Tag Archives: next generation farmers

GFB Young Farmers Chair Garrett Hurley Has Never Strayed Far From Home — or the Farm

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Lyerly, GA |

For most people, life takes them far from where they started — a different town, a different career, a different path. For Garrett Hurley, home has never been very far away at all.

“My house is actually on my childhood farm. The farm I live on has been in our family for five or six generations. I’ve actually moved once, and it was across a cow pasture,” said Hurley, Chair of Georgia Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. “I’ve been within about 200 yards of the same place my entire life.”

A DREAM THAT STARTED IN THE LIVING ROOM

Northwest Georgia may not look like the sprawling row crop country of South Georgia, but to Hurley, the patchwork of fields and tree lines that make up his corner of the state has always been exactly where he wanted to be.

“Riding down some back roads up here in Northwest Georgia, it might look a little different. We may not be wall-to-wall fields — we’ve got plenty of trees packed in and we’ve got little patches, as we like to call them,” Hurley said. “But I can never really remember a time where I wasn’t a farm kid. If I wasn’t out on the farm with my dad, I was in the yard playing with farm toys and tractors. Having my own farm was always the goal — to come back and farm for my career.”

That goal never wavered, even when other opportunities came knocking.

“There was one point in my life that I was going to go to trade school. I ended up talking myself out of that and came straight back to the farm,” Hurley said. “Now that I’m doing it, it’s the greatest blessing ever.”

CHALLENGES FACING THE NEXT GENERATION

As Chair of GFB’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee, Hurley has a front-row seat to the obstacles facing young producers across the state — and two themes come up over and over again: capital and land access.

“One thing that just keeps coming up is the availability of capital. Things just cost so much — trying to buy equipment to get started, or trying to buy cattle now that prices are at all-time highs,” Hurley said. “But also the availability of land. A lot of times a piece of land comes up for rent and the younger person gets overlooked. The younger generation may not do things the way the older generation did back in the eighties, but a lot of times new ideas aren’t a terrible thing. I would encourage the older generation to give some of the younger guys a chance.”

BUILDING SOMETHING TO PASS ON

When Hurley talks about the future, he isn’t just talking about his own farm. He’s thinking about what comes next — and whether the life he’s built can be passed down the same way it was passed to him.

“I hope that in twenty years I can be farming full-time with one or both of my kids. The end goal is to have a sustainable business that my children can come back into,” Hurley said. “I want them to know that if they don’t want to come back, we’ll still have the land and they’ll always have somewhere to call home. But if they do want to come back, I hope I’m in a position to help them — with financial resources as well as years of knowledge — and just present them with the opportunity.”

In the end, Hurley’s story isn’t really about cotton or cattle or even farming. It’s about home — and a dream that never took him far from it.

By: Ray D’Alessio

From Hospital Halls to Farm Fields: Haley Scruggs Honored for Excellence in Agriculture

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Macon, GA |

For Haley Scruggs, life is anything but ordinary. By day, she’s a nurse practitioner specializing in vascular surgery—working long shifts, saving lives, and navigating the nonstop pace of hospital life. But when the scrubs come off, she steps into a very different role: fourth-generation farmer.

“Our farm is over a hundred years old,” said Scruggs. “We grow Christmas trees—choose and cut Christmas trees—pecans, and coastal Bermuda hay. But when I’m not here, I’m a nurse practitioner. So that is my full-time job. And this is my second full-time job. So, it keeps us very, very busy.”

That contrast—between the sterile hospital halls and the quiet beauty of the farm—is exactly what Scruggs says keeps her grounded.

“This is such a great way to just become grounded because that hospital can get very crazy and become very stressful,” she explained. “When you’re trying to save lives all day and handle patients’ situations, it is so nice to be able to come out and literally enjoy what God has given us and spend time on the farm with my family.”

Her unique story recently earned her top honors as the Georgia Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Excellence in Agriculture Award winner—recognition she says left her nearly speechless.

