FITZGERALD — A Tift County resident has been named a Conservationist of the Year.

The Middle South Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District, an agency dedicated to the conservation and stewardship of the area’s natural resources, honored the 2022 Conservationists of the Year in each county within its area.

The service area includes Ben Hill, Brooks, Colquitt, Crisp, Irwin, Thomas, Tift, Turner and Worth counties, district representatives said in a statement. The Conservationist of the Year banquet was held recently at The Fitzgerald Pillars.

“Congratulations to Caleb Overman for being awarded Tift County’s Conservationist of the Year,” representatives said. “His conservation practices include implementing cover crops without tillage, strip-tilling row crops, using chicken litter as an organic fertilizer source, terraces, grass waterways and field edges. He operates with a strong conviction that although producing crops on the land is vitally important, the real value is in the land itself.”

The Middle South Georgia Soil and Water Conservation District is a unit of state government that directs natural resource management programs in Ben Hill, Brooks, Colquitt, Crisp, Irwin, Thomas, Tift, Turner and Worth counties.

The conservation district works with farmers, landowners and with other units of government to educate and actively promote programs and practices that support the conservation, and use and development of soil, water and related resources.More information can be found at www.gacd.us/middlesouthgeorgia.