training center, won in 2000, it was the fi rst recipient of Agribusiness of the Year that was known beyond solely being a traditional family-owned farm. Since then, the winners of the
Agribusiness of the Year award have had specialties in areas ranging from distilleries to turkeys. Every winning agribusiness has left their mark through progressive practices, preserving history and advancing agriculture on a regional or national scale. Diverse in both size and focus, the winning farms showcase the diversity of Culpeper's agricultural community. T e 2002 winners, the Inskeep
family’s Mt. Pony Farms, Inc., created
new equipment with more effi cient output by combining two machines. T eir innovation was a product of multiple generations in the family collaborating for the future of the farm. T e 2008 winner, Dewayne Payne’s Payne Hay and Straw Farm, had a similar mindset. Over four decades ago, Dewayne Payne, Sr. began Payne Hay and Straw because he was passionate about making high-quality Alfalfa, Timothy
and Orchardgrass. In early 2000, the family purchased a neighboring dairy farm, where they used
the land to store a majority of the
harvested hay and retrofi tted barns that once housed dairy cows into hay storage. Allyson and Patrick Kearney of Old
House Vineyards, Agribusiness of the Year winners in 2012, were awarded a
$250,000 grant in December 2023 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and put part of the grant toward expanding Old House Vineyards as an event destination. Other innovators included Mystic
Hill Farms, who took the award home in 2014, most notably for their seedstock production in the livestock breeding game, and 2020 winner Muddy Flats Farm, cited for their introduction as the fi rst farm in Culpeper to raise turkeys.
Families evolve their family farms T e Agribusiness of the Year
award winners represent the essence of Culpeper. Along with agricultural innovation, family is a key part of the winning equation. “Production from the land is not
a short term deal so…carrying on the agricultural legacy is a big deal,” said Virginia Cooperative Extension Senior Extension Agent Carl Staff ord when the Houck family’s Belair Dairy Farm won Agribusiness of the Year in 2021. “We are proud of the cows, but the
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