The charm and Southern hospitality of Bruce and Billie Bush are enough to win most folks over who visit their farm in the rolling hills of Barbour County. But once you ride through their pastures and see some of the South’s top Charolais cattle, it’s easy to see why their operation was chosen as Alabama’s 2003 Farm of Distinction.Bruce’s farming career started with hauling hay, working cows and planting with local farmers when he was a young man. He and his wife Billie, with the help of their son, Gabe, now have 500 acres where they operate one of the most successful Charolais cattle ranches in the country. They were selected for the Farm of Distinction honor in April after being nominated by Alabama Farmers Federation Area Organization Director Whit Goolsby. The Bushes now join seven other Southeastern state winners as finalists for the Lancaster/ Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award for 2003 which will be announced during the Sunbelt Expo in Moultrie, Ga., on Oct. 14.”It still doesn’t even seem real,” Bruce said of winning the state award. “We work hard on our farm. We don’t play golf or anything like that, we mostly just work on improving our cattle. We just have a burning desire to raise the best cattle that walk, and to be recognized by our peers is very humbling.”Winning the award has transformed the Bushes into local celebrities. Billie said she sees lots of people she doesn’t even know who congratulate them on the award.”One thing it has done is give us the opportunity to share the love of agriculture that we have,” she said. “It’s important for them to know the value of agriculture to our state and to our nation–not just our farm, but all farms.”As the Alabama state winner, the Bushes receive a $2,500 cash award and an expense-paid trip to the Sunbelt Expo from Swisher International of Jacksonville, Fla.; a jacket and $200 gift certificate from the Williamson-Dickie Co.; a commemorative gun safe from Misty Morn Safe Co.; and a $500 gift certificate from Southern States. They also are now eligible for a $14,000 cash award and the use of a tractor for one year from AGCO, Inc., which will go to the overall winner.Swisher International, through its Lancaster Premium Chewing Tobacco brand, and the Sunbelt Expo are sponsoring the Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award for the 14th consecutive year. Swisher has contributed more than $600,000 in cash and prizes since the award was initiated in 1990.”I grew up in the town of Eufaula,” Bruce said. “But my heart has always been in farming. I did anything I could on several area farms. I got my first tractor when I was 10 years old… every cylinder was cracked.” In 1975, the Bushes purchased 160 acres of land and started their farm. Gaining notoriety as a peanut farmer, Bruce was a member of the Two-Ton-To-The-Acre Club in 1981 and was Young Farmer of the Year for Barbour County in 1987. Hog farming became part of their operation in 1982, and Bruce was selected as Alabama Pork Producer of the Year and received the Pork All-American Award in 1989.”We built a super hog operation, and it served us well,” Bruce said. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done when we had to close it down. But we didn’t have a good marketing plan, and there just wasn’t a convenient and economical way to market our hogs.” As row crop farming and hogs became less profitable, the Bushes switched their focus to another love–beef cattle.Now, the green pastures of their farm, along with nearby rented pastures are dotted with 175 head of registered Charolais brood cows. They also have a 200-acre Bermuda grass hay operation that includes an irrigation system which produces record amounts of hay each year.”We concentrate on quality with our cattle,” Bruce said. “There are certainly larger operations than we have, but we focus on improving our herd each year.”The Bushes use innovative technology, such as artificial insemination, embryo transplants and ultra-sound data, that enables them to identify and utilize their best and most productive animals.”Producing top quality Bermuda grass hay is very important to our operation,” Bruce said. “Weed management, fertilization and covered storage have helped us to have a larger customer base. Top quality round and square bales have helped us to market hay to cattle and goat producers and horse owners.”Bruce and Gabe make up the entire labor force of the farm, with occasional help from Bruce’s father, Freddie. Gabe and his wife, Brandi, live on the farm. Bruce says Gabe has a “special way” with the cattle.”I call him the cow whisperer,” Bruce said. “From the time he was big enough to go to the pasture by himself, he has just had a way with cattle. Gabe is the backbone of the cattle operation. He keeps all the records and data on each head of cattle.”Another one of our goals is to continuously fine tune the operation,” added Bruce. “And we mean fine tune it every day. You can’t turn it loose. If you do, you’ll have a wreck.”Most of the Bushes’ cattle are sold by private treaty, many of them locally. However, they also have a production sale each year in October at the M6 Ranch in Alvarado, Texas.”We’ve put together a successful marketing plan,” Bruce said. “You can raise the best bull in the world and if you can’t sell it, you’ve accomplished nothing.”Billie, who teaches at a nearby community college, said farm life has been a blessing to her and her family. Having been raised on a farm by a father who was an ag teacher, she knew farm life could be hard, but that it was a great way to raise a family. Even though the Bushes’ daughter, Tara, and her husband, Clay, live in Birmingham, Billie said she knows the lives of both her children were shaped by growing up on the farm.”Our children gained independence by growing up on the farm,” Billie said. “Their values and good work ethic also are a direct result of how they were raised here. It’s been wonderful for our entire family. Being recognized as Alabama’s Farm of Distinction really is a tribute to all of us–we feel so blessed.”