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Paige Smart Recognized as 2025 Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year at Farm City Celebration

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Cumberland County celebrated its agricultural legacy Friday with the induction of Betty A. Green into the Cumberland County Agricultural Hall of Fame during the annual Farm City Week banquet hosted by the Kiwanis Club of Fayetteville.

The ceremony, held at the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse, also recognized Gray’s Creek farmer Paige Smart as the 2025 Cumberland County Farm Bureau Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year.

Green, a Robeson County native who grew up working on her grandparents’ farm, dedicated her 18-year career as a Cumberland County Cooperative Extension 4-H agent to empowering local youth. Her innovative programs transformed the county’s 4-H offerings, introducing agricultural public speaking contests, talent shows, fashion shows, and perhaps most notably, the 4-H Embryology Program that allowed schoolchildren to witness the life cycle of baby quail—a program later adopted statewide.

“Betty Green devoted her life to opening doors for thousands of children through the Cumberland County 4-H program,” said Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Director Lisa Childers. “Her vision, leadership and unwavering belief in young people continue to shape our community.”

Green also established 4-H clubs on Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, with five sites still operating today. Her portrait will now hang alongside past honorees in the I.B. Julian Auditorium at the Cumberland County Agriculture Center.

Paige Smart, a fifth-generation farmer from Gray’s Creek, continues her family’s agricultural tradition following in the footsteps of her brother Ryan Kennedy (2013 Young Farmer of the Year) and grandfather Alton Earl Smith (2021 Hall of Fame inductee). Smart introduced contract grazing to the family operation, now hosting over 200 beef cattle annually, and recently expanded by opening S&K Farm Market in Hope Mills, offering locally produced meats and goods.

Watch the 2025 Agricultural Hall of Fame feature video on the Cumberland County YouTube channel. For more information about local 4-H programs and agricultural initiatives, contact the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension office at (910) 321-6860 or visit ccnc.news for ongoing coverage of community achievements.