JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — The 50th annual Farm City celebration took place in Jackson County Tuesday night. This was also the first time the event was open to the community.
Much of Jackson County’s success stems from agriculture and farming, this event was all about recognizing the hard work of local farmers.
“We are here tonight to celebrate Farm City for Jackson County, where we actually recognize 13 outstanding agriculture award recipients tonight,” Jackson County Farm Bureau President Jeff Pittman said. “We had approximately 300 in attendance, and it’s just been a really good night for Jackson County agriculture.”
This was the first time community members were invited to the banquet. Proceeds from tickets go right back into agriculture, specifically the younger generations.
“Those proceeds fund the event and what we have left, we contribute back to the FFA and for each chapter, as we did tonight,” Pittman said.
J&J Produce started 16 years ago, on Tuesday they received the Outstanding Family Farm Award.
“We specialize in growing peas and growing peanuts, and it’s just something that we’ve been doing to try and serve the public with the need, they want the peas we got em,” J&J Produce owner Jerry Scurlock said.
They said they couldn’t have won the award without the community’s support.
“We stand behind our product and we have very good labor that has been with this for years and without them, we couldn’t be here, it takes everybody working together in unity, and we have a lot of stores that we sell to that are very loyal to us and they support us and we support them,” Mary Ann Scurlock said.
Since it was the 50th anniversary of the event, organizers took time to remember the first-ever farm family recognition, the Ditty family.
