“With an abundance of vegetables grown in our surrounding counties, this not only provides families with fresh produce but is also a benefit to our local restaurants. Many restaurants in South Georgia promote a farm-to-table menu and are buying from local farms.” — Meghan Barwick
As soon as the summer heat arrives, farmers’ markets and roadside produce stands start popping up throughout Georgia. Fresh from the farm fruits and vegetables are in abundance. It wouldn’t be summer if we didn’t have easy access to blueberries, peaches, watermelon, sweet corn, cucumbers, and much more.
With the Peach State’s vegetable production and processing industry representing $2.5 billion in economic impact and creating more than 15,000 jobs, there are enough summer crops for Georgians to enjoy and share.
According to the 2015 Farm Gate Value report, Colquitt County continues to hold the No. 1 spot with $175 million in total vegetable farm gate value. Located on the Georgia-Florida border, Echols County is No. 2 with $169 million in total vegetable farm gate value.
Meghan Barwick, Valdosta Lowndes Development Authority
Lowndes County, which serves as a regional dining and shopping hub for Echols and surrounding counties, benefits from being in the center of the state’s vegetable production region.
“With an abundance of vegetables grown in our surrounding counties, this not only provides families with fresh produce but is also a benefit to our local restaurants,” said Meghan Barwick, marketing and research manager for the Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority. “Many restaurants in South Georgia promote a farm-to-table menu and are buying from local farms.”
Barwick also stated that Lowndes County contributes to the state’s strong agricultural industry.
“A lot of people don’t realize the economic importance of agriculture in Lowndes County,” Barwick said. “We generate $82 million in annual farm gate value and provide 6,500 agricultural jobs here in Lowndes County. With just the production of bell peppers and cucumbers, we generate $18 million in annual farm gate value.”
Born and raised in Echols County, Dee Ritter, a third-generation farmer, starts his day early and goes until midnight or longer during peak production months.
Ritter said farming has become big business and it’s getting harder for small farms to remain profitable.
“There are a lot of issues that the average person doesn’t understand about farming,” he said. “There are high production costs with everything from labor to purchasing fertilizer.”
Dee Ritter, Little River Produce
Ritter’s parents, Devane and Mary Lou Ritter, started farming on 20 acres in Echols County decades ago, and now the family farm has expanded to 1,200 acres of bell peppers, specialty peppers, cucumbers, green zucchini squash, yellow squash, eggplants, and sweet potatoes.
“We harvest twice a year,” Ritter said, “starting with spring season from April to July and then back again in September until Thanksgiving.”
With 250 seasonal workers and 25 to 30 full-time employees, Ritter is not only managing the farming side of the business but also the packaging and distribution.
In 2002, Ritter established Little River Produce to handle the packaging and shipping side of the business.
“We are not just feeding Georgia but the country,” Ritter said. “During the months when we are shipping vegetables, there are hundreds of trucks going on I-75 that are feeding people all the way to New York and Boston.”
David Corbett has been farming all his life, and today he continues running the family farm with his wife Violet, son Brian Corbett, daughter Brandi Corbett Hobby, and son-in-law Jason Tyrone.
David Corbett and Brandi Hobby, South Georgia Produce
The Corbetts’ farm has more than 900 acres of bell peppers, specialty peppers, cucumbers, green zucchini squash, yellow squash, eggplants, and green beans that are all grown and harvested during spring and summer.
In 1993, the family opened South Georgia Produce, a warehousing and packaging facility that ships fresh produce to U.S. markets.
After earning a business degree from Valdosta State University, Hobby said she didn’t plan on entering the family business.
“I grew up working on the farm,” Hobby said, “and after college, I worked for a while and then came back when they needed a salesperson.”
Hobby’s primary focus is checking the daily inventory status and delivery schedules to get the vegetable to the distributors as fast as possible.
“I call customers all over the U.S. and tell them what produce we have available,” Hobby explained, “and then depending on their need, we start shipping.”
Brian Corbett and Jason Tyrone, South Georgia Produce
Hobby said knowing what other states are shipping and when is an important part of her job.
“In the spring it’s Mexico and then South Florida,” Hobby explained, “and once they stop selling, then we start (in Georgia) and then it moves to North Carolina.”
With the mild winter in South Georgia, Hobby said the spring season is the busiest.
“We have to compete with Mexico and South Florida in the spring,” she said, “but when you get into the fall, there is a lot of produce grown in Canada.”
Hobby said most people, even in South Georgia, don’t realize the economic value that farming brings to the state and region.
“Most people think we are selling produce on a small scale, mostly local,” she said, “but we are selling to large grocery store chains, and then they are sending to individual stores across the country.”