Tag Archives: women in agriculture

From Hospital Halls to Farm Fields: Haley Scruggs Honored for Excellence in Agriculture

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Macon, GA |

For Haley Scruggs, life is anything but ordinary. By day, she’s a nurse practitioner specializing in vascular surgery—working long shifts, saving lives, and navigating the nonstop pace of hospital life. But when the scrubs come off, she steps into a very different role: fourth-generation farmer.

“Our farm is over a hundred years old,” said Scruggs. “We grow Christmas trees—choose and cut Christmas trees—pecans, and coastal Bermuda hay. But when I’m not here, I’m a nurse practitioner. So that is my full-time job. And this is my second full-time job. So, it keeps us very, very busy.”

That contrast—between the sterile hospital halls and the quiet beauty of the farm—is exactly what Scruggs says keeps her grounded.

“This is such a great way to just become grounded because that hospital can get very crazy and become very stressful,” she explained. “When you’re trying to save lives all day and handle patients’ situations, it is so nice to be able to come out and literally enjoy what God has given us and spend time on the farm with my family.”

Her unique story recently earned her top honors as the Georgia Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture Award winner—recognition she says left her nearly speechless.

“Honestly, I was completely speechless,” said Scruggs. “Tears filled my eyes. I could not have been more excited. This is such a tough competition. And any competition with Farm Bureau—when you make it to the top level—you’re not competing with someone they just drug off the street. These are very top competitors, who are all extremely active in agriculture and are passionate about what they do.”

That passion—both for healing and for growing—is what sets Scruggs apart and helps connect two very different communities that she says often don’t understand each other.

“People at the hospital see a nurse practitioner. They don’t see someone in agriculture,” she said. “They don’t understand everything else I’m doing behind the scenes and how we’re involved in the community with our farm. Same thing with people on the farm—they don’t understand that we actually all work full-time jobs. So I think with that award, it is very important to show people both in and out of agriculture how you can become involved in the community.”

That sense of community is what first drew her to Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers program—and what keeps her coming back.

“What an incredible experience the Young Farmer and Rancher program has been,” Scruggs said. “A lot of times you think farmers are old and there’s no one out there you can really reach out to. But that’s completely wrong. There are so many young farmers and ranchers from across the state. It’s absolutely incredible to know that you have that support out there with people who are your age—some a little older, some a little younger.”

Whether in a hospital gown or work boots, Scruggs proves that passion and purpose can thrive in more than one field—and that the line between healing people and feeding them is not as far apart as it seems.

By: Damon Jones

Rooted in Family, Rising in Leadership: Kylie Sizemore Wins GFB Discussion Meet

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Carnesville, GA |

Before the spotlight. Before the pressure of judges’ questions. There was simply home.

For Kylie Sizemore, that home was a family farm where agriculture wasn’t just a topic of conversation—it was a way of life. From an early age, she was surrounded by the rhythms and values of rural living: hard work, patience, and responsibility. And guiding her through it all was a strong support system of family members who saw her potential long before she stepped into any arena.

“I would say that my dad probably encouraged me the most when it came to agriculture and encouraging me to get involved in FFA,” Kylie said. “My older sister showed pigs, so of course I wanted to be like her and I wanted to show pigs, and that was really my start—showing pigs in 4-H. Then once I went to middle school, I showed pigs in FFA and became more involved doing leadership development events, LDEs, and career development events, CDEs. And that really is where I got my start in agriculture.”

That start paved the way for Kylie to compete in—and win—the 2025 Georgia Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet, a competition that rewards not confrontation, but collaboration. But her journey to the state title was years in the making, and her family played a central role in every step.

“My family’s always encouraged me to be actively involved and just shoot for a hundred percent no matter what I’m doing,” she said. “I can remember in sixth grade I wanted to do meat judging in FFA and I started it and I didn’t like it, but my mom and dad were like, you can’t quit. Even with Discussion Meet and being involved in Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers, and the women’s committee here in my local Franklin County Farm Bureau chapter—it’s my family that has encouraged me to do more and be the best that I can be.”

That encouragement followed her all the way to this year’s state convention in Jekyll Island, where she decided to give the Discussion Meet another shot after taking a break for a few years.

“I love being a part of active conversation and I love getting to meet and mingle with new people,” she said. “I hadn’t been [to convention] the past couple years, and Discussion Meet is a great thing to do while I’m there. So I was just ready to get into it again.”

And while the competition may be solo on paper, Kylie is quick to point out it was very much a team effort—especially with her husband Willie by her side. A former Discussion Meet winner himself, Willie offered encouragement, coaching, and the occasional push when Kylie needed it most.

“Willie said, ‘It’s time for you to do Discussion Meet again and we’re gonna try to win.’ And I said, ‘We? We are gonna try to win?’” she laughed. “But it really was a team effort. As a question was drawn, we would go back to the room or go to a restaurant and talk about the topic. He would 100% help me prepare.”

Now, with the state title under her belt, Kylie’s eyes are set on the next challenge: competing on the national stage and continuing to serve as a voice for Georgia agriculture.

