Tag Archives: Georgia Agriculture

GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Gather on Jekyll Island for Annual Summer Leadership Conference

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Jekyll Island, GA |

Future agricultural leaders made their way to Jekyll Island for Georgia Farm Bureau’s annual Young Farmers and Ranchers Summer Leadership Conference, with more than two hundred and fifty attendees representing not only every corner of the state, but every sector of the agricultural industry.

“I’m not sure there’s an event in the state of Georgia where you can have so many different people from so many different aspects of the industry in one place at one time — whether it be a chemical salesman, an equipment dealer, or even educators. It’s people of all walks of life in Georgia ag, here at one place at one time,” said Garrett Hurley, Chairman of the GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee.

MORE THAN NETWORKING

Networking is just one of the many reasons attendees make the trip to Jekyll Island each July. The conference also includes sessions focused on advocacy, education, and the importance of political engagement — because according to one of the event’s featured speakers, agriculture’s voice in Washington is growing quieter by the year.

“Just looking at Congress, there are very few members now who have any type of agriculture background. You look at the way districts are drawn — you have these oddly shaped districts where a person from a suburban or urban area gets elected but is representing a rural area, and they’ve never seen a real blade of grass in their life,” said Mike Sistak, Director of Advocacy and Political Management for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “You want to be involved because you want to help those people. You have to show up and advocate for yourself, for your business, your family, and your community.”

RECOGNIZING THE BEST IN THE PROGRAM

One of the highlights of the conference each year is the announcement of competition winners — and the class of 2026 represented the state well. Allie Andrews of Lamar County took home the Achievement Award. Bryan and Addie Tucker of Wilcox County won the Excellence in Agriculture Award. And Michael Howard of Hart County was named the Discussion Meet winner. What they all have in common: they got their start at events just like this one.

“A lot of the application is your involvement — so get involved on your county level, your local level, and try to get involved on the state level. Come to events like this one on Jekyll Island,” said Levi Davis, GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers Program Coordinator. “This is one of those things you can add to your application to boost your involvement. And there are also opportunities here through breakout sessions and keynote speakers where you can gain ideas and insight on what might make you a better applicant the next time you apply.”

A MESSAGE FROM THE SKY

Among this year’s keynote speakers was Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney — a fighter pilot and founder of Folds of Honor, an organization that provides scholarships to the spouses and children of fallen or disabled service members and first responders. His message to the group was both straightforward and personal.

“Showing up in a disciplined way every day — that’s what I’ve been able to learn as a fighter pilot. We talked about the concept of CAVU: ceiling and visibility unlimited. At its core, that is my code of living, to get the most out of every day,” Rooney said. “It’s about faith, family, farming, and freedom — and it was just such a huge blessing to be with our future leaders and great, traditional American farmers and families.”

For Georgia’s next generation of agricultural advocates, Jekyll Island offered more than a summer getaway. It offered a roadmap — and a reminder that showing up is where leadership begins.

By: Damon Jones

Mae’s on the Corner in Barnesville Is a Farm Stand Built on Sourdough, Hard Work, and Community

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Barnesville, GA |

Allie Andrews is someone who has a lot going on. She, her husband, and three kids run and operate a family farm in Lamar County that includes hay, poultry, and beef cattle. But as if that weren’t enough, Allie’s newest venture is Mae’s on the Corner — a small farm stand that has quickly become a community favorite.

“Mae’s on the Corner is about a two-acre vegetable garden where we grow all sorts of veggies — from tomatoes to black-colored sweet corn, squash, zucchini, green beans, butter beans,” said Andrews. “Along with Mae’s on the Corner, we have our shack, and in our shack, I love to personalize things for friends, family, and our community. We do sourdough bread, sourdough cookies, cinnamon rolls, an herb mix for the bread, and blueberry muffins.”

BORN FROM A PERSONAL JOURNEY

The baked goods didn’t start with a business plan — they came out of a personal health journey. But once friends and family got a taste, they encouraged Andrews to sell, and from there, things moved quickly.

“In February of last year, I had a little pop-up table in the front yard starting at six in the morning for teachers and people heading to school and work, and I sold out within about an hour,” Andrews said. “Every month after that — either the first or second Monday or Tuesday — I’d pop up my table, and it just grew from there.”

