Seminar II brought our class to the Tidewater region of Virginia. A region that I, a native Texan, had never seen (other than a few touristy jaunts to Virginia Beach). We were immersed in the culture of cotton, peanuts, pork, and potatoes that has abundant historical context to the region.
Our stops along the way included:
Smithfield: Largest pork producer in the world, privately owned by one family until 2013. The plant in Smithfield receives the “parts” necessary to produce pork chops and bacon. Bacon for days! This was a challenging stop for me. I wasn’t convinced about some of their sustainability claims but at least the bacon smelled good.
Belmont Peanuts: Started out of the basement of one smart woman in 1993. Now the family business is largely managed by their three adult children. Who are frankly “slaying it” from my perspective. This is a homegrown dream.
Birdsong Peanuts: A fifth generation, 110-year-old peanut marketer that shells more peanuts than you could ever dream of. It was in this presentation I found myself completely distracted by the Birdsong Peanut employee’s likeness to Will Ferrell.
Commonwealth Cotton Gin: As we left this family owned business, I joked that if I was ever reincarnated as a bird that I would want to live at the Gin. I would assuredly have the comfiest nest of all!
Rogers’ Farms: A diversified corn, soybean, cotton, peanut, and timber family farm. The family was wonderfully hospitable and hosted us in their hunt club for a meal and libations.
Perdue Agribusiness: Imagine this. You’re a tiny little soybean harvested from a field of a small farmer in Shenandoah County and then days later you find yourself on a ship bound for Italy. That’s a helluva ride.
Quail Cove Farms: Talk about getting back up after being knocked down – over, and over again. Is this the definition of insanity? Who knows. I do know they have very good sweet potato ice cream. And they produce the organic sweet potatoes for the famed Route 11 Potato Chip seasonal sweet potato flavor.
Dublin Farms: This family owned farm represented a scale of agriculture not typically found in Virginia. Corn and soybeans might take up the bulk of their acreage – but potatoes are clearly king. As someone in the business of selling another highly perishable commodity, it was fascinating to hear about the highly seasonal and highly regulated (food safety) potato harvest business.
I took it on the chin with my beans this year
As my classmates carried their leather notebooks and furiously scribbled notes – I stood back in awe. How have these people persevered through the decades of weather, bad pay prices, worsening plant pests, international market tumultuousness, and pressure from urbanization? Why do they keep on going? Where are leadership principles buried within boots-on-the-ground farming and food production?
These questions remain. I can only say I look to commit my career to helping Virginia farmers be successful, get more tools in their toolbox, and achieve their goals, profitably, for generations to come.
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