A celebration of Leflore County’s agriculture industry will be held Nov. 13.
The Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for its annual Ag Fest, which will be held at the Leflore County Civic Center.
{{tncms-inline content="<p><strong>What:</strong> The Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual Ag Fest.</p> <p><strong>When:</strong> 5:30 p.m. Nov. 13</p> <p><strong>Where:</strong> Leflore County Civic Center</p> <p><strong>Details:</strong> Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. For tickets, call the chamber at 453-4152.</p>" id="38e740c8-3b94-45cc-bcd2-c272d27d57ea" style-type="fact" title="COMING UP" type="relcontent"}}
“We are looking forward to a great night of celebrating our ag community and looking for a great turnout,” said Beth Stevens, the chamber’s executive director.
The event will include a catfish dinner, ag expo and children’s activities.
“It’s a family friendly event,” said Stevens. “There will be lots of fun games and educational activities for the kids. We’ll have farm implement displays indoors and outdoors.”
The dinner will be prepared by Larry’s Fish House, and the catfish is being provided by America’s Catch and Heartland Catfish.
Keenum
The featured speaker this year is Dr. Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State University.
“Dr. Keenum will be a great addition to the event,” said Stevens. “Because Mississippi State University is an agriculture- and research-centric university, I’m sure he will bring a message that is pertinent to the farm and ag industry.”
During the program, the chamber’s Young Farmer of the Year recipient will be recognized.
“This is an award that we give every year to a farmer who is 45 years or younger and who has really exemplified good farming practices and has been successful in the farming industry,” said Stevens.
This year’s recipient is Richard Brown.
“It’s definitely a great honor to be recognized, and I’m in great company with the former winners,” Brown said. “I think it’s great the chamber and local businesses come together to support agriculture.”
While farming, Richard Brown holds his daughter, Mary Landry. Brown is the recipient of the 2018 Young Farmer of the Year award. He will be honored at the Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce’s Ag Fest on Nov. 13.
Brown farms with his father, Craig Brown; his cousin, Pierce Brown; and his uncle, Bill Brown.
The name of the family operation is Brown Farms. The Browns farm about 8,000 acres — owned and some rented — primarily in Leflore County and some in Tallahatchie County.
“Based on his resume and talking to people who know Richard, he’s a very deserving candidate,” said Stevens. “All of our Young Farmer of the Year winners in the past have been mostly lifelong farmers who have grown up in a family of farmers and have carried on that family tradition.”
Brown is a fourth generation farmer.
“My grandfather moved here from Drew and established this farm in the early 1950s,” he said.
The son of Craig and Kim Brown, the award recipient is the only one of his siblings who went into the family business — his brother is a dentist and his sister works in tech.
“It’s definitely something that’s always been in my blood through growing up with my grandfather, dad and uncle,” said Brown. “I like the flexibility of being able to be outside and not confined to an office. I like the process of growing a crop and seeing it from start to finish and following the progress through the year.”
A graduate of Pillow Academy and the University of Mississippi, Brown returned to his family’s farm in 2003 and began his career.
“This past year makes 15 crops,” he said.
This year, the Browns farmed corn and soybeans. In the past, they have farmed cotton, milo, wheat, cattle and catfish.
Brown and his wife, Amy, reside in Greenwood with their children Mary Landry, 7, Ann Morgan, 5, and Moss, 2.
Brown said his family enjoys coming to the farm while he works.
“They love to come out and play around on the equipment or ride on the equipment while we’re harvesting or planting,” he said.
Brown is passing down his love of farming to his children, but said he doesn’t want to push that as a career on them. In the future, however, if any of his children have an interest in farming, “I’d like to give them the opportunity if they want to pursue it just like I was given,” he said.
The event’s program will include a presentation about Brown’s farming operation.
“It’s great the chamber puts on an event like Ag Fest and brings in speakers like Dr. Keenum and promotes agriculture in the community.”
Ag Fest usually draws a crowd of about 300 to 350, and many attending work in agriculture.
“The cool thing about this event out of all of the events that we do is it brings out a totally different segment of the community,” said Stevens. “We see people from the farming and ag community that we don’t see at a lot of other events because most of the year they’re out there working hard. So it’s a neat opportunity to connect with that part of the community.”
The event, however, is not only open to the ag community.
Ag Fest
“Anybody is invited to come out and bring their kids,” said Stevens. “Agriculture impacts all of us in the community. When the farmers have a good year, everybody has a good year around here. So it’s definitely an industry that we love to celebrate.”
Tickets are $10 each for adults and $5 for children under 12 and include admission, dinner and all of the event’s activities.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The chamber encourages purchasing tickets before the event by calling 453-4152 or stopping by the chamber, 402 U.S. 82 W.
nContact Ruthie Robison at 581-7233 or rrobison@gwcommonwealth.com.
What: The Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual Ag Fest.
When: 5:30 p.m. Nov. 13
Where: Leflore County Civic Center
Details: Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. For tickets, call the chamber at 453-4152.
