanding Young Farm Family (OYFF) and $80,000 in prizes. They are Cade & Shelby Easterling of Barbour County, Jacob & Misty Porter of Clay County, and Garrett & Robin Dixon of Lee County. 

OYFF competitors are famers ages 18 to 35 who earn most of their income from production agriculture. They are judged based on farm growth, Federation involvement and community service. 



In addition to OYFF competition, conference attendees spent the weekend learning from like-minded growers, hearing from encouraging speakers and participating in educational sessions. 

Young Farmers also raised over $40,000 for agricultural education and scholarships during an auction benefiting the Alabama Farmers Agriculture Foundation. 

Statewide Coalition Launched to Defend Alabama’s Free-Market Economy 

Alabama Farmers Federation leadership is celebrating the launch of a new coalition, Freedom First Alabama, whose mission is to stop the spread of costly big-government policies and defend Alabama’s free-market economy.

Freedom First will oppose efforts that increase costs for families, crush small businesses and undermine Alabama’s economic competitiveness. The partnership comes at a time when higher taxes, heavy regulations and anti-business policies are being advanced across the country. 

The Federation is proud to join Freedom First Alabama in pushing back against government mandates, burdensome regulation and crippling taxes, said Federation President Jimmy Parnell.

“Since 1921, the Federation has been one of Alabama’s most vocal and effective advocates for lower taxes, limited government and economic opportunity,” Parnell said. “The principles of Freedom First Alabama align with our mission and grassroots policy. We look forward to working with partners in the business community to ensure Alabama continues to thrive.”

Ag Wage Reform Coalition Urges Action

The Ag Wage Reform Coalition gathered in Washington, D.C., last month as members urged Congress to critically improve the H-2A program. 

The Alabama Farmers Federation and Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (AFVGA) are among 36 organizations fighting to bring positive agricultural labor reform that aid both American farmers and guest workers. 

AFVGA Executive Director Blake Thaxton said Alabama was proud to join like-minded associations to fight for a stable Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), keeping the guest worker program financially sustainable. 

“Alabama farms rely on the H-2A program, which provides life-changing economic opportunity to guest workers,” said Thaxton, who also leads the Federation Greenhouse, Nursery & Sod Division. “It’s imperative we back the farmers who put food on our tables.” 

The coalition held a press conference and roundtable Feb. 23 in the nation’s capital. Bipartisan congressional staffers, industry supporters and coalition members joined to thank the Trump Administration for the AEWR Interim Final Rule while also urging Congress to strengthen the H-2A program through lasting reform. 

“We appreciate U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, and Dale Strong, R-Madison, for sending members of their staff to hear the concerns of farmers,” Thaxton said. “Alabama’s delegation continues to stand behind our members. Our growers need a dependable, market-driven program they can count on.”

Farm Bill Passed Out of House Ag Committee

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture passed H.R. 7567 — the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 — out of committee March 4. The legislation passed with bipartisan support receiving a 34-17 vote with seven Democrats supporting. 

U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., and U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., are members of the committee. Moore supported the bill while Figures voted in opposition. 

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall applauded the bipartisan passage, giving thanks to Committee Chair G.T. Thompson, R-Pa., for his leadership. 

“The farm bill has a ripple effect across the country by supporting the farmers who grow the food that stocks every kitchen pantry in America,” Duvall said. “We urge House leaders to continue the momentum and bring this important legislation to a vote on the floor."

The bill’s text was released Feb. 13 and builds on a strong foundation of farm-focused provisions passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill last summer. Thompson said this farm bill would address many of the remaining, soon-to-expire provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill, including issues related to animal welfare, research and specialty crops. 

This bill updates important food and farm programs, enhances conservation efforts, makes critical investments in agricultural research and strengthens America’s rural communities.

These critical investments include:

• Expanded access to risk management tools for farmers
• Increased investments in trade promotion and facilitation programs
• Enhanced voluntary and incentive-based conservation programs
• Expanded programs to support specialty crop growers
• Improved access to essential credit and loan programs
• Making permanent the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Program
• Support for rural communities through development initiatives
• Robust research and extension programs to place American agriculture at the forefront of innovation
• Promotion of forest management and health
• Regulatory reform that affirms EPA as the authority on pesticide labels and protects interstate commerce

Ag Students Celebrate FFA Week on Capitol Hill

Blue and gold jackets emblazoned with names of students and schools from across the state gathered Feb. 24 at the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery to celebrate National FFA Week.

FFA students met early for a photo with Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric Mackey before splitting off between the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and capitol auditorium to hear from elected officials and state leaders. 

Alabama Farmers Federation State Legislative Programs Director Russ Durrance said the event allowed students to learn about the legislative process and the importance of agriculture. 

