Several local agriculturalists were honored Thursday morning at the annual Hall County agribusiness breakfast.

Allen and Doris Conner were announced as winners of the 2011 Farmer of the Year Award. The two own a farm in Clermont that Anderson said was "green before green was cool."

Kit Dunlap, president of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce, was named the top Friend of Agriculture, and Cain Equipment, a Clermont, Ga. stable since 1958, was named the 2011 Outstanding Agribusiness.

"We get excited when a new business opens up, but we have a tendency to forget those that have been there a while," former Hall County Extension Coordinator Gene Anderson said.

Kabe Cain, son of the business' founder, Al Cain, accepted the award.

A new milestone was also set for the county as Billy Skaggs, chief operating officer of the Georgia Department of Agriculture and former Hall County Extension agent, was inducted as the Agribusiness Hall of Fame's youngest member.

"He has his finger on the pulse of agriculture in the state," said Dixie Truelove, vice president of Truelove Dairy, Inc.

Skaggs said he didn't feel old enough to be in the Hall of Fame, but said his time in Hall County meant a lot to him and he was honored to receive the designation.

"Without my experience in Hall County, I definitely would not have been afforded the opportunity to share agriculture on a wider scale," he said.