Chase Downing sat at table with his wife, Crystal, and other members of their family while Extension Service agent Jerry Singleton talked about his accomplishments.
These covered an array of farming successes plus Downing's goals for improvement.
Downing, 23, smiled, said thank you and commented, "I couldn't have gotten started by myself" as he accepted the 2006 Young Farmer of the Year award at the Leflore County Civic Center Friday night.
The Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce annually gives the award during its Salute to Agriculture banquet and has been doing so since 1983, around the time of Downing's birth.
His father, Ben Downing, was the award's inaugural recipient.
"Tonight, we are making history," Singleton said. "This year, we have a first. This year's winner is the son of a previous winner."
The Downings, who farm at Morgan City and Quito, have operated in partnership for three years, and Chase grew up on the farm.
"I have the feeling he has been farming ever since he convinced his father he was big enough to drive a tractor."
Last year, Chase Downing farmed 2,300 acres. Singleton said his yields were higher than the county average, which Singleton estimates will include 900 pounds an acre for cotton and 40 bushes an acre for soybeans. Downing's cotton yields were 12 percent greater, and his soybeans - 38 percent, Singleton said.
He cited Downing for keeping two-thirds of the land in crop rotation and for participating in conservation programs that help prevent erosion, improve drainage and enhance the environment, including wildlife habitat.
Singleton said Downing plans to continue to put more land into Natural Resource Conservation programs, do more precision grading of the land, increase the efficiency of his irrigation practices and improve his marketing and budgeting skills.
Downing is increasing his 2006 acreage by almost 50 percent, Singleton said.
The Young Farmer of the Year is a graduate of Mississippi Delta Community College and a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, the Leflore County Farm Bureau, Farmers Grain and Staplcotn, which nominated him for the award.
He received prizes worth about $6,000 from various businesses, Singleton said. The most valuable of these came from Johnson Implement Co., which donated 100 hours of rental on a Case IH tractor. The Chamber of Commerce presented Downing with $500 and a plaque.