A TRUE TEAM EFFORT

What started as a table of baked goods has grown into a full farm stand experience, with fresh produce from their garden added thanks to the involvement of the whole family. For Andrews, that’s not just a convenience — it’s a conviction.

“We are raising the next generation to take over, and I can’t say that’s always the mindset on some farms. We want our kids to know we work for everything we get,” Andrews said. “If we’re not training up our kids — if we’re not allowing them to pick with us, plant with us, ride the tractor — who’s going to learn behind us? I think it’s just the coolest way to have them on the front lines, seeing it, putting in the hard work, understanding discipline. And in that discipline, you get to see the reward of the harvest.”

SERVING THE COMMUNITY AND BEYOND

For Andrews, Mae’s on the Corner has become more than a farm stand — it’s a way to serve the community she lives and works in. And now, as a member of the Georgia Farm Bureau Certified Farm Market program, that reach has grown considerably, drawing visitors from across the state.

“I hope that people gain the understanding that there’s a lot of work that goes into it, and they can appreciate shopping local because of that work,” Andrews said. “We have people with the passport that have come from Milledgeville, Athens, North Georgia, South Georgia, east, west — they’re all popping into these little shops and markets and shopping local. And to hear someone in the grocery store or at church say, ‘Hey, we stopped by your stand — you have the cutest setup,’ that means everything.”

For Allie Andrews, Mae’s on the Corner is proof that a pop-up table in the front yard, a loaf of sourdough, and a whole lot of heart can grow into something that feeds an entire community.

By: John Holcomb

Watermelon Harvest Underway in Crisp County After a Rollercoaster 2026 Growing Season

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Cordele, GA |

Down in Crisp County — also known as watermelon country — crews are busy in the fields harvesting fresh melons that will be supplying stores across Georgia and the country. Getting to this point, however, was no easy task, as the 2026 growing season proved to be a rollercoaster ride for producers.

“This year’s growing season started out with severe drought and warm days — watermelons really took off. Then we slowed down with some cooler days, still dry. And then all of a sudden, all the rain just came at one time,” said Jacob Jackson of Jackson Farms. “It’s been tough. Real sporadic weather altogether. Seen it all.”

THE DROUGHT WASN’T THE PROBLEM — THE DOWNPOUR WAS

For Jackson, the prolonged dry stretch actually wasn’t the worst part for his melons. With drip irrigation running through his fields, he was able to manage the lack of rain. The real damage came when the dry stretch broke all at once.

“As far as the drought, we can water these melons — I have all these watermelons on drip right here. Disease pressure is non-existent, everything goes very smoothly. Obviously input costs with irrigating go up, but what we don’t need is a watermelon to go through a whole dry stage and then all of a sudden get hit with ten inches of rain at one time,” Jackson said. “It’s just not prepared for that. It can bring the vines down, disease pressure can hit you — wet feet especially. A watermelon doesn’t need that much water. It just drowns out at that point.”

HARVEST SEASON: SMOOTH, BUT NOT SIMPLE

After a tough growing season, harvest has been fairly smooth — though it came with its own set of challenges once the rains finally arrived mid-season.

“Harvest season has been going pretty smooth. Obviously when the rain came, it made it tough dragging buses left and right, really rutting up fields, making a mess,” Jackson said. “But then it finally dried off and we’ve had a smooth go lately. The main thing about the heat is that as soon as it warms up after a big rain like that, the vines just want to melt and everything tries to get ripe at one time. Then it’s go, go, go — you have no choice but to put buses in the field and get your product out.”

THE SKILL BEHIND EVERY MELON

Getting that product out of the field, though, is no small task. Harvesting watermelons is done entirely by hand and depends on a workforce that truly knows what they’re doing.

“Watermelons are always going to be labor intensive — there’s no way around it. When you go into a watermelon field, you hope to get about three to four cuttings per field. You’ve got two crews: cutters and loaders,” Jackson said. “The cutters are really the most important contributors to this farm, because they determine what good quality goes into each and every bin that gets sold to consumers. Training a cutter — they’ve just got a knack for it. They know what they’re looking for. They can see a watermelon and know it’s ripe.”

For Crisp County’s watermelon producers, 2026 has been a season that tested just about everything — but as the bins fill and the trucks roll out, the harvest is proof that Georgia’s watermelon country knows how to weather the storm.

