The James Babb family was honored by The Isle of Wight-Smithfield-Windsor Chamber of Commerce as winners of the

2007 Business of the Year in Agriculture award.

The award was made by the chamber at this year’s Ag Fest, which was held at the county’s fairgrounds in Windsor.

The Ag Business of the Year award has been presented to deserving agriculture related business since 1994. Past recipients have included the Jimmy and J. V. Oliver family, Tom and Dee Dee Darden of Darden Farms, and Pete and Ken Edwards and their families.

The Chamber of Commerce has an agriculture committee that follows certain criteria in the selection process.

They look for an individual or family that is active in the day to day operation of the farm; the nominee must be actively involved in the community in one of a number of fields, such as church, community development, or youth activities; the nominee must have actively participated in an agribusiness organization on a local, state or federal level; the nominee must be progressive in their overall business plan and have deep ties within the community in which they reside.

The James Babb family farms 2000 acres in Isle of Wight County. Of those 2000 acres, 700 are in cotton, 200 acres are corn crops, 800 acres are wheat and soybeans.

They have 100 head of beef cattle.

The family is actively involved in their church and the Windsor-Isle of Wight community. They have been represented on the Virginia Cotton Board, the Virginia Cotton Growers Association and the Virginia Cotton Growers Association.

The chamber is proud to honor a deserving family from our agricultural community which is so much a part of Isle of Wight’s heritage.