Lizella, GA

With the fields of Bibb County serving as it’s backdrop, fifty years have passed since Donacin Dairy filled its first container of milk. What was once a bustling hub of life, the heart of a dairy empire, is now a haunting shell of its former glory. Empty milk tanks loom like silent sentinels, bearing witness to the decades of hard work and dedication that had once coursed through the veins of this family-owned business. Stalls where cows had been passionately milked day after day, now layered with cobwebs.

“The quietness of the church in my office, I opened this Jamison Faucet Brown commentary and I was reading the commentary on that passage of scripture. The very last sentence of that commentary of that verse said, ‘it’s not a return to the world, but a reluctance to break from it.’ When I read that I broke down in my office that morning and tears come to my eyes and God said, ‘it’s time. They have to go,'” says Benjamin Newberry, Owner of Donacin Dairy Farms.

Newberry, the patriarch of the family, looks over his once active milking stations, struggling with an identity he had known his entire life. Like so many small dairymen in his position, the business has transformed from a labor of love into a struggle for survival. According to Benjamin, the traditional gallon of milk, the lifeblood of the Newberry farm, is now wielded as a loss leader by grocery stores and markets. Additionally, he points out the squeeze on profits, milk prices in a perpetual free fall, while the cost of feeding his beloved cows, constantly on the rise. People too are changing their tastes, gravitating toward non-dairy alternatives. The world has moved on say’s Benjamin, and the Newberry’s farm was caught in the undertow of change.

“It was part of my identity. It was part of who I was. I grew up on the farm. I stayed on the farm. I raised my kids on the farm, and just had a reluctance to break from it, but knew that it was the right decision from a business standpoint, but also because God said it was time. So, that’s what I did. The market doesn’t need a small dairy; we needed the market. With the market being so small as I would say in the Southeast, it becomes increasingly difficult for a small dairymen to survive. These larger, family owned farms and producers realized that they had to get big enough that the market needed them. They had the foresight to grow and meet the demands of the market, but also get to a place that the market is dependent upon them,” says Newberry.

At their peak, Donacin Dairy had about 300 cows. Today, this is all the remains. A couple of Holsteins, a handful of jersey’s, and some beef cattle. Yet, the true heartbreak is the impact the closing of the dairy will have on the Newberry family. Benjamin often dreamt of passing the farm down through generations, watching his children and their children tend to the cows he had lovingly cared for. Now, their legacy is forced to take a different path, a new avenue not yet paved.

Even though Donacin Dairy is now silent, it’s legacy will live on in the hearts of the Newberry family, a testament to the spirit of those who once worked this farm with love and devotion. Although his heart heavy, Benjamin tells me he is grateful for what really matters most. His family, his faith and position as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church…
and the entire community of Bibb County, which Benjamin says has gone above and beyond to show it’s support.

“There were 42 dairies in this county in the early seventies and we were the last of them to survive,” says Newberry. “You don’t realize how many people you affect in life until you experience a life changing moment. It’s been good. I’m grateful for it. Me and Ashley are expecting our first grandchild at Christmas. So, that’s exciting and dealing with that and helping my youngest daughter prepare for that. Really haven’t been short of things to do, but as far as what my identity will be, if I tell people what I’m doing, it’d probably be just continuing to Pastor Calvary Baptist Church and loving on the people and helping where I can.”

By: Ray D’Alessio

Weston, GA

While Georgia might be better known for its poultry and peanuts, it’s also the nation’s leading producer in pecans. Even though some areas of the state were severely impacted by Hurricane Idalia, the overall quality looks to be strong.

“Our crop looks pretty good this year. We’re just getting into them. We’ve been into our Pawnees and gone over them and now we’re getting into our other varieties and still got a ways to go,” says Richard Merritt, Owner of Merritt Pecan. “We got some good weather right now and thankful for that. I’m ready to get after it and let’s get them in and like I said, as long as we got some good weather, we need to, we’re out here every day.”

