Bluffton Producer Selected as Georgia Farmer of the Year

Originally published in the Aug. 7, 2013, issue

 

By Dallas Duncan

 

There’s a lot going on at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Ga. So much, in fact, that owner Will Harris was selected as the 2013 Georgia Farmer of the Year.

 

“Will’s very forward-thinking in the things he does,” said Brian Cresswell, Early County Extension coordinator. “He knows what he’s doing and why he’s doing it. I thought he’d be a very strong candidate.”

 

Cresswell nominated Harris for the award, which is part of a regional competition. The southeastern winner will be announced at the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition in Moultrie, Ga., in October.

 

Harris said he is honored and humbled at being selected the state winner.

 

His family started the centennial farm in 1866. Harris farmed in the conventional manner for years, but said as he got older he chose to focus on the “old way.”

 

Will Harris of Bluffton, Ga., checks on cattle in the pasture
at his farm. Harris was named Georgia Farmer of the Year
and is competing for the regional title, to be announced at
Sunbelt this fall. Photo courtesy White Oak Pastures

White Oak Pastures is the only farm in the country with both US Department of Agriculture-inspected red meat and poultry abattoirs. Harris’ family raises 10 different meat animals as well as pastured eggs and certified organic vegetables. They built a restaurant on the farm and are looking to build lodging in 2014.

 

“It is truly pasture to plate,” Harris said. “Our agritourism is based on education more than recreation. … We grow mushrooms, we tan leather hides, we can vegetables, we make jelly and jam and sausage and jerky and charcuterie. … We do a lot of things that hopefully some people would want to learn about.”

 

Steve Brown, University of Georgia assistant dean for Extension, is in charge of the state award program. He said nominations come in from county agents across the state.

 

“We want a farmer that’s innovative, that tries new things. We’re looking for engagement in the community and in commodity groups, people that are active in different commodity commissions and regional Farm Bureau groups and stuff like that,” he said. “They need to ideally show some type of conservation for their farm and that they’re taking care of the land. They need to show some sort of legacy plan – what’s going to happen to their land when they pass on.”

 

Brown said it was Harris’ atypical farming practices in a very conventional ag-based community that stood out to the judges, as well as his ability to promote those products.

 

“You gotta find a market for your products,” Harris said. “You can’t just hoof to it and pull it to the grain elevator or the auction barn or the cotton gin. You’ve got to find your market. And making production match demand – you gotta raise enough, but you can’t raise too much.”

 

White Oak Pasture products are sold at several Georgia grocery stores. In addition, food service distributors purchase the farm’s meat and consumers can buy direct from the farm’s online store.

 

This is the 24^th consecutive year the Southeastern Farmer of the Year award has been sponsored by Swisher Sweets. For being the Georgia winner, Harris’ prizes included a $2,500 cash prize, an all-expenses paid trip to the Sunbelt Expo and several other items. The regional winner will win more prizes, including $15,000 cash.

 

For future years, the state award has been merged with the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Award. Next March, Brown said the Georgia Farmer of the Year will be announced at Ag Day at the Capitol to compete at the Sunbelt Expo.

 

Judges for the regional competition will visit White Oak Pastures later this month for the final judging.

 

“Georgia is such a great farm state with so many great, great, great farmers,” Harris said. “I don’t think for one minute that I am the farmer of the year from Georgia, but somebody had to be and I’m glad they picked me.”



Sustainable, Local Ag Main Topic of Roundtable

The anecdote about Georgia's double-sided state seal is a favorite of Commissioner of Agriculture Gary W. Black.

It's been a story shared with visitors to his office, with schoolchildren learning where their food comes from, with Rotary and Kiwanis clubs across the state. On Aug. 2, Black shared the story with a room full of Atlanta-area sustainable agriculturalists at the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable.

Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary W. Black
addresses attendees at the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable
on Aug. 2.

The side most known by Georgians features an arch and the state motto, but the other side pictures agriculture and commerce.

"It's mentioned in the Code [of Georgia]," he said. "[Agriculture] is still of major, major economic importance and quality of life importance. ... We're interested in it at least three times a day."

Black was joined by moderator Donn Cooper of Georgia Organics, Jenni Harris of White Oak Pastures and Julia Gaskin with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, on a panel to discuss pressing issues affecting the state's agriculture industry.

Most importantly, Black said, there's a place for everyone at the table.

"This is the Department of Agriculture for all of agriculture in all of Georgia," he said. "It's not going to be the Department of Agriculture of the past. ... We're building a system we hope you're proud of."

With programs such as Georgia Grown and Feed My School for a Week, food, fiber and associated products grown and produced within state lines are getting more and more attention.

"Your preference is Georgia-grown products. It's about building the pride and understanding the quality of what's produced in Georgia," Black said.

In order to increase the focus on Georgia-grown products, Gaskin called for more "place-based research" applicable to organic and small producers in the Southeast, as well as a way to develop food hubs for small to mid-size farms that produce quantities between commercial growers and farmers markets.

"[Food hubs] typically try to match supply and demand," she said. "If you don't have that attempt to match supply and demand, everybody grows heirloom tomatoes and the market is saturated with heirloom tomatoes, and what happens to the price?"

Questions raised by the audience included concerns about food waste, food sale regulation and the grass-finished beef industry.

Harris said before her family got involved in raising grass-finished cattle, the movement was slow.

"Everyone wanted to talk about it, but nobody really wanted to do it," she said. "I believe -- this is just based on our business -- that the grassfed beef industry is growing and it will be here for a very long time."

Both Harris and Black addressed a question regarding the rising age of the farming community.

"It is a part of our past, but let no one fool you ... it's where the opportunities are in the future," Black said. "We're seeing young people really catch this vision at a greater pace than any time in my lifetime."

From left, Donn Cooper of Georgia Organics, Jenni Harris of
White Oak Pastures, Julia Gaskin of the University of Georgia
and Commissioner Gary W. Black

They said a major hurdle for beginning farmers dealt with was capital -- or rather, the lack thereof -- as well as the cost of on-farm processing to get more local meats on the market.

"We lost our tail for the first two years in not being able to sell enough beef. Now proudly today we're operating at capacity. That's a wonderful thing," Harris said. "It takes a tremendous amount of capital to build a processing plant. ... The government does not say, 'No, you cannot build a processing plant on your farm.' But your banker might say no."

No matter what production method producers choose to use, Black said there's no doubt in his mind the "umbrella is local," and it all goes back to consumers' desire to know where their food comes from.

"The market allows you to choose what you would like to do," he said. "Where the energy and that sustainability in my mind really is, is the whole local nature, and that's why we wanted to kick off Georgia Grown so much. People will respond in the marketplace."