By: Ray D’Alessio

The 2025-2026 Georgia State FFA President Shares how She got Involved in Agriculture

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Macon, GA |

The newly elected 2025-2026 state FFA president, Remiya Stephens shares her story with her involvement in agriculture and how she began. Stephens comes from the Rutland High FFA chapter. 

“It means so much. It’s surreal every day, but ultimately, I know I’m just living out that dream that my eighth-grade self had,” says State FFA President, Remiya Stephens.  

“When I remember going to that second state convention my eighth-grade year and I looked at the 2022 state officer team, just seeing how much joy they had on that stage, that was really the moment that I was like ‘I want to be able to have that same impact that they had on me. The one-on-one conversations and just being able to instill great confidence in others.’ I knew I wanted to be able to do that,” explained Stephens.  

And now, Remiya will get that opportunity, despite joining the organization six years ago with very limited agricultural experience. It’s just the latest example of how FFA is now appealing to a much broader base. 

“You don’t have to start in agriculture from the moment you’re in diapers to be someone and be an advocate for agriculture. Get involved. Learn about FFA. Find your place. There’s so many different aspects in FFA that you can be involved in to learn more about agriculture,” says Stephens. “So, don’t think that your roots have to start in agriculture to be someone and something involved in FFA and agriculture.” 

While Remiya’s passion for agriculture has grown over the years, it was one particular segment of it that really drew her attention from an early age. 

“Ultimately, just my love for plants. I started in sixth grade. My first plant was a rosemary plant and this year I kind of was able to have a full circle moment being able to plant rosemary again. But ultimately, I’ve been able to have different experiences,” says Stephens. “Through my supervised agricultural experience, I was able to go down the road to a local florist. And she helped me learn so many things about the horticulture industry– the marketing side, the money side and then honestly, just how she’s able to grow her business.” 

Creating a sense of community is an aspect of FFA that has left a lasting impression on the new state president, as her ever growing network of friends and followers showcase what the organization is all about. 

“Honestly, I think FFA means support and family. Being able to know that family is outside of blood,” says Stephens. “I feel like I spend twenty-four hours here at my school whether it’s eating snacks, hanging with my teammates, or we’re just in the hotel, just being able to be friends and family, just being able to have that support. I know that ultimately, that if I didn’t have my FFA family, I would not be here today where I am,” Stephens explained.  

Along with that support, it did take plenty of hard work and determination to realize her dream. However, it’s a sacrifice Remiya has zero regrets about. 

“From the process, from area office to state office, it was a lot of work, a lot of dedicated time, a lot of time to train my focus only on state office and having to sometimes say no to other things to completely focus on this,” says Stephens. “But ultimately, I knew it was going to be worth it in the end. And it one hundred percent was.” 

By: Damon Jones

Women’s Pivotal Role in Georgia Agriculture

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Athens, GA |

In Athens recently, conversations were had surrounding the topic of women in agriculture, which according to USDA Census Data, accounts for thirty-six percent of the ag industry’s workforce, three times was it was just decades ago. However, despite that progress, there’s still more work to be done, which is where the Women in Agriculture Forum comes in.

“We were able to travel all over Georgia and to meet farmers and ranchers, all across Georgia. And all of them are very happy and generous when it came to sharing their experiences with us. A common theme here really was that first of all, agriculture is a necessary and vital industry, but it is also a really hard profession, especially for women. And so our question was kind of how can we make this a little bit easier? How can we possibly support female farmers in Georgia? I think this forum today is kind of our answer to that question. We’re trying to support female farmers in Georgia by providing a platform for them to get to know each other, to build a community, but also to learn about state and federal resources and to also practice some really tangible skills like leadership, mentoring, and branding,” says Alexa Bankert, an Associate Professor at UGA.

According to Bankert, one of the biggest hurdles they found for women in the agriculture industry, was the lack of community, as she says most are juggling several things at once and either don’t know about or don’t have time to utilize the resources that are out there.

“What we heard a lot was the lack of community, the lack of support, simply because in many cases, a female farmer is not the stereotypical farmer. So, sometimes there was the lack of having a supportive community. That was really a big challenge. The other one is in fact mental health. That too was something that came up quite repeatedly and also just unawareness, really a lack of awareness. When it came to available resources, right? And so we really tried to tailor this workshop to these needs and to provide at least a starting point to address those deficiencies,” says Bankert.

To Breanna Berry, Leadership Programs Coordinator for Georgia Farm Bureau, that’s where GFB comes in, as she says though women in ag often do have a full plate, not only is GFB is a great resource for them, they’re also vital to the organization’s success.

“I think Farm Bureau provides a really great opportunity for our women in agriculture to find that sense of belonging, that sense of community. There are women in our organization who might be older with a lot of wisdom and a lot of experience that they can offer our younger and future generations. That is vital for that next generation to have success. They’ve faced a lot of challenges, a lot of struggles, maybe a lot of obstacles they’ve found that community that has helped them work through some of those challenges. And we really can be a place where all of those groups come together, all of those ages and generations meet and are able to share their experiences, share their knowledge, and really find that community that really is necessary for our ladies to be successful,” says Berry.

By: John Holcomb