Hamilton County Farm Bureau Board of Directors announced the winners of the essay contest.

JASPER — The Hamilton County Farm Bureau recently held its annual Farm-City Week essay contest with Marco Aguilor winning first place.

The awards banquet was held Nov. 15 for the essay contest, which was entered by fourth graders from the county.

The winning students received cash awards and the teacher with the first-place student also received a cash award to be used in the classroom.

In addition to Aguilor, Nevaeh Shepard finished second with Maria Gutierrez-Basilio third, Kendarius Aaron fourth and Ta’Jayden Jackson fifth.

The purpose of the contest is to educate the students in Hamilton County about the importance of agriculture and farming as well as helping prepare them for the state exam.

During September and October, the fourth graders were tasked with writing an essay on “Why is agriculture important to America?”

Florida Farm Bureau hopes to foster good relations between the urban community and the farming community with the essay contest.

Each teacher chose the top five essays from their class, which were then sent to Gainesville for judging. The Florida Farm Bureau public relations department read and judged the essays, with 34 essays sent from Hamilton County.