Jed & Nanci Johnson of Aurora, Utah were recognized as the winners of the Utah Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher 'Excellence in Agriculture' award. The award was presented at the recent Utah Farm Bureau Annual Convention in Layton, Utah.

The Excellence in Agriculture award is a competition that was initiated a number of years ago to recognize young farmers and ranchers involved in agriculture, but who do not necessarily derive a majority of their income from an owned production agriculture operation.

“This was so exciting to win this award. We’re thrilled to represent our county at the national level,” said Jed Johnson. “We love being advocates for agriculture, and look forward to learning how to do this better.”

The Johnson family, representing the Sevier County Farm Bureau, competed with ten other contestants for the award. The Johnsons received a 2017 Polaris ATV courtesy of Utah Farm Bureau and Zions Bank Ag Group, an insurance policy for the ATV from Farm Bureau Financial Services, and an expense-paid trip to the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting.

The Johnsons will compete at the American Farm Bureau annual convention in January with the winners of this same award from other State Farm Bureaus across the country. National winners of the Excellence in Agriculture Award will have their choice of a 2018 Ford truck and paid registration to the AFBF YF&R Leadership Conference in Reno, Nevada on Feb.16-19, 2018. The Excellence in Agriculture truck is provided courtesy of Country Financial.

The runners-up (second place) for the Excellence in Agriculture Award will each receive a Case IH Farmall 50A tractor, courtesy of Case IH. Other finalists will receive prizes courtesy of Case IH and Stanley Black & Decker.

Jed is a manager for Redmond Heritage Farms full-time, but also helps with his family’s cattle ranch in Aurora. Nanci grew up in Kaysville and graduated with a degree in Math Education from Weber State University. In addition to helping on the farm, Nanci currently teaches English to students in China via a webcam.

“We love the many opportunities we have to engage with those not familiar with agriculture, and share with them the many lessons that apply to everyone,” said Nanci Johnson. “We feel fortunate to live in this great part of our state and to interact with many great farmers and ranchers, and look forward to learning from others across the country.”

Jed and Nanci are the proud parents of four children. Together as a family they work on the farm and help promote agriculture any way they can. They have served on the State Young Farmer & Rancher Committee and have worked with local FFA chapters to help with leadership development.