By: John Holcomb

Sweet Valley Farms Is Turning a Converted Shed Into a Lifeline for Fort Valley Families

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Fort Valley, GA |

Despite being located in a county famous for producing fresh fruits and vegetables, food insecurity is a major issue for many families in Fort Valley. That’s the idea behind Sweet Valley Farms — a small produce barn started by one university professor looking to provide a little relief to underserved families in the community.

“Sweet Valley Farms is a community-supported micro grocery. We realized that in our community there is a missing component of accessible, affordable, healthy food. So we decided to take a shed, convert it into a barn, and sell produce at a price that folks can afford,” said Hamidah Sharif-Amanyi, Assistant Professor at Fort Valley State University’s College of Agriculture.

ADDRESSING CHRONIC DISEASE THROUGH FRESH FOOD

The barn also helps tackle another major concern for the community — providing healthier food options in an area where diet-related illness is widespread.

“This community has one of the highest rates of chronic disease, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. It is also a high food insecurity area — there are lots of families, particularly during the summers when children are at home, where food is a lot more inaccessible,” Sharif-Amanyi said.

GROWN HERE, SOURCED LOCALLY

While much of the produce sold at Sweet Valley Farms is grown on site, a collaborative network of local farmers and growers ensures there’s always more to choose from.

“We partner with farmers and growers for the items we don’t grow ourselves. We have an orchard here where we grow lemons, figs, and peach trees, but we also partner with other growers throughout the region,” Sharif-Amanyi said. “We’ve become a staple in the community — many families depend on us. We’ve built partnerships with larger agribusinesses such as Lane to supply our peaches for the summer, and that allows them to provide their product to a community and to families who may not otherwise be able to afford locally grown food.”

FROM FORTY VISITORS TO FIVE HUNDRED

What started with just forty visitors a week has now grown to more than five hundred — and a big part of that growth comes down to how easy and welcoming the process is designed to be.

“If you’d like to purchase our ten-dollar harvest bag — a curated bag of ten different fruits and vegetables, about twenty-five pieces total, including bananas, potatoes, apples, and peaches — you can preorder that online and set an appointment to come to the barn,” Sharif-Amanyi said. “But if you just want to come in with one dollar, two dollars, or five dollars, you can just show up. You check in at the gate, and we text you when it’s time to shop the barn.”

MORE THAN JUST PRODUCE

With more than twenty different fruits and vegetables available, Sweet Valley Farms offers a remarkable variety for a small operation. But according to Sharif-Amanyi, the most important thing the farm is offering isn’t measured in pounds or varieties.

“We sell more than produce. We sell hope. We sell dignity. We sell the ability for people to freely purchase food and feel good about it,” she said. “We hope community members come in and say, ‘That’s a place where we can try new foods.'”

For Fort Valley, Sweet Valley Farms has become far more than a barn full of vegetables — it’s a reminder that access to fresh, healthy food is something every community deserves.

By: Damon Jones

From Dairy to Sod: Georgia Farm Bureau’s Bernard Sims Reflects on a Lifetime of Farming

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Ringgold, GA |

Around here, the day still starts with a ride across the farm. There are pastures to check, land to look over, and work that never really goes away. For Bernard Sims, this has been home for decades. And while one leadership chapter is coming to a close, he says the timing was right.

“My mind’s good, but my body’s beginning to fail me. It was time to get out of the way and let somebody younger come on and take care of it,” Sims said.

STILL ON THE FARM — JUST IN A DIFFERENT ROLE

But stepping away from a board position doesn’t mean Bernard is stepping away from agriculture. The farm is still very much a part of his daily life — even if these days, he’s quick to point out, he’s more or less an onlooker.

“I have a son that actually runs the operation now. I just work with them wherever they need me. If they need me to drive something, that’s what I do,” Sims said. “Physically, I’m not able to do as much as I used to — by far.”

BUILT ON THE FARM, NOT IN A BOARDROOM

That work ethic was forged early. After a couple years of college and a stint working in a foundry, Sims decided there was a better way to live — and came back to start dairying. That decision shaped nearly four decades of his life, defined by early mornings, long hours, and work that doesn’t take days off.

