Haynes Farm, of Cullman County, was named Alabama’s 2023 Farm of Distinction during the Annual Farm-City Awards Luncheon and Program on Thursday in Birmingham. The Haynes family, led by Darrel and Lydia, prioritizes land stewardship on their 4,000 acres of pasture for beef cattle and 1,500 acres of row crops. They will represent Alabama during the Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year contest this fall.

Darrel and Lydia farm alongside their sons, Ben and Bart, in Fairview.

“There’s nothing I deserve any honor about,” Darrel said, “You know, I’ve just gotten to be a caretaker for a little bit of God’s stuff. He gave me Lydia, and he gave me Ben and Bart, and gosh, they are such fine men, such hard workers.”

The Hayneses are raising the seventh generation on the farm, too, through Ben and wife Whitney’s six children — Jack, Lola, Charlie, Caroline, Pruett and Rueben.

“We wean and background the calves we raise,” Ben said, “Our product is an 800- to 900-pound feeder calf, and we sell those in load lots that are bound for feed yards north and west of here. As far as the row crop operation, about a third of our ground will be in corn, a third full-season soybeans and a third will be planted in wheat we will follow with soybeans. We will take a lot of wheat to combine as well, but a lot of ground we will come back and plant a summer crop on is also land we’re grazing feed cattle on in the winter.”

Lydia, who serves on the Federation’s State Women’s Committee, said she appreciates the honor to represent Alabama farm families regionally. A retired physical therapist, she said she’s grateful to spend each day on the farm.

“How many women in this world have the opportunity to work with their husbands, work with their sons — side by side — and can look back at the end of the day and say, ‘Goodness, what a job well done?’” she said. “There’s so much satisfaction in that.”

As the Farm of Distinction, the Haynes family nets an engraved farm sign from the Federation and Alfa Insurance; a John Deere Gator from SunSouth, TriGreen and John Deere; $1,000 gift certificate from Alabama Farmers Cooperative; and $1,000 from First South Farm Credit.

Cullman County Farm-City was also recognized as Best Farm-City Committee, Best Civic Club Activities, and the organization was awarded the Target Award in the Division 1 category. Alabama Farm Credit provided a $300 cash prize. Division I represents counties with a population of more than 35,600