It’s been that way for the past several months as well, with these trees needing plenty of TLC throughout the year in order to be ready for harvest.

“It’s a lot of work. We’re, spraying a lot, mowing, spraying herbicides, it’s just something. Working on irrigation. Doesn’t ever seem like we get caught up. But somehow or another we pull it together at the end,” says Merritt.

Unlike many other pecan operations, the Merritt’s are able to get them from the field to their shelves all in house thanks to their very own shelling plant.

“We get them out of the field and then we take them back to the plant and get them cleaned and shell them, we size them to shell them, or we might just put them in the warehouse and sell them on the open market,” says Merritt.

Speaking of market, this general store is a one stop shop for everything pecan as they sell candies, snacks, and of course, homemade pies.

“We make our own pies and a lot of our cakes here. So, that’s labor intensive. We don’t have a lot of machinery to do it. It’s all done by hand. We make our pies six at a time and we usually sell about three thousand pies in a year. So, we think that special touch makes it more delicious for the customer,” says Tammy Merritt.

That’s quite the jump a from their original store back in 1980’s, which had just a fraction of the products they now offer.

“Yeah, we started off small. We just had pecans and then we started having roasted, salted pecans and then customers asked, ‘well, why don’t you have pies?’ So, we added pies. So, we listen to our customers and see what they want and look at other vendors and see what they have to offer so we can give a better selection to our customers,” says Tammy.

Its customer base has also grown over the years with many making it a destination stop.

“It’s gratifying to have repeat customers and asking for our pecans every year. We got a lot of people that make our stop as they travel to Florida, or they travel to Atlanta, or Birmingham or wherever,” says Richard.

“We have so many who support us. We’re on a major road. We have a lot of travelers who go back and forth from Albany to Columbus, and they are very loyal. They stop in and we know them by name. They’ve been coming here for years,” added Tammy.

By: Damon Jones

Ellijay, GA

If you take a stroll up through the North Georgia Mountain this time of year, there’s a few things you’re guaranteed to see; beautiful mountains and apple market after apple market stocked full of this year’s apples. One of those markets is Aaron Family Orchards, an operation that’s been a staple in the Ellijay community for decades.

“As soon as you walk in, you’ll notice it’s a really old building. My great grandparents actually bought the property in 1938; started construction on here. Aaron’s Apple House back then officially opened in 1944 with Shafter, Reba, and then my great my grandpa and my great uncles. Over time, the orchard grew from year to year. Back in those days, we were one hundred percent wholesale. Over the past twenty, thirty years, wholesale for us has started to start to move down and retail started to pick up. So, we’ve had to adapt to the market by adding in different things to keep people coming to our orchard year after year,” says Joshua Aaron, Operator of Aaron Family Orchards.

Aaron, who has been involved with the operation his entire life, is now the fourth generation to run the business and as he has begun to take the reins, has continued working to adapt to the changing market by focusing more on agritourism, as they now sell a variety of canned jams and jellies, baked goods, and for the first time, offer a U-pick flower patch.

“Some of the big things that we’ve added in, we’ve added in a wide array of canned goods, of course, we’ve always had cider, but making sure it’s in quantities where people will want to buy it and take home. Getting a variety of different baked goods. So whether that be fried pies, apple cider, donuts, breads, a few other novelty items. When you go to the store, you’ll see we have some candies, we have some soaps and candles, seasonings, different jewelry, things like that; things that are all centered around kind of the Appalachian feel that we have in our store. Then when it comes to agritourism, this year is the first time we’ve tried it, we added in a u-pick flower patch,” says Aaron.

According to Aaron, the patch was a huge success and says that going forward, he plans on continuing to evolve the business by working to create a family-friendly environment; an environment that offers several different activities for people to make new memories and perhaps create new traditions.