“When I started, we were raising about sixty-five calves. And as time went on, you either had to get bigger or get out — and now the dairies are huge. The mechanization’s come along to help them too,” Sims said.

While many know Bernard Sims for his years of service with Georgia Farm Bureau, his foundation was never built in a meeting room or around a board table. It was built here — through early mornings, long days, and a life spent doing the work himself.

A PIVOT TO SOD

Eventually, Bernard and his family made the move out of dairy and into sod farming. Part of that decision was business, part of it was timing, and part of it was watching the world around his farm slowly start to change.

“We began to get so many neighbors. We had never had any problems, but it seemed like it was coming,” Sims said. “And I felt like it was time for us to get into something else while we still could manage it ourselves — without being forced or told what to do with it. I had two sons with me, and to support three families, I didn’t think we had enough land at the time to do it with traditional farming. The only thing I could see was sod farming — and it has worked out well for us.”

STILL PRODUCTIVE, STILL PASSIONATE

Still, Bernard worries about what farming is becoming — not because agriculture isn’t moving forward, but because the farming life he knew is getting harder to find. Even so, the work itself remains a source of deep satisfaction.

“I just love being out here on the farm. I see so many young men coming in here to talk, and they look at me and say, ‘You still working?’ And I say, ‘Yeah — the good Lord said be productive. And that’s what I’m trying to do,'” Sims said with a laugh.

For Bernard Sims, the chapter titles may be changing, but the story — the one written in early mornings, long days, and a lifetime of love for the land — is far from over.

By: Ray D’Alessio

Calhoun Produce in Ashburn Has Been Bringing Fresh Butter Beans and Peas to Georgia for Four Decades

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Ashburn, GA |

It’s a taste of summer for many around Georgia, with butter beans and field peas now flying off the shelf. And you won’t find them any fresher than at Calhoun Produce in Ashburn, where the journey from field to table can happen in the same day.

“All our peas are hand-picked. Butterbeans we machine pick — our pickers pick four rows at a time. We bring them here to the packing house, grade them, shell them straight off the grading line, and put them in the bag,” said Sheila Rice, owner of Calhoun Produce. “It was growing that morning, and you can be eating it that night. That’s fresh.”

FRESH MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

With customers walking through the doors all day long, keeping shelves stocked is a constant job. But Rice says the effort is worth it — because when it comes to peas and butter beans, freshness isn’t just a talking point. It actually changes the taste.

“Oh, definitely. It is perishable — there’s a shelf life on our peas and butterbeans, so once you buy it, it needs to be put up within a few days because it is truly fresh. It was literally growing a few hours before you got it,” Rice said. “We stand behind our product. We offer a clean product, we clean it up, and we want it to be the best. Because it’s ours — it’s coming from our family — so we want it to be the right thing.”

FOUR DECADES OF FRESH

That commitment to quality has been the foundation of this family-run operation for more than forty years, building Calhoun Produce into the go-to source for beans and peas across the state.

“My daddy started growing butter beans back in ’82, and it has just grown through the years. Everybody loves their fresh butterbeans and peas when summertime comes — it’s time to put them up so you can eat them all year long,” Rice said. “We grow about a hundred and thirty acres of butterbeans ourselves, but we have a few more farmers that grow them as well. And we buy local peas from all local growers. There are probably three or four hundred acres of each that come through our packing house.”

MORE VARIETY THAN YOU MIGHT EXPECT

For first-time visitors, one of the biggest surprises at Calhoun Produce is just how many varieties are available — from light-broth peas to dark-broth varieties that make for a richer pot.

“You have cream peas, lady fingers, and zippers — they make the light broth. And then the pink eyes, black eyes, and crowders make the dark broth. There are just so many varieties of peas,” Rice said. “When you come in, you can get green butterbeans, pink eyes, lady fingers, creams, zippers. There’s just a big variety that we offer here.”

WORTH EVERY ROW

Despite all the hard work that goes into getting the product from the field to the consumer, Rice says there’s nothing quite like seeing loyal customers come back year after year — some driving from as far away as Atlanta and Florida.

“It makes me so happy. My daddy loves to see all these people come in, and seeing customers that have been coming for twenty and thirty years — it just means a lot,” Rice said. “It makes you feel good. It makes you want to keep doing it.”

