Eighteen people participated in the annual Effingham County Young Farmers tour on Saturday, kicking their morning off with a buffet-style breakfast at Claudette’s Country Kitchen in Guyton.

Each year the tour focuses on a different section of the county. This year’s tour covered south Effingham. Highlights included a stop at a blueberry farm where participants picked and tasted fresh blueberries while learning about the farm operation.

In addition, the group toured the Honey Ridge Plantation, watched a demonstration on timber processing by Tracey Fountain, tasted Clayton and Emma-lee Dasher’s cane syrup, discussed Bermuda grass with Gene Hart at his farm and walked Larry Redmond’s cotton fields before touring his seed cleaning operation.

Joining the tour were three new agriculture teachers — Meredith Carey from Effingham County High School and Ashley Burch and Bill Eaves from South Effingham High School.

AgSouth Farm Credit sponsored the breakfast and ECYF advisor Freddie Waltz hosted the tour.

“We’ve got a long way to ride,” Waltz told the group before loading everyone on the school bus. “But what’s a tour if you don’t ride a little bit?”