The Newton County Farm Bureau won four of the 11 top state Farm Bureau awards during the 72nd Annual Georgia Farm Bureau Convention held Dec. 5-7, on Jekyll Island.

The county chapter received the prestigious McKemie Award in the more than 3,000 member division. It’s the highest honor a county Farm Bureau can receive and is in recognition of the overall activities it sponsored during the past year to promote agriculture. Brent Galloway is president of the Newton County Farm Bureau and Charles Berry is the vice president.

For winning the McKemie Award the Newton Farm Bureau received $750 and a trip to the 2011 American Farm Bureau Federation Convention in Atlanta, Jan. 9-12.

"Georgia Farm Bureau appreciates the many activities Newton County Farm Bureau conducted during the past year to educate their community about agriculture and their commitment to our state organization," Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said.

The Newton bureau also received the 2010 Outstanding Legislative Program Award, Outstanding Women’s Program Award and Outstanding Young Farmer Program Award. The Newton legislative committee is chaired by Keith Mitcham and co-chaired by Charles Berry. The women’s committee is chaired by Nancy Anderson and co-chaired by Sandi Mitcham. The young farmer committee is chaired by B.J. Marks and co-chaired by Keith Mitcham.

The NCFB Legislative Committee was honored for the farm tour it hosted for local, state and federal officials to educate them about Newton County agriculture and the issues Newton County farmers face. The Legislative Committee will receive one paid trip to the 2011 GFB Presidents’ Trip to Washington, D.C.

The NCFB Women’s Committee was recognized for the work it did to educate fifth graders about Georgia agriculture as part of Gov. Perdue’s Agriculture Awareness Week in March. The committee worked with students in Jennifer Allen’s fifth grade class at Middle Ridge Elementary School to help the students research and build a model farm from the ground up. The Women’s Committee will receive one paid trip to the 2011 National Ag in the Classroom Conference.