HOT SPRINGS – Alechia Meador of Green Forest is the winner of Arkansas Farm Bureau’s 2014 Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award. Farm Bureau honored her Dec. 4 at its 80^thannual convention at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

Meador raises 4 million pounds of broilers annually along with 100 beef cattle she raises with husband, Chris. The Meadors have four sons, Mason, 8, Jace 6, Cole 3 and 4-month-old Blaze.

“We hope to instill the same love for farming in our children and teach them about hard work and dedication, so they can accomplish their goals and dreams, as well,” Meador said. “We are proud of the legacy we are creating and hope it can be passed down for many generations to come.”

Meador serves in a number of roles, including the Carroll County YF&R Committee, the Cornerstone Bank board, teaches Royal Rangers at church and is leader of the Hickory 4-H Club.Meador won a $40,000 gift card to use toward the purchase of a new General Motors Corp. vehicle courtesy of Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Company.

The runners-up in the competition were cattle ranchers Caleb and Brianna Plyler of Hope, and poultry growers Kevin and Jacque Smith of Decatur. Each couple won $1,000.

Joe Smith of Brookland won the YF&R Discussion Meet. Smith is a vocational agriculture teacher in Craighead County and cattle rancher. The discussion meet provides a forum for young farm leaders to demonstrate their verbal and problem-solving presentation skills while they discuss their views on issues affecting agriculture. There were 11 competitors in the Discussion Meet.

Smith gets the use of a new Kubota tractor with a front-end loader for one year courtesy of Kubota. He also won $6,500 toward the choice of a Kawasaki Mule or Honda ATV compliments of Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company.

Honors also went to Josh and Laura Beth Baker of Mountain Home. The couple won the Excellence in Agriculture award. The award recognizes young farmers involved in agriculture but who get the majority of income off the farm.

The Bakers have a beef cattle operation in Mountain Home, and they also run a custom spraying business applying pesticides and fertilizer. Off the farm, Josh is a vocational agriculture teacher at Mountain Home High School. Laura Beth teaches first grade at Nelson-Wilks Herron Elementary School.

The couple have three children, twin daughters Hadleigh and Hanna and son Harrison.

The Bakers won a Polaris Ranger utility vehicle courtesy of Western Arkansas Farm Credit, Ag Heritage Farm Credit, Farm Credit Mid South and Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Company. They also got a John Deere lawn tractor courtesy of John Deere Inc.

All winners also earned expense-paid trips in January to the American Farm Bureau Federation national conference in San Diego where they’ll compete for national awards.

Arkansas Farm Bureau is a nonprofit, private advocacy organization of more than 190,000 families throughout the state working to improve farm and rural life.

     Alechia Meador of Green Forest, YF&R Achievement Award Winner, and her three oldest sons with ArFB President Randy Veach. 
     Joe Smith of Craighead County (right) is the 2014 Discussion Meet Winner. 
  Josh and Laura Beth Baker of Mountain Home are the 2014 YF&R Excellence in Ag award winners.