For Calhoun Produce, summer isn’t just a season — it’s a tradition. And for thousands of Georgians, it wouldn’t feel complete without a bag of fresh peas and butterbeans from Ashburn.

By: Damon Jones

Burke County Brothers at Idlewood Farms Say 2026 Has Felt Like Survival, Not Farming

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Waynesboro, GA |

For Robert and Sid Prescott, two brothers who farm together in Burke County, the 2026 growing season has felt less like farming and more like survival. The Prescotts own and operate Idlewood Farms — an 850-acre Bermuda grass and beef cattle operation known for producing top-quality forage. But this year has tested them in ways they’ve never been tested before.

“Going back to last year, we lost our last cutting of hay — when it got dry in August, we didn’t even get that last cutting. Then we came into April this year with no rain, very little rain in March,” said Robert Prescott. “You start getting just a tiny bit of rain the first of May and see the grass start greening up. You fertilize, and you’re looking at the hay and it’s finally getting right. Well, then we get one more rain and it’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going to have the perfect cutting now.’ Then the last nine days of May, we had nine inches of rain. We had standing water in these fields. We couldn’t even get in them to make hay.”

A SEASON THROWN OFF COURSE

That drastic shift — from bone dry to underwater — threw off everything from cutting schedules to quality. A farm that normally aims for four strong cuttings of hay per season is now far behind pace.

“We try to get four good cuttings — we’d like to see five, but we really shoot for four. This year, we’re still in cutting one, so the whole timeline is off,” Robert said.

“We’re at least twenty days behind schedule — probably about twenty-two days, honestly. Our grass is getting longer, our quality is going to be lower because it’s going to be older hay,” said Sid Prescott. “We might get three cuttings this year, and our numbers are going to be short. We know that already.”

RISING COSTS, FLAT PRICES

That shortfall puts the Prescotts in a tough spot — not just with their own cattle herd, but with the customers who depend on them for hay. And rising input costs are squeezing margins on a product whose price hasn’t budged in years.

“Our fertilizer costs are up about thirty-one percent this year across the board, and our fuel costs are up about sixty percent from last year,” Sid said. “It’d be like spending three times as much money to sell a cake for the same price. Our hay prices haven’t moved in the last seven years. Our inputs are rising and our crop values are the same — so we’re going to start losing money if we can’t produce more yield.”

QUALITY BEFORE QUANTITY

Despite the pressure, the Prescotts say cutting corners isn’t something they’re willing to consider. For them, quality is a promise they’ve made to their customers — and themselves.

“We’ve got to stay true to ourselves. We’re only going to sell our customers products that we know are desirable,” Sid said. “We’re not going to sacrifice quality over quantity. We’re going to try to remain very optimistic and know that we’re selling a product that we would want to use ourselves.”

For Robert, the only way to get through a year like this is to keep moving forward — even when so much feels beyond their control.

“When you can’t control what’s going on, you’re just having to roll with the punches. Well, this year feels like you’re dodging bullets. So many things are out of our control,” he said.

For the Prescotts, the fields will dry out, the cuttings will come, and the season will eventually end. But 2026 has made clear just how much farmers can be asked to absorb before a single bale of hay ever leaves the field.

By: John Holcomb

Southeast Green Conference Returns to Athens with Record Exhibitors and Growing Buzz

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Athens, GA |

The city might have changed since its last visit, but the energy was every bit the same at Georgia’s premiere trade show and conference for the green industry. With more than two hundred exhibitors packing the Classic Center, excitement was at an all-time high as the Southeast Green Conference returned to Athens for the first time in over fifteen years.

“When we left Athens in 2009, it was just because we outgrew the area. But now that they’ve done the expansion, we are so excited to be back. Athens really is a horticulture city,” said Lanie Riner. “We were actually able to add fifty additional booths, which is huge for our industry, and attendee registrations are really high. Everyone has just got a really excited, positive vibe about being back in Athens.”

AN INDUSTRY THAT NEVER STOPS MOVING

Like any industry, horticulture is constantly evolving — which is exactly why an annual event like this one matters so much to the people who depend on it.

“Things are moving fast — technology, plant breeding, best practices. And then of course we have the other side of that with emerging pests and those types of things,” Riner said. “Showing up every year to stay up to date on the latest scientific information that UGA is putting out, or getting the best equipment for your business — all of those things you can find here, including the education. It’s just an amazing thing to come to each year.”