“It’s encouraging to see so many young people interested in the state’s political and legislative processes,” Durrance said. “But more importantly, it’s essential for them to promote agriculture with their legislators and officials during an event like this. These students are a reminder that farming and career tech are essential to Alabama.”

Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Pleasant Grove, shared an encouraging message pushing students to stand out as leaders. 

“It’s about responsibility and leadership,” Sellers said. “Don’t lose sight of agriculture and what it means to our state, our communities and the rest of the world. I love the impact that FFA makes on children, on our students, in our youth... the discipline, the courteousness, the leadership skills that are being developed — it is just awesome.”

Alabama Department of Workforce Secretary Greg Reed spoke with students about the importance of exploring their career-tech opportunities.

“Their success is our success, and the future of Alabama is in their hands,” Reed said. “Whether they want to be a farmer, a machinist, a brain surgeon, an astronaut, a welder or a nurse, it doesn't matter. We want to make sure those opportunities are available to them and they have a chance to decide what's best for their career and for their opportunity.”

Katherine Robertson, chief counsel to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, shared her deeply rooted passion for agriculture and the risks posed by the purchase of land by foreign adversaries.  

“Our office has been extremely dedicated to protecting farm land, whether that's from overregulation or foreign adversaries because, as I told the group, I think Alabama's farmers are the reason we have the values we have, and we want to do everything we can to protect the industry,” said Robertson, the Alabama FarmPAC-endorsed candidate for attorney general. “I’m an eighth-generation farm girl, so agriculture is a huge part of my heritage. As I look around and see families who are raising their children right, I don’t think you can find a better group than farming families.” 

Other speakers included Secretary of State and FarmPAC-endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor Wes Allen; Senate President Pro Tem Chief of Staff Jess Skaggs; Rep. Van Smith, R-Billingsley; and Rep. Jeff Sorrells, R-Hartford. 

Enrollment Begins for Farmer Bridge Payments

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has opened enrollment for the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) program, providing $11 billion in one-time bridge payments to row crop producers in response to temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs. The FBA enrollment period closes April 17.

Eligible commodities include: 

• Barley
• Canola
• Corn
• Cotton
• Oats
• Peanuts
• Sesame
• Sorghum
• Soybeans
• Wheat

Sign Up for Legislative News

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March is National Peanut Month

In the Markets With Chris Prevatt

Over the last several years, cattle markets have experienced an unprecedented price expansion, with CME feeder cattle futures surging from a COVID-era low of $103.95 per hundredweight in early 2020 to an all-time high of $381.02 in late 2025. The $277 increase per hundredweight equates to $2,216.56 per head (800-pound basis) and $138,535 per truckload.

To put the this in perspective: the increase in value alone ($138,535) is more than double — 2.66 times — the total value of an entire truckload of feeder cattle at the 2020 lows ($51,975).

This historic bull run illustrates the extreme price dynamics that occur when severe supply constraints driven by years of drought-induced herd liquidation and tight calf crops collide with persistent consumer beef demand. The market remains extraordinarily elevated by historical standards (even when adjusted for inflation). These factors have created a profitable environment for cow-calf producers, especially those that invested in their cowherds near the lows of the U.S. Cattle Price Cycle (2018 to 2022). 

Report compiled by Alabama Farmers Federation Commodity Director Chris Prevatt. Listen weekly to Prevatt’s In the Markets report on the Alabama AgCast.

Apply for Ag Literacy Grants

County Farmers Federations can apply for $1,000 grants to benefit local agricultural literacy programs through the White-Reinhardt Grant Program, a division of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. 

Grants are available on a competitive basis and should initiate new — or expand existing — ag literacy programs. Applications are due June 12. 

Teachers Can Apply for Free Workshop

The Alabama Ag in the Classroom Summer Institute is June 10-12 in Prattville. Alabama teachers are encouraged to apply for the free conference by April 15.

The workshop will include integrated agricultural activities for kindergarten through sixth grade, plus farm tours.

Participants will receive professional development hours, innovative materials and teaching strategies that increase student knowledge of the nutritional and economic importance of the food and fiber systems. Activities incorporate language arts, science, social studies and mathematics skills.

Apply for Endowed Scholarships by May 1

College students who are members of the Alabama Farmers Federation in Hale, Jefferson, Shelby and Sumter counties can apply for new endowed scholarships until May 1.

Ag News Around Alabama

This week's Alabama AgCast features:

• FFA Day on the Hill
• USDA's One Farmer, One File Initiative
• Legislative Report
• Field Report
• Market Update from Chris Prevatt

The Alabama AgCast is sponsored by Alabama Ag Credit.