Lots of farmers gathered in the same room is a rare occurrence, but Friday was one of those rare occasions.

Jackson county officials gathered at the agricultural extension office to present the 2009 Farm City Awards.

"Today is really a celebration of excellent farmers that have stuck with it, said Doug Mayo, Jackson County extension director. “Farming is a challenging business, there is no guarantee of profit, you don't sell normally directly to consumer so you don't have control over the prices that you receive."

Mayo says 2009 was a particularly difficult year for most farmers as the downturn economy and weather conditions took a heavy toll on their crops.

"We've had feast or famine on rainfall, we've had as much as 10 inches in a day, then three weeks with no rain, then light frost in may and then 100-degree days in June, kind of bizarre weather but all in all, most of our crops had a good yield."

For some, the perseverance paid-off.

Chuck Hatcher accepted the "Tree Farmer of the Year" award on behalf of his family.

"Without my grandparents, A.W. and Evelyn Hatcher, my dad, my aunts, my uncles, they are the farm owners and just allow me to work there and I'm very privileged."

Others were named cattleman, conservationist, high corn yield, hay and peanut farmer of the year.

"I was honored to receive this,” said Craig Bishop, who was named Peanut Farmer of the Year. “There's hundreds if not over thousand farmers in Jackson County and to receive this was an honor."
Bishop's ten year old son, Marcus, who helps out in the field, was also surprised.

"It's just really amazing because it's rained so much; it was just a really hard year."

The biggest award was the 2009 Farm family of the year, which went to Dale and Cindy Eade of "Cindale Farms."

"We were terribly surprised,” said Dale Eade. “We stay extremely busy on our farm and don't take our heads out of the sand sometimes and to have folks recognize what we're doing was terribly humbling and honored."

The award ceremony also recognized three Jackson County schools for their students' participation in the Future Farmers of America club.