“Honestly, I was completely speechless,” said Scruggs. “Tears filled my eyes. I could not have been more excited. This is such a tough competition. And any competition with Farm Bureau—when you make it to the top level—you’re not competing with someone they just drug off the street. These are very top competitors, who are all extremely active in agriculture and are passionate about what they do.”

That passion—both for healing and for growing—is what sets Scruggs apart and helps connect two very different communities that she says often don’t understand each other.

“People at the hospital see a nurse practitioner. They don’t see someone in agriculture,” she said. “They don’t understand everything else I’m doing behind the scenes and how we’re involved in the community with our farm. Same thing with people on the farm—they don’t understand that we actually all work full-time jobs. So I think with that award, it is very important to show people both in and out of agriculture how you can become involved in the community.”

That sense of community is what first drew her to Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers program—and what keeps her coming back.

“What an incredible experience the Young Farmer and Rancher program has been,” Scruggs said. “A lot of times you think farmers are old and there’s no one out there you can really reach out to. But that’s completely wrong. There are so many young farmers and ranchers from across the state. It’s absolutely incredible to know that you have that support out there with people who are your age—some a little older, some a little younger.”

Whether in a hospital gown or work boots, Scruggs proves that passion and purpose can thrive in more than one field—and that the line between healing people and feeding them is not as far apart as it seems.

By: Damon Jones

Why U.S. Beef is Booming: Inside the Cattle Industry’s Record-Breaking Year

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Augusta, GA |

With the average American eating nearly sixty pounds of beef per year, the US ranks second per capita in worldwide consumption. Pair that with domestic prices reaching record levels in 2024, and confidence within the industry is at an all-time high.

“The optimism right now in the cattle industry is the best I’ve ever seen and I’m sixty-eight years old. So, we are in a really good time, really good markets. So, we have a good reason to be optimistic. The conditions are ripe for continued prosperity on cattle farms and also, and more importantly, conditions are right for consumers to continue to enjoy the finest protein product that’s available in the market today,” says James Vaughn, President of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association.

That excellence is best exemplified by the rising demand for beef products despite that higher price tag.

“It absolutely speaks to the quality of the product. There’s just very little low-quality product anymore. As the cattle numbers have shrunk, the quality of the cattle, percentage wise has risen dramatically. The product that people find, whether you’re in a restaurant or in your grocery store, is exceptional these days,” says Vaughn.

However, with production expected to rise in the coming years, maintaining these types of prices will depend on opening up new markets for the cattlemen.

“That needs to be a high priority for producers. There are hoops you have to jump through sometimes to get product like in the EU or someplace, but they’re not that difficult. It’s a little learning curve. You figure out how to do it, and you keep moving products all over the world and creating demand for good American beef,” says Vaughn.

It’s why attending events like the annual Georgia Cattlemen’s Association Conference is essential as it keeps producers up to date on the latest issues affecting the industry.

“If you are a cattle producer yourself, you want to make money from it. So, staying on top of the latest trends is going to help you do that and also, staying engaged with legislative policies that will affect us helps us protect farmland and ensure that you can continue to produce cattle for years and generations to come,” says Caroline Waldrep, Events and Outreach Coordinator for the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association.

It’s a future that appears to be in good hands with the next generation showing increased interest in getting into the business.

“We are definitely shifting as a generation for sure into young people wanting to get back onto the farm. Wanting to either take over their grandparent’s farm or wanting to purchase farmland themselves. So, I think definitely, there’s a lot of optimism for youth and young people wanting to move into the cattle industry in 2025 and in the years to come,” says Waldrep.

With government policy affecting so much of what happens on these farms, becoming a member of this association has an obvious benefit.

“Strength in numbers for sure. I think the number one reason is definitely to protect cattle production for years to come. And if you have those numbers, the legislators definitely look at you as an ally and as an asset and want to protect your interests,” says Waldrep.

By: Damon Jones