“The only thing you can do in agriculture is keep on growing. We teach the kids this every day in FFA and 4-H, it’s either better days through better ways or to make the best better, and that’s just what we’ve got to keep on doing. We have got to add in more family friendly opportunities for them; that’s one way. We’ve just got to keep on growing and keep getting more land, planting more trees, adding in more opportunities for people to come here and make memories,” says Aaron.

By: John Holcomb

Grovetown, GA

What was once the last remaining dairy farm in Columbia County, Steed’s Dairy transitioned towards agritourism back in 2010, and is now one of the largest operations in northeast Georgia.

“I used to get in trouble with my daddy when I’d invite classes out to the farm when we had the dairy because we had to hold some cows back, which he didn’t like doing. But it’s something that I’ve always kind of wanted to do, not on this scale. I never dreamed it would get this big,” says Jim Steed.

Big might be an understatement as this farm plays host to more than fourteen thousand students every year, providing them with a unique look at the rural lifestyle.

“A lot of kids had an uncle or somebody that had a farm and people would go and visit. Now days that’s not true. So, a lot of people have never seen animals, farm animals. They don’t understand where their food come from. And so, we wanted to kind of change that and kind of ingrain that into their minds there’s people out there that’s providing the food for them,” says Steed.

This type of immersive experience is not just beneficial to the students, but the entire agricultural industry going forward.

“These kids are probably not going to be farmers, but they’re going to be the teachers. They’re going to be the congressmen. They’re going to be people on any social issue with agriculture, now they’ll remember coming out and seeing first-hand how things work,” says Steed.

However, it is far from all work and no play, as kids get to enjoy a number of different activities from a petting zoo, to tube slides and even a five-acre corn maze. And this year’s theme is UFO’s.

“What I do is basically come up with an idea. I draw it out. Our surveyor and I in the area, we get together with the EMC, we get together and we basically just come up with how we want the corn maze to be in the field and he’s got a map of the field that we do it in. Once we put it out, he plots the points, I do a connect the dots kind of thing, once they come out and survey it. It’s very expensive to do it that way, but it’s more precise,” says Steed.

Providing the best experience possible is something Steed takes very seriously as he knows just how much of a long-lasting impact it can have on someone’s life.

“People are hungry to just to come out and see a farm and have their kids experience what you normally do on your daily life. And so, that’s the neat thing about it. I mean, you’re kind of sharing your life with a bunch of kids, but you see them having a great time and they remember. There’s a lot of kids in high school, that I taught in high school that basically remember coming out on the field trip. So, that kind of warms your heart a little bit knowing that you did something that they’re going to remember probably for the rest of their life,” says Steed.

By: Damon Jones

Doerun, GA

Amidst the endless stretches of peanut fields, Bart Davis is hard at work, tending to his family’s legacy. With a deep rooted of love for agriculture, Davis has has transformed this once, five hundred acre family farm into a sprawling five-thousand acre operation over four decades. It’s a combination of Davis’s lifelong dedication, coupled with an unwavering commitment to innovation and community.

“It’s about a lot of other things other than actually putting the plow on the ground. I mean, a farmer that’s been successful does a really good job farming, tries to stay up with times and, tries to make his operation better each and every year,” says Davis. “Being involved in your farm, organizations such as, the Cotton Commission, Peanut Commission, or whatever you may be in, just to be a real big advocate for agriculture in Georgia.”

Davis is not the type of person who seeks accolades. He would rather his work do the talking. When asked about his recognition of being Georgia Farmer of the Year, Davis humbly replied, “I’m sure there are a lot of other farmers out there who deserve it more than I do.”

“I’m just the kind of guy, I just like to work and do things and try to help people, but I don’t ever really like to get the recognition for doing it, but it is an honor. After I got it and it sort of sunk in, I was like, ‘well, maybe I do more than I feel.'”

For Davis, farming isn’t just a profession, it’s a way of life, a journey that began at the tender age of eighteen, following the untimely loss of his parents during his senior year of high school. With resilience as his guiding force, Davis embraced his role as a steward of the land. Today, Bart focuses on cultivating cotton, peanuts, and corn, while also managing a thriving cattle operation.

