Submitted photo: Ryan Highsmith of Echols County received the GFB 10th District Young Farmers & Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture Award and Volunteer of the Year Award. From left are GFB 10th District Directors Lamar Vickers and David Lee, Highsmith, GFB President Tom McCall and GFB 1st Vice President Daniel Johnson. (photo courtesy of Georgia Farm Bureau)

MACON —  Echols County Farm Bureau member Ryan Highsmith received the Georgia Farm Bureau’s 10th District Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award during the recent GFB 10th District Annual Meeting in Waycross.

The Achievement Award is given to honor farmers and ranchers between the ages of 18 and 35 who earn the majority of their income from production agriculture.

Highsmith is a fifth-generation beekeeper who has grown his operation from 200 hives he purchased from his grandfather in 2010 to approximately 1,000 hives now.  He provides pollination services for crop producers in Georgia and California. His bees also produce strain honey and cutcomb honey from pollinating approximately 8,000 leased acres.

He is chairman of the ECFB YF&R Committee, and he and his wife, Kelsie, serve as GFB 10th District YF&R chairs on the state YF&R Committee. Ryan also serves on the  ECFB Board of Directors as corporate secretary.

Highsmith earned an associate degree in diversified agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He lives in Lake Park along with Kelsie and their two children, Ryder and Kollins.