Seventy-seven students were recognized Sept. 23, during the annual Alabama Farmers Federation awards program at Lazenby Farms in Auburn. The partnership between the Alabama Farmers Agriculture Foundation and county Farmers Federations awarded $136,000 to undergraduates pursuing degrees in agriculture, forestry and related fields at Auburn University.

Four special scholarships were awarded to honor the legacy of leaders in agriculture. Poultry science junior William Bradberry of Cullman County received the Ronny Donaldson Memorial Scholarship; horticulture sophomore Nate Payne of Lee County received the Jimmy Witt Memorial Scholarship; Lawrence County’s Taylor Hood, a junior studying animal sciences with an animal/allied industry concentration, earned the Mike Henry Memorial Scholarship; and Emily Brown, a sophomore studying fisheries, aquaculture and aquatic sciences, received the Alabama Catfish Producers Scholarship.

Federation President Jimmy Parnell encouraged the group of AU students to distinguish themselves through initiative and problem solving.

“Work hard,” said Parnell, an AU College of Agriculture alumnus. “Nothing will make you stand out in a crowd like working hard. I encourage you to learn to think and to make friends with fellow classmates and professors.”

Parnell expressed the Federation’s commitment to Auburn and the next generation.

“This organization was formed almost 104 years ago at AU for the purpose of representing farmers and rural citizens of Alabama,” Parnell said. “The future of the Federation and our state is in the hands of young people.”

2025-2026 scholarship applications open Nov. 1 at AlfaFarmers.org/scholarships. The deadline to apply is Feb. 1, 2025.