<BillNo> <Sponsor>
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 345
By Pody
SJR0345
006602
- 1 -
A RESOLUTION to honor George McDonald upon his exemplary
career as a farmer.
WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly take great pleasure in recognizing a
gentleman who has devoted his entire life to agriculture, the cornerstone of Tennessee's
economy and the source of our long-held values of humility and industry; and
WHEREAS, a native of the Riddleton community in Smith County, George McDonald
began his career as a farmer in 1978, when he was only eighteen years old; and
WHEREAS, Mr. McDonald's success in the agriculture industry is indeed impressive,
and his time on the farm spans numerous trends and improvements in farming; and
WHEREAS, as a senior in high school, Mr. McDonald secured the triple crown of FFA by
winning the State FFA Public Speaking Contest and the State FFA Farmer Award, in addition to
serving as State FFA president; and
WHEREAS, he has been named the Tennessee Sunbelt Outstanding Famer of the Year
twice (1996 and 2024) and is a twelve-time winner of the National Corn Growers Yield Contest;
and
WHEREAS, Mr. McDonald won the Tennessee Farm Bureau's Young Farmers and
Ranchers Discussion Meet in 1985 and was honored with the American Farm Bureau's Young
Farmer Achievement Award in 1990; and
WHEREAS, he continues to protect and preserve our farming heritage as a member of
the Farmer Credit Mid-American Advocate Council and the University of Tennessee (UT)
Extension's Smith County Row Crop Advisory Board and a trustee of the Tennessee Nature
Conservancy; and
- 2 - 006602
WHEREAS, George McDonald previously served the farming profession as chairman,
vice chairman, and a board member of the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural
Resources Advisory Council, chairman of the Tennessee Corn Promotion Board, president of
the Tennessee Fruit and Vegetable Association, and chairman of Tennessee Farm Bureau
Feed Grains Committee; and
WHEREAS, Mr. McDonald is deeply attached to his native Smith County, and he has
generously served his fellow citizens in numerous capacities, including as chairman of the Smith
County Soil Conservation District, president and board member of the Smith County Farm
Bureau, Smith County Chamber of Commerce, and Smith Farmers Co-op, and chairman of the
Highway 25 Water Utility District; and
WHEREAS, he was deservedly honored as "Outstanding Citizen" by the Smith County
Chamber of Commerce in 1991; and
WHEREAS, in 2023, George McDonald proudly hosted the U.S. House Agriculture
Committee at his Catesa Farm, which will mark 100 years of family ownership in 2027 and
qualify for certification as a Tennessee Century Farm; and
WHEREAS, in addition to his many accomplishments in agriculture, Mr. McDonald is
most grateful for the love and companionship he shares with his family: wife, Susan McDonald;
daughter, Celia McDonald Dillon; daughter, Sarah McDonald, who is an essential member of
the family's farming operation; and mother, Linda McDonald; and
WHEREAS, George McDonald is a noble son of the soil who has endured times both
good and bad to make his family's farm one of the most successful agriculture operations in
Tennessee, and he is most worthy of our approbation; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENN ESSEE, THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, that we honor and commend George McDonald upon his
- 3 - 006602
exemplary career in farming, thank him for helping to preserve Tennessee's family farming
tradition, and recognize his many contributions to this State's most important industry.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
without House or Senate designation.