For Sonya Harrison, the advances in plant genetics on display this year were especially striking. “There’s a lot of new genetics going on — we can make plants smaller, bloom more, tighter. It’s just amazing what science can do with plants nowadays,” Harrison said.

GOING NATIVE IN 2026

As for what’s trending this year, gardeners appear to be steering toward a more natural look, with native plants and pollinator-friendly gardens leading the way.

“Natives are huge. People love pollinator gardens and anything that can attract hummingbirds, bees, butterflies,” Harrison said. “Lavender is huge too. People just want to make pollinator gardens and get back to their native roots.”

YOU GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN

With gardeners of every skill level represented at the conference, one piece of advice for beginners stood out above the rest: success in the garden depends entirely on the care that’s put into it.

“People think that they can just buy these plants and not feed them or water them, and not do proper care — and that’s just not how it goes,” Harrison said. “If you want them to thrive and really pop and bloom for you in your garden, then you’ve got to feed and water the babies. The more you feed them, the more they’ll perform for you.”

BUILDING CONNECTIONS, GROWING AN INDUSTRY

With so many vendors, experts, and industry professionals on hand, the overall goal of the Southeast Green Conference remains the same year after year — bringing people together to strengthen an industry that continues to grow in importance across the state.

“I hope they make new connections and continue to grow. Our industry is ever growing — it is the fourth largest commodity in agriculture,” Riner said. “I really hope they continue to build those connections and grow their businesses.”

By: Damon Jones

Warren County 4-H Garden Connects Rural Students to Where Their Food Comes From

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Warrenton, GA |

Tucked just outside the front of a school in Warren County sits a garden that’s become a centerpiece for agricultural education in this small, rural community. Known as the 4-H Farm and School Garden, the project started with a simple idea: bring kids outside and connect them to the land that feeds them.

“Warren County is absolutely rural, but even though it’s rural, that doesn’t mean our kids know where their food comes from. It doesn’t mean they know how to produce it, and we want to teach them — just like we teach farmers every day in the office — sustainability,” said Tammy Cheely. “We hope they never have to feed themselves, but we want them to know how if they have to. And we want them to understand and appreciate Warren County’s tax base and our lifestyle, because it is a farming community. So we wanted to build a bridge between farmers and the school.”

STARTING THEM YOUNG

That bridge has certainly taken shape over the last couple of years, as the garden has been upgraded, expanded, and poured into by the community — success that organizers say can be attributed to getting kids involved as early as possible.

“Typically, 4-H starts in fourth grade, but we decided to go back and pick up those early learners. We found the younger we get them started, the more they love it and the longer they stay with it,” said Amanda Wilkerson. “They’ve eaten things that I would have never touched when I was their age, and my boys did not eat when they were their age. But we found that when they get out in the garden and are working it, they’re a lot more likely to try.”

A CHANGE AT THE DINNER TABLE

To their surprise, that willingness to try new things doesn’t stop at the garden gate. Wilkerson says parents across the county have noticed a real change at home — and that ripple effect is exactly what the program is built for.

“We want to make this a family affair, not just for our students. We’re hoping that by impacting our 4-H’ers, we can impact their families as well — and I know that we have,” Wilkerson said. “I can go to a store here in town and hear someone say, ‘Hey, Miss Amanda,’ and I’ll wave. It’ll be one of my 4-H’ers, and then I’ll go meet their parents and they’ll say, ‘You’re the reason they want me to buy a head of lettuce to make lettuce wraps,’ or ‘You’re the reason my child wants chickens,’ because we have a big poultry team and we expose them to poultry as early as we can.”

OPENING THE DOOR TO A BIGGER INDUSTRY

With agriculture being Warren County’s number one industry, Wilkerson says the garden serves a bigger purpose beyond growing vegetables — it’s about exposing students to the many different facets of the field.

“It’s more than just growing things or raising animals. There are so many facets of agriculture. Because our county is so big in agriculture, we want to expose our students to as many components of ag as we can — to raise their awareness, but also to help them find their passion,” Wilkerson said. “Some of these students have no clue. We walked in and I pointed at the very first crop and asked, ‘What’s that?’ If you’ve ever seen it before, you know that’s corn. They don’t always know that. The simple reason is they haven’t been exposed, and we want to give them as much exposure to agriculture as we can.”

