By M.F. Espinoza
M.F. Espinoza is the Communications Coordinator for Georgia Organics.
All photos featured are courtesy of Berry Family Farms.
Every year, Georgia Organics hosts a year-end fundraising campaign to support the coming year’s initiatives and programs. This year, our focus is on "Who's Growing Our Seeds"— in other words, our farmers — and this includes our amazing farmers raising livestock!
Just like an heirloom seed, everything living carries the rich genetic memory of the generations that came before. As we look ahead at the future of farming and the thrilling movement of those making the heroic effort to return to regenerative and organic land stewardship, it’s important to listen to the stories of the brilliant and dedicated people who’ve paved the way. And what better way than to hear straight from a Georgia farmer generations deep into the good food movement?
Cedric Berry on the land and sowing seeds with his son at Berry Family Farms.
I had the good fortune of connecting with Cedric Berry — master woodworker and third-generation cattle farmer — over the phone to learn more about his family farm and their 70+ year legacy of stewarding the land and raising livestock in the southeast Georgia city of Ludowici (pronounced "Loo'duh-wee'-see").
I hope you enjoy the interview, and will join us in supporting farmers like the Berry’s who are sowing the seeds for a thriving future by making a donation to Georgia Organics today!
M.F. Espinoza: How did you first connect with Georgia Organics, and what aspects of our work resonate with you the most?
Cedric Berry: We first connected with Georgia Organics through McIntosh SEED. Ben Sterling made us aware of Georgia Organics and we went to a Farmer Field Day in Waycross, GA. That’s where we first connected. The fact that the Farmer Field Day was set up as an event where we could actually meet with other farmers and actually learn information about farming was interesting and made us want to check it out.
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.
Farmer Prosperity
M: Reflecting on your journey to prosperity in Ludowici — inspired by your family's farming legacy —you mentioned in a previous interview that the success of your current career has been dependent upon you making sacrifices and applying discipline learned from your grandfather. How do these lessons from family farming shape your optimistic entrepreneurial mindset?
Cedric: [My grandfather] is always giving us lessons! From our conversation [last month], he was asking how things were going, and I was telling him that it’s a learning process with our first go-around doing some wholesale stuff. Basically, he explained that it takes time and [reminded me] to take note of what I’m doing and where to improve and to keep going and not give up. Even though it seems like it gets tough at times, or you just want to be like, “whatever,” or “is it really worth it.” When you first start the day, you think like, okay, I gotta do all I can, but it’s always something else that comes up…as my grandma would say, “There is always tomorrow.”
I kind of got away from doing the woodworking because the farming picked up more, but being able to be creative with wood, that skill set, ties into stuff on the farm. [We] don’t have to go out and hire somebody [for woodwork needs] because I have that skill, you know. Most of the family — my dad, my uncle, my cousin, everybody that really helps us [on a regular basis] — you know, we kind of know how to build things and fix things.
It was funny because when [my cousin] Tony and I started talking about doing stuff, we actually first wanted to start a woodworking business together, so he did some stuff on his own, and I did some things too, and some things we worked together on…I still have all the tools! It’s just having young kids, you know, time management, and still working full-time.
Climate Action
M: Your pasture-raised, grass-fed beef aligns with climate-smart conservation. Can you elaborate on how your family's organic ranching stewardship reflects a commitment to environmentally conscious practices?
Cedric: I know for one, we definitely get great reviews on the taste and the tenderness of the beef. It has a better taste, I can say that for sure!
*Note from the Interviewer: Cedric may be modest, but it is worth noting that the Berrys use regenerative grazing, sustainable land management, water conservation, and wildlife habitat preservation to create a harmonious ecosystem. Just take a scroll through their social media to get an up-close look at how they take care of the cattle with lots of TLC! Their approach reflects their dedication to giving people access to high-quality beef at a great price, while ensuring a sustainable future for the land, their kids, and the people who are eating their food!
“Our objective was to kind of let our generation and the generations coming behind us see that if you do it in a smart way, it’s not as much hard work as it used to be — and it’s actually fun.”
Community Collaboration
M: The heart of your family farm lies in empowering the community through generational wisdom, emphasizing the interconnectedness of land care and mutual support. Can you share a standout moment of community-building through collaborations with fellow farmers, ranchers, and community members?
Cedric: We decided to do something for the community by hosting a day where we invited kids out to the farm and showed them how to start plants from seeds.
We were just going to try to do something simple, maybe have five or ten kids out and show them [how to sow seeds], feed them lunch, and give them a hay ride. I think we ended up with maybe 20 kids, from like four years old up to about 12 or 13 years old.
We have a younger cousin who recently had a baby, new job, new house, and all that…he spread the word to some different people. A guy that we connected with through Instagram does a blog on YouTube, and he came out and highlighted everything.
Deandre Wilson created “Set Apart Gardens” in 2021 to provide a place where aspiring black homesteaders can come and learn how to get back to the land and become self sufficient.
Advocacy
M: Berry Family Farms aims to prove that farming is both "cool" and essential across generations. How does your family's legacy of sustaining generational farming and building wealth influence your mission to embody the significance and "coolness" of farming and ranching?
Cedric: Our objective was to kind of let our generation and the generations coming behind us see that if you do it in a smart way, it’s not as much hard work as it used to be — and it’s actually fun.
Looking at when my dad and his siblings were growing up…when they [worked the farm], it was kind of like chores…they had to do it, and everybody wanted to get away from it because it was hard work.
But looking at Georgia — which, for one, is an agricultural state, and that’s [the industry] where a lot of the money is pumped into — with this, I guess you could say, newfound trend or movement [to return to landstewardship], the money is there, the help is there. So, if you look at it from a different perspective, such as, “Okay, everybody wants to be a business owner or entrepreneur, and farming is no different, I’m a business owner filling a need and meeting a demand,” you could turn [farming] into a business and brand it at the same time. It’s kind of more exciting than thinking of it as just a chore.
I’m hoping that one day our kids get a little more involved. My grandfather (Curtis Berry) started with his father, and then, of course, with my dad (Aubrey Berry) and all of his siblings growing up, they kind of had to work things. My grandfather got to where he didn’t [have to] do as much anymore. He always did something, but he didn’t do as much, and my grandmother always said she wanted to see something done [with keeping the farm going]. Then my uncle (Lamar) got back into [daily farm work] around 2008, and then my dad joined in with him a couple of years later, and we always helped. We saw the opportunity, like, “Hey, this is what our family does,” so [my cousin] Tony and I got together and jumped in, too!
Cedric Berry is a dedicated father, husband, son, and entrepreneur who uses his expertise in land & livestock stewardship to model for future generations that it is possible to succeed in a sustainable career in agriculture.
Together, let's sow the seeds of a brighter, more sustainable future for the health of our communities and the land.
To learn more about Berry Family Farms in Ludowici, GA, visit www.berryfamilyfarms.com and sign up for their newsletter to receive news and updates. Follow them on Instagram (@berryfarms), Facebook (Berry Family Farms), and TikTok (@ynot_berry).
Read the full blog recapping our November Farmer Field Day at Berry Family Farms here.
To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube by searching (Georgia Organics).