By Marlee Moore

Two north Alabama farmers have been tapped to lead the Alabama Farmers Federation State Women’s Leadership Committee (WLC) and State Young Farmers Committee.

Fellow farmers elected Lydia Haynes of Cullman County and Mitchell Henry of Lawrence County during the organization’s 100th annual meeting in Montgomery Dec. 5-6.

On the State WLC, Ann Whatley of Lee County was elected vice chairman. She also serves members at-large on the WLC.

Debbie Dunn of Geneva County was elected secretary and was reelected to serve Region 4 on the state committee. The area includes Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Elmore, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Macon, Pike, Russell and Tallapoosa counties.

Regina Carnes of Marshall County was reelected to serve Region 1. That region covers Blount, Cherokee, Colbert, Cullman, DeKalb, Etowah, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan and Winston counties.

Rachel Chastain of Talladega County was elected to represent Region 2. The region includes Autauga, Bibb, Calhoun, Chilton, Clay, Cleburne, Fayette, Greene, Jefferson, Lamar, Pickens, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Tuscaloosa and Walker counties. She replaces long-time state committee member Debbie Roberts of Fayette County.

During General Session 2, the Women’s Leadership Division recognized outstanding counties. They are Cherokee County, Region 1; Randolph County, Region 2; Mobile County, Region 3; and Lee County, Region 4.

Young Farmers, ages 18-35, elected leaders during the group’s annual business session.

Jonathan Edgar, the District 6 representative from Elmore County, was elected vice chair; Dillon Turk of Mobile County, the District 8 representative, was elected secretary. 

James Hereford of Madison County, a row crop farmer, was elected to serve District 1. The area includes Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Morgan and Winston counties.

Ben Johnson of Randolph County was chosen to serve District 3. The poultry, cattle and row crop farmer will cover Calhoun, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa, Randolph, Shelby, Talladega and Tallapoosa counties.

District 5 farmers elected Denzil Dees of Sumter County, a catfish and cattle farmer. The area includes Choctaw, Dallas, Lowndes, Marengo, Perry, Sumter and Wilcox counties.

Emmanuel Bankston of Henry County was named District 7 representative. The area includes Barbour, Coffee, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike counties. Bankston is a cattle farmer and operations superintendent for Golden Peanuts in Headland.

Elected to represent south Alabama at-large was Bart Williams of Autauga County, a cattle farmer who also works in crop protection product sales. The area includes Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Washington and Wilcox counties.