For a county built on farming, the 4-H Farm and School Garden is doing exactly what it was designed to do — planting the seeds of curiosity in a new generation, one lettuce wrap and one curious question at a time.

By: John Holcomb

Rick Minter’s Lifelong Love of History Earns Him a Spot in the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame

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Inman, GA |

There’s something about history that has always spoken to Rick Minter. Maybe it’s an old tractor, a piece of farm equipment, or a story passed down from one generation to the next. Whatever the case, for much of his life, Rick has been drawn to the people, places, and moments that helped shape Georgia’s past — and few places capture that spirit better than Inman Farm Heritage Days. But Inman Farm isn’t the only place where Rick has spent his life preserving history.

While many know Rick Minter for his work in agriculture, there’s another passion that has followed him for most of his life — one that’s taken him from Georgia farm fields to Georgia racetracks and beyond. As a journalist, historian, and storyteller, Rick spent decades chronicling the drivers, promoters, and personalities who helped shape Georgia motorsports.

Now, after years of preserving those stories, his own is about to become part of them. This August, the name Rick Minter will be enshrined as a member of the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame.

A DAY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

That journey began decades ago with a trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway alongside his father — a day that included a chance encounter with a future president and an even more memorable moment with a future Hall of Famer.

“It was probably the late sixties. My dad, Jim Minter, was a sports writer — he was actually an editor at the time, but he took me to Atlanta to the race and let me sit in the press box with him. Richard Petty won the race, and he came in to sit in the chair where the winning team was interviewed,” Minter said. “The guy running the press room was about to shoot me out of the chair, and Richard said, ‘No, he can stay here.’ So we sat there, and he had his arm around my shoulder. Richard Petty and I did the post-race winner’s interview together. I already really liked racing then, but I was hooked after that.”

MORE THAN JUST WRITING THE STORIES

That passion eventually led Rick into racing journalism, where he covered the sport for decades, including stops at the Clayton News Daily and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But along the way, he realized he was doing more than just writing stories — he was saving them.

“I was very fortunate to get to know a lot of the true pioneers. Atlanta was the hotbed of stock car racing in the forties, and I got to interview just about everybody who was anybody back then who hadn’t already passed away,” Minter said. “I got to talk to the champions from the forties and fifties. I wasn’t probably that great of a reporter, but at least I got them on the record, got their pictures, and got people talking about them. From then on, I was much more interested in the history than I was in the current times.”

WHERE FARMING AND RACING MEET

Rick’s desire to preserve history should sound familiar to anyone who knows him — it’s the same passion that helped make Inman Farm Heritage Days a celebration of Georgia’s agricultural past. And according to Rick, agriculture and racing have more in common than many people realize.

“I think the difficulty of making it work, and the amount of preparation it takes to succeed, is very similar across both. There are no guarantees in either one. Both of them are very difficult, and it takes passion to do it,” Minter said. “Nobody gets into farming to make money — it’s just something that’s in your blood. I think it’s the same thing with racing.”

AN HONOR HE NEVER SAW COMING

As for the Hall of Fame recognition, Rick admits he never saw it coming — even after spending years helping recognize the accomplishments of others.

“I would just be shocked, because I was just enjoying my time. It was something really fun to do, something everybody didn’t do. I just would have never seen it coming,” Minter said, reflecting on what his teenage self watching races from the grandstands would think of the honor today.

A PARTNERSHIP THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE

But perhaps the most important part of this story is that Rick knows he didn’t get here alone. While he was chronicling the history of Georgia motorsports, someone else was making sure things kept running back home.

“If Joanne hadn’t been able to run the farm when I was off at the racetrack, we wouldn’t have much of a farm — and not much of a career either, I don’t think,” Minter said. “Her being able to do that, and me being able to leave on Thursday night knowing everything needed to get done on the farm would be done when I got back — I’m hoping she fully appreciates the things she gets.”

Soon, Rick Minter’s name will take its place alongside some of the biggest names in Georgia motorsports — a fitting honor for a man who spent a lifetime making sure the stories of others would never be forgotten.

By: Ray D’Alessio