By Kimberly Koogler
Kimberly Koogler is the Community Collaborations Manager at Georgia Organics.
The family-owned and operated Berry Farms consists of four generations that collectively work together with produce, cattle, and hay production. Members of the Berry family pictured above from left to right: Tony, Curtis, Aubrey, & Cedric. Photo courtesy of the Berry Family.
Farmer prosperity is one of our top priorities at Georgia Organics, and one of the ways we work to support farmer prosperity in Georgia is by providing educational and networking opportunities to growers, as well as helpful farm supplies that support organic growing practices at our Farmer Field Days. The Business Development and On-Farm Solar Solutions Farmer Field Day that our Farmers Services and Community Collaborations teams cohosted on November 13 at Berry Family Farms in Ludowici, GA (pronounced "Loo'duh-wee'-see") was one such event — and we had a field day! It was so splendidly satisfying and successful; it made our hay and we want to tell you all about it.
Representatives of 15 farms from Southeast Georgia were in attendance, many of whom also participate in our Family Farm Share Program and/or our Climate Smart Farmer Program, including our farm hosts, Berry Family Farms. Father-son duo, Mr. Aubrey Berry and Mr. Cedric Berry led the group on a tour of their fourth-generation, family-owned and operated farm, where they raise cattle and grow hay and diversified produce on their land in Tattnall and Long Counties.
Attendees of our November Farmer Field Day tour Berry Family Farms, led by Mr. Aubrey Berry and his son, Cedric. Photo by Meg Darnell.
Georgia Organics’ Director of Farmer Services, Lauren Cox, and Executive Director of the Common Market Southeast, Bill Green, delivered the Business Development training in two segments — “Managing Revenue Streams,” presented by Cox, and “Collaborative Conversations around Wholesale Readiness,” presented by Green. Both presenters received great feedback from the growers in our follow-up surveys about the usefulness and relevance of the information provided.
Lauren Cox and Bill Green present for the Business Development training portion of this Farmer Field Day. Photo by Meg Darnell.
Key takeaways from this rich day include:
As you develop your farm business, it is essential to...
Consider your farm’s personality.
Always be thinking about your short and long-term goals, and time management is key!
Provide multiple opportunities for your customers to find value in your product.
Establish a weekly flow in order to manage your own labor and your hired labor more easily. Your weekly flow will depend on your farm’s sales outlets.
Be consistent to grow your farm’s capacity.
Build good planning and record-keeping habits (make this part of your weekly flow).
Common Market exists to advance a values-based procurement model to build a more sustainable and equitable food system.
Common Market values farmer relationships over transactions, always.
Common Market’s ideal farmer partner...
Is ready to tell a compelling story about their farm and why and how they do what they do.
Is committed to food safety.
Has a compatible vision and plan, a sound business structure, and a professional operation.
Can scale to meet institutional demand and sell at wholesale pricing.
Why implement solar on your farm?
To reduce energy costs by generating your own electricity.
To reduce your farm’s carbon footprint.
To have a reliable energy source and be more self-sufficient.
There are government incentives and grants to help you with upfront costs!
After ploughing through a big lunch from Sho’ Nuff Smokin’ Good BBQ, a local favorite, we ended the day with Mike Harrell and Candler Boyd of Ag Solar Solutions and Nicole Lee of Be Smart Home Solutions presenting info on and sharing opportunities for implementing solar on your farm, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant, and the Federal Tax Credit.
Nicole Lee of Be Smart Home Solutions, an Energy Consulting Firm servicing Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida, shares her expertise with attendees on how renewable energy, such as solar installations, can provide cost-saving and climate-smart benefits to farm operations. Photo by Meg Darnell.
We supplied each farm represented with the SARE: Building a Sustainable Business book, binders with record-keeping handouts, bio-bags, two kinds of cover crop seed, and organic compost from Longwood Plantation donated by owner Mike Smith in honor of Georgia Organics’ President and CEO, Alice Rolls’ 20th anniversary at Georgia Organics.
Farmers load organic compost from Longwood Plantation, which was donated by owner Mike Smith in honor of Georgia Organics’ President and CEO, Alice Rolls’ 20th anniversary at Georgia Organics. Photo by Meg Darnell.
We invite you to learn more about the benefits of a Farmer Membership with Georgia Organics.
To learn more about Berry Family Farms, visit www.berryfamilyfarms.com or follow them on Facebook (Berry Family Farms) and Instagram (@_berry_farms).
To learn more about the Common Market Southeast, visit www.thecommonmarket.org or follow them on Facebook (The Common Market) and Instagram (@commonmkt).
To learn more about Be Smart Homes Solutions, visit besmarthomesolutions.com .
To learn more about Ag Solar Solutions, visit agsolarsolutions.com or follow them on Facebook (AG Solar Solutions) and Instagram (@agsolarsolutions)
To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube by searching (Georgia Organics).