I don’t know when Clay Greene and Paula Greene, an Augusta County farm couple, have time to sleep.
The couple works on their family farms: Paula with her family’s dairy and beef operation, while Clay assists with his family’s beef cattle farm, where they raise cow-calf pairs and background feeder cattle.
Clay, who also operates a custom work enterprise and retails hay and forage supplies, returned to his family’s business in 2011 and has played a key role in the cattle operation and growing the farm’s custom services.
Since joining her family operation full time in 2018, Paula has made efforts to modernize the dairy through strategic investments and management improvements, resulting in increased production and efficiency.
They somehow found time to accept an award from the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, which honored the Greenes as the winners of the 2025 Young Farmers Achievement Award.
The award program recognizes outstanding young farmers for their business success and volunteer involvement, while helping them evaluate their business plans and set goals to strengthen their farming operations.
The Greenes juggle myriad responsibilities. On his family’s farm, Clay is responsible for feeder cattle care, field work, fence repairs, nearly all equipment maintenance and repairs, and managing customer relationships. He also plays a major role in the hay and forage supply retail business, and handles management decisions for his custom hire business and cow-calf herd.
While sharing a herdsperson role with her sister, Paula tackles a variety of day-to-day farm management decisions for her family’s beef cattle and dairy cows, including managing robotic milking data, grant projects and regulatory compliance.
The couple shared how they have each improved efficiency over the years through practices such as modernizing harvesting equipment, developing a milk culturing program, refining vaccination protocols, and implementing marketing strategies for their cattle.
The Greenes found the Achievement Award application process rewarding, as it brought them closer together and inspired fruitful reflection.
“It’s like a review of our business plan,” Clay said. “It made us take a good, long hard look at both of our operations and see our strengths and weaknesses, and that’s very important.”
Paula added that “it makes you think about where you’re at and where you want to go.”
As Achievement Award winners, the Greenes will receive a 250-hour lease on a piece of Kubota equipment, up to $10,000 toward a Kubota utility vehicle courtesy of Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., and a cash prize.
They also will receive a travel package to the 2026 American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention, where they will compete for the AFBF Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award.
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Chris Graham