“I was actually planting the crop. We was actually planting peanuts the day daddy died, which was April the seventh, 1982, the day he passed away. So, sort of got thrown in
my lap sooner than what I was expecting. Of course, you know, I felt like the world was coming to a end, but friends and family and just working every day and loving it. I mean the good Lord blessed us, and I’ve been successful at it,” says Davis.

But Davis’s contributions extend far beyond the boundaries of his own farm. He has actively given back to the industry by assuming leadership roles. For a decade, he has served on the Georgia Cotton Commission Board now as its chairman. Additionally, Bart chairs the Georgia Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation and represents Georgia on Southern Cotton Growers and Cotton Incorporated at the national level. His dedication to the industry, a testament to his passion for agriculture,

“You have gotta be dedicated to it. You can’t just wanna do it because you like it, and if you don’t wanna work that day, you don’t work. We work every day out here. I mean, there’s something to do seven days a week, twenty four hours a day out here, if a man’s willing to do it, you know? It’s tough. I mean, if a young man today, like my boys and my daughter, they are involved in it. Of course, I was the second generation farmer, and now they are the third. If you got somebody that can help you, a family member or somebody that’s willing and that you can work with and maybe learn from them, and then possibly let them work some land, it’s probably the best way for a young man to get started today. But if he don’t have some kind of way to get started, it’s just almost impossible to start from scratch,” says Davis.

As Bart Davis continues to shape the future of farming in Georgia and beyond, his story serves as an inspiration for aspiring farmers and a testament to the enduring spirit of agriculture in the Peach State.

By: Ray D’Alessio

Moultrie, GA

As always, it was a great time in Moultrie for the annual Willie B. Withers luncheon. A time for ag industry leaders and professionals to come together to celebrate the ag industry and celebrate those ten finalists for farmer of the year that embody the hard work and dedication it takes to produce our nation’s food, fiber, and shelter.

“It is a great opportunity to tell the good news of agriculture through this program. It is a contest. We do have one winner, but we have ten outstanding state nominees and the fact that we shine the spotlight on them. Then when they go back to their communities, they’ve already had opportunities to speak out on agriculture. They will have those in the future, whether they were state winner or southeastern winner. We got 296 farmers that have come through the program in 33 years and it’s a great network to promote agriculture, to educate the public on the value of food, fiber, and shelter, and what a national security issue it is to be able to feed and clothe ourselves as a nation,” says Chip Blalock, Executive Director of the Sunbelt Ag Expo.

In the end, it was Steve Cobb of Lake City, Arkansas that was named 2023 Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year – an award Cobb says he is extremely humbled to receive.

“Overwhelmed. Shocked. Not expected. When you see the other state winners that you get to see their operations and just how incredibly impressive the operations are and how incredibly impressive they are as people. And the passion they have for what they do, it’s humbling and shocking at the same time to have received that award,” says Cobb.

Cobb, who has farmed his entire life, lives and breathes agriculture and is proud for the chance to represent the industry that means so much to him, his family, and the world in this capacity.

“Agriculture is such a critical, vital, important thing,” says Cobb. “We have become smaller and smaller in numbers and we’ve had less voice because of that in society. But it is a national security issue. What’s more important than food? We can talk about all different kinds of things, but just a few days without food, a few days without clean, fresh water, and things are really, really critical. So, to be a representative and to be involved in to be able to make a profession in the agriculture industry is amazing. Especially when you take the folks. I mean, it doesn’t matter whether it’s in South Georgia or Northeast Arkansas or any where you’re at in the United States, the farm and ranch people are just the same everywhere. Just the backbone of our country, actually.”

By: John Holcomb

Atlanta, GA

After serving as the face of Georgia agriculture for the past twelve years, former Ag Commissioner Gary Black is using his experience and connections in a new venture designed to help farming operation realize their full potential.

