From the November-December, 2005 issue:

Young Farmer Achievement finalists
give industry bright future
The future of American agriculture rests in the hands of young farmers like Brent and Beth Galloway (3rd District), Keith and Lauren Lord (2nd District) and Nancy Mann (1st District).

These young farmers have made a commitment to an occupation that is essential to the economic security and stability of our country. They were selected as the three finalists in the 2005 Georgia Farm Bureau Young Farmer Achievement Contest because of the goals they have achieved on their farms and their involvement with Farm Bureau. They were selected from 16 applicants across the state.

The winner will be announced at the Georgia Farm Bureau Convention on Dec. 5. Each finalist will receive a plaque and an expense paid trip to Jekyll Island. The state winner will receive a $500 cash award from Dodge Trucks, the free use of a Kubota L or M series tractor for one year, a $500 voucher from Syngenta Crop Protection and an expense-paid trip to the AFBF Convention in Nashville, Tenn., in January to compete for national honors.


NEWTON COUNTY -- The heart of Brent Galloway’s farming operation is his cattle herd. “Beef cattle have always been my love and the commodity I’ve made the most money off of,” Brent says.

The Galloways (l-r) Cheyenne, Brent, Beth and Wyatt.
Brent started out with 17 cow/calf pairs when he graduated from college and today is running about 150 commercial brood cows. He markets his calves through local livestock barns when they weigh between 500-600 pounds. When he isn’t caring for his own herd, Brent hires out to older cattlemen in the area who need help working their cattle or baling hay. Biannually, the Galloways work about 1,000 cattle for area cattlemen.

Hay is another important commodity for Brent. He estimates that he sells about 70% of the hay he bales.

“Having beef cows, you have to have equipment to bale hay, so it offsets the cost of the equipment to bale hay to sell to customers,” Brent explains. “Our county has one of the largest horse populations in the state so that provides us with a market for hay.”

Brent also grows about 70 acres of winter wheat. He bales the straw for mulch hay to sell to landscapers, developers and farm/garden centers. He plants Roundup Ready ® Soybeans behind the wheat for weed control. He managed to dodge soybean rust this year and hopes to yield 50 bushels an acre.

Because the Galloways live in a rapidly growing area east of Atlanta and didn’t take over an existing farm, finding affordable land to rent can be challenging.

“Every day we’re losing farmland, but in our county there’s still a lot of agriculture,” Brent says. “With land valued between nine hundred to fourteen hundred dollars an acre, it’s not feasible to buy land and use it in production.”
Brent’s long-term goal is to buy one farm that is “big enough so I don’t have to run all over the county to farm.”
Brent says the biggest challenge he faces is overcoming the cost of production inputs such as diesel, fertilizer and equipment costs.

“In comparison for what we get for our commodity prices, our commodity prices haven’t followed the rise of inflation,” Brent says.

Brent and Beth are using farm life to instill a good work ethic in their children. Cheyenne, 8, and Wyatt, 7, are responsible for feeding their show lambs and any orphaned calves from the beef herd.

“They’re learning things depend on them. We think it’s important for the kids to grow up with responsibility,” Beth says.
The Galloways have been active Farm Bureau members for the past 12 years. Brent has served as Newton County Farm Bureau president for the past seven years. The couple has also served on the GFB Young Farmer Committee and as committee chairman.

MADISON COUNTY -- Diversity is the key to Keith and Lauren Lord’s operation.

“I’ve always been told not to put all of your eggs in one basket,” Keith explains. “Being diversified doesn’t put you in such a financial strain.”

Keith started his farm with one hen house and doing custom farm work for other farmers. Through the years, he has weeded out commodities that didn’t work for him, such as cattle and soybeans, and expanded segments of the farm that were profitable such as the poultry houses and custom services.

“We offer baling services along with combining, mowing, plowing, clearing land for new pastures and repairing ponds,” Keith says. “Once we sell a customer a product we want them to come back for repeat business.”

Keith says he would like to expand the custom services he offers to include custom spraying and fertilizing and rotary cutting.
The Lords (l-r) Lauren, Keith and Thomas.

Keith relies on his dad, Tommy, to oversee the hen houses on a daily basis while he does the custom service work. When the breeder hens are at peak performance, someone must pick up the eggs three times a day.

“My father is a very important part of this farm. If it weren’t for him, we’d have to scale back the custom farm services. He’s here if an alarm goes off and can check on things.”

Keith says what he likes most about farming are the daily challenges the job presents. “You always have to be thinking on your toes. I would hate to know I’d have to go to a factory job where every day is the same. This job is never routine and never gets boring.”

Fuel costs and labor challenges are the biggest challenges the Lords are facing with their operation, Keith says. However, urban sprawl is also impacting the operation.

“We’re trying to work with them instead of against them to grow our business,” Keith said.

Keith and Lauren say their Farm Bureau membership has been very beneficial to them.

“Serving on the state hay committee has helped me push towards my goal of having high quality hay,” Keith says. “Serving on the young farmer committee gave us a chance to meet other farmers who share some of the same problems we face.”

These days the Lords are enjoying seeing the farm from a fresh perspective, through the eyes of their 15-month-old son, Thomas.

“He’s been delighted playing with the baby chickens, and he loves getting in the tractor with his dad,” Lauren says. “Growing up on the farm, I think he’ll learn the responsibility of owning your own business, but I think he’ll enjoy it.”

CHEROKEE COUNTY -- Nancy Mann grew up working after school, on weekends and during school breaks at the nursery her father and grandfather started in 1977.

“I’m a like-to-get-dirty kind of girl,” Nancy says. “Growing up, this was my playground.”

After graduating from the University of Georgia in 2004 with a degree in agribusiness, Nancy returned home this past January to take over the helm of Mann’s Greenhouse as company president.

The nursery has traditionally been a wholesale/retail operation, but due to changes their wholesale customers are making in their pay system, Nancy has decided to steer the nursery towards more retail and less wholesale.

“A lot of the box stores are changing so that plant suppliers don’t get paid until the product leaves the store,” Nancy explains. “We’re going to sell more of our products through retail so we can get the value out of the plants.”

With numerous subdivisions located within miles of the 18-acre nursery, the Manns are in the perfect location to switch their business to predominantly retail. As more people have moved into Cherokee County, the demand for plants has grown.

“It’s a huge growing industry. There were only two other nurseries in the county when my dad started this business. Now there are eight of us in the county, and we all play off of each other.”

Nancy looks at the growth in Cherokee County as a double-edged sword.

“Our nursery is landlocked. I expect one day we will have to sell this property, but hopefully, we’ll be able to buy property elsewhere to expand,” Nancy says.

To increase retail sales, Mann’s Greenhouse is offering customized container gardens.

“We let the customers pick out the plants they want and then we plant them,” Nancy explains.

Nancy has also planted display gardens to show new gardeners how to mix and match perennial plants to attract butterflies. The nursery also sells flowers to band boosters, soccer and basketball teams for fundraisers.

As president of Mann Greenhouse, Nancy is responsible for overseeing six fulltime managers and additional seasonal employees. Spring and fall are the busiest seasons for the nursery when the operation employees between 60-100 employees.

Nancy not only got her green thumb from her father, Cherokee County Farm Bureau President Robert Mann, but he also gave her an appreciation for Farm Bureau.

“I grew up as a Farm Bureau kid. My dad has always been involved. It’s a great organization because it is involved in representing farmers politically. For example, last year Farm Bureau got a fuel sales tax exemption for the farmers in our state,” Nancy said. “On the county level we do a lot to educate children and people about agriculture.”