Twenty-nine year old Zachary Burns from Attalla is the Alabama Farmers Federation’s Excellence in Ag winner, announced Aug. 3 at the organization’s 41st annual Commodity Producers Conference.

Burns owns a lawn care and landscape business, works with his family’s cattle farm and is employed by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).

“Having grown up on a family farm, I have a deep appreciation and passion for farming,” said Burns, who is an active member of the Marshall County Young Farmers Committee. “I feel I have experience beyond my age in agriculture but am still young enough to relate to young people who are considering agriculture as a career choice.”

Burns is part of the Federation’s Agricultural Leaders For Alabama program and a member of the Etowah County Alabama Cattlemen’s Association. As the winner of the Federation contest, he will receive a zero-turn John Deere mower courtesy of Dow AgroSciences and an expense-paid trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) national competition in San Antonio, Texas, courtesy of the Federation. That contest will be in January.

A record 11 young farmers competed in Alabama’s Excellence in Ag contest. Contestants must be involved in agriculture but cannot earn more than half their income from production agriculture.

A record 20 young farmers participated in the Federation’s annual Discussion Meet contest. Four finalists advance to the final round held during the Federation’s annual meeting in December. Finalists are John Bitto of Baldwin County, Adam Wilson of Calhoun County, Landon Lowery of Chilton County and Stewart McGill of Madison County.

The overall Discussion Meet winner will receive a 4-wheeler courtesy of First South Farm Credit and an expense-paid trip to the AFBF national competition in San Antonio, Texas, in January courtesy of the Federation.

The Discussion Meet simulates a committee meeting, and competitors are expected to discuss topics using cooperation, constructive criticism, problem-solving and communication.

For more information about the Young Farmers program, visit AlfaYoungFarmers.org.