“We kind of had a thought that I know a lot of people kind of see their situation as kind of an impossible mission. Can I do this? And so, I wanted to put a team of people together to say yes, it is a possible mission. We can help you get to your stated objectives and so, that’s what we’re doing. Making sure we have the right people in the right place at the right time at the right meeting to make sure we get a deal done, that’s my goal and objective,” says Gary Black, Managing Partner of On Point Strategies.

Between the marketing, research and development and strategic planning, On Point Strategies hopes to strengthen agribusinesses here in Georgia, which would in turn boost the industry as a whole.

“If we bring more business to Georgia. If we help make existing businesses find markets. If we help them employ more people, it just strengthens the entire agricultural economy. Everybody has a needle to thread, but why would you do it blindfolded? You never would. You’ve you got to see the objective and have those stated objectives and goals and really plan for your business. So, we’re helping people do that,” says Black.

One of the major issues they are working on at the moment is how to expand Georgia’s reach when it comes to agricultural commodities throughout the world.

“How do we penetrate a market? So, we’re building, I’m thankful to have wonderful relationships with most of the consulate generals here in Atlanta that represent Georgia in the Southeast from the countries that are key trading partners like Brazil. And we’ve used those relationships, built those relationships. And where there’s a deep desire to do business,” says Black.

That could benefit one market in particular, especially after seeing a tariff in India being reduced from one hundred percent to just thirty.

“Just as Georgia Grown pecans have gotten on the table in Asia and China, now with the reduction of tariffs, something I worked on for a number of years and thankful of the team that’s finally brought that to fruition, have a much better, a much better situation in India to market our products,” says Black.

As for the long-term goal for this endeavor, Black says it’s pretty simple.

“If you come to us with and you say, ‘you know what? I’ve got a mission that looks real, impossible, can you make it mission possible for us?’ That’s what we do,” says Black.

By: Damon Jones

Perry, GA

Down in Perry at the Georgia National Fair’s Junior Livestock shows, these young dairy cow exhibitors are finally getting the chance to showcase months of time and energy that’s gone into getting their calves show ready– a true testament of the power of hard work, dedication, and teamwork, as about two-thirds of these kids are new to an exploding livestock program in Whitfield County.

“All of a sudden it’s boomed. We’ve gone from five or six or seven in sometimes eight calves that are being shown, to this year, it’s looking like thirteen, fourteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen. We’re not exactly sure where it’s going to stop, but it has been something that’s been really popular because of the family involvement and other family members see it and other friends see it and it’s just kind of exploded because they see the fun and the benefit of the project,” says Janet Robbins, Agriculture Teacher at Northwest Whitfield High School.

Due to them seeing such new involvement, they’ve had to get creative and did so by working together; both kids and families to teach, train, and practice before the show season got underway, which according to Greta Beckler, who has two kids showing this year, is what has made it so special and rewarding this season and is what has proved that it certainly does in fact take a village.

“In livestock showing, it takes a village. We arrive at the barn early in the morning and we’ll have some people designated to bring breakfast, but then we’ll have other kids here that are they’re immediately feeding the calves in the morning together and making sure that they’ve got plenty of hay and water and parents are involved. Also, we’re constantly clipping and grooming the calves, we’re constantly looking at our friends around and how can we help? And it’s just an incredible service opportunity and it really is a village that comes together to make this happen,” says Greta Beckler, livestock exhibitor parent.

To Beckler, that’s what makes livestock showing so appealing, as she says watching all of the families and kids come together is a special sight to see and is something she says is truly unique to livestock exhibiting.

“There’s an element of uniqueness to showing livestock that we’ve just fallen in love with. Our kids have been able to join this group of other kids and adults in learning how to care for these animals and just being responsible for the animals, but then also being responsible for carrying themselves and being able to speak to adults in the ring, in the arena. But it’s also an element of service toward each other. We serve each other in making sure the animals are fed. It may not be that we just take care of our calf, but maybe we’re helping somebody else. And so, there’s this part of this that you don’t get with any other activity,” says Beckler.

To Robbins, in the end, that’s what it’s all about. Yes, of course, she loves to watch them show and compete well in arena but to her, watching them work hard and help each other along the way is by far the most important part.

“Watching the kids help each other, watching the kids say, ‘oh, wait a minute, I’ll go back and get the water hose for you’ or ‘Hey, you’re almost up. Let me help you get ready’. When these might not have been kids that would have never had this opportunity. And to watch these kids that normally wouldn’t be even in the same school to be together and helping each other out and kind of having their tasks in order. I love those partnerships, those friendships and all hands on deck,” says Robbins.

By: John Holcomb

Athens, GA

Rural Georgia is the lifeblood of our state, and in recent years has seen its fair share of ups and downs which is why conversations like those at this year’s Rural Prosperity Summit are so important. Georgia Chamber’s Chris Clark kicked off the event speaking on the recent growth rural areas here in the state have seen, as he believes people have started to see the value in rural areas.

“When we compare where Georgia was in 2015, 2016, 2017 to where we are today; it’s been a remarkable rebound, particularly for rural population,” says Chris Clark, President of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. “I mean, yes, we still have some counties that have lost some population, but it’s a dramatic increase. Whereas seven or eight years ago we were looking at a hundred forty counties that lost population. Today, you’re looking at maybe forty or fifty. So just an incredible return, I think. You know, we don’t like COVID. We’re happy. We’re not happy about it at all. But one of the good things is it reconnected people to their hometowns, to rural communities. And we’re seeing the benefit from that.”

However, that growth has created its own set of challenges, like the challenges with our state’s infrastructure, to which Clark believes needs continued investment but needs to be approached and discussed more broadly.

“Yes. We’re going to need to invest in roads, bridges, railroads, so we can move our goods and products and our commodities to and from the ports. Absolutely vital. Right now, we expect the ports of Brunswick and Savannah about to increase by 40-50 percent in the next ten years. Where’s the road infrastructure? In the rail infrastructure to move those around? You got to think about broadband. Right now, about fifteen percent of rural Georgians don’t have access to high-speed Internet. Let’s fix that. Let’s move it on. I think we also need to think about infrastructure as health care. If we don’t have good health care in your communities, you’re not going to be there. I’m not going to be there. Young families aren’t going to be there. So, I just believe we have to think very broadly about infrastructure. But we’re going to have to have some big conversations in Georgia over the next five years about how we make these investments,” says Clark.

Of course, you can’t have a conversation about rural Georgia without including agriculture, to which Commissioner Harper spoke about the industry’s strengths and weaknesses and what needs to change for ag to continue to prosper.

“I think when you talk about rural prosperity, I think you have to understand that agriculture is rural prosperity. Without agriculture, you can’t have prosperity in rural Georgia and there are a lot of challenges from the retail dollar back to the family farm,” says Tyler Harper, Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture. “The decline we’ve seen in that, the challenges we see in the labor market and getting the needed labor we need for us to be successful in agriculture. When you talk about labor, it’s labor on both ends of the spectrum. It’s labor on the end of the spectrum that we need the help in the fields, but it’s also the labor on the technology side. Having those that understand the technological advancements we’ve seen in agriculture, those challenges are rising input costs, trade issues, inflation. Those things are things that we face on the farm every single day.”

According to Clark, rural communities and agriculture go hand in hand and believes that those communities will never thrive unless the state’s ag industry remains successful.

“If our farmers aren’t doing well, our rural communities don’t do well, they go hand in hand. There’s no daylight between the two of them. When we see farming do well, we’re seeing farmers and farm families do well, and we’re seeing ag processors move into those rural communities. They thrive and do well when they suffer, like we saw in the eighties and in the early nineties. Those communities don’t do well, and so I think they’re intrinsically linked,” says Clark.

By: John Holcomb