In the English language, several words are closely related and virtually inseparable in meaning until the depth or context of their use is measured. As examples, words like connected and correlated, tired and exhausted, scared and afraid or real and genuine, just to name a few. Another example of similar words comes to mind when considering the farming operation of brothers Judson and Mark Herrington of Twiggs County – heritage and legacy. The appreciation that both of these men have for both of these words impacts their lives on a daily basis, whether on or off the farm.
As 4th generation farmers, Judson and younger brother Mark have a strong family history of agriculture that influenced them from an early age. Their father and uncle farmed on land in Twiggs County acquired by their grandfather in the early 1900’s land grant [or land lottery] in addition to their mother’s family farm of about 1,000 acres. Both farms are in the brothers’ current operation of approximately 3,000 acres of row crops that is spread over Bleckley, Laurens and Twiggs counties and also includes another 700 acres they purchased that joins their mother’s family farm. Although their father sold out of the cattle business while they were still in college, both Judson and Mark bought a few heifers when they graduated and moved back home. Their commercial cow-calf herd now consists of 350 mama cows, a mix of different influences of breeds that graze on roughly 800 acres of pasture and hay production acreage. Couple that with the row crop land of mostly cotton, peanuts and some corn and you have the current farming operation for the Herringtons.
With one full-time employee and only seasonal help for planting and harvesting, the brothers found that separating the operational duties, to a certain extent, works best for them. After Judson plants the peanuts and Mark plants the cotton, Judson takes over the management of the row crops from spraying and irrigating to keeping an eye on the cost of inputs. “Mark is the day-to-day cattle [manager], managing the herd and vaccinating when needed,” Judson explained. Mark added, “I like messing with the cattle. He [Judson] likes spraying and wants to know where we need to spray, what we’re going to spray and when, in addition to calculating the costs.” They each have their own preferences on what they like to do, and they trust each other on the methods. “We can’t have 2 heads,” Mark said. “He doesn’t question me on what we are doing on the cows and I don’t question him on the row crops.”
Along the way, AgGeorgia has been beneficial to their expansion and growth. “Obviously if you’re purchasing land, to be able to lock in the interest rate, you have something set,” said Judson. “Another thing [benefit of AgGeorgia] is being able to grow and them [AgGeorgia] allowing us to grow and do the things we need to do. And they have a good understanding of what’s going on and what we’re trying to do.” The Herringtons have been customers of AgGeorgia for several years and work with Commercial Loan Officer Linda Sapp in the Dublin Office. “We have a good relationship. [At AgGeorgia] You’re more than just their loan officer,” Linda explained. The Herringtons are satisfied with the size and diversity of their operation, explains Judson, with no anticipation of expanding. “We’re in a position right now where it would have to be the perfect situation for us to expand. We have enough to do,” he said with a slight chuckle. “But if the right opportunity were to come along, we’d certainly entertain it.” They told of instances over the last couple of years of letting go of a couple of things that were not producing as they thought they should in order to focus their attention on other options. “We can take our attention, put it somewhere else,” said Mark and continued, “we can take that same amount of money or yield the same thing and not have to go over that piece of dirt as much.” The brothers own about 950 acres of what they farm and the rest is rented, with about half of the rented acreage from family. Most of their land is irrigated, about 80%, with the majority of the water source being from a well. Some of the irrigation systems have been updated to control them through an app from their phones.
Judson and Mark both admit that the toughest part of their day-today routine is trying to balance work and family. Both of their wives work off the farm, with Judson’s wife as a partner in a law firm in Macon and Mark’s wife as a nurse. “The biggest challenge is [balancing] what we need to be doing for work and what we need to be doing with family,” Mark explains. “Farming is time consuming. Managing time with active kids is a challenge,” he said and quickly adds, “if Judson is in the middle of spraying, I’ll go pick up his kids or do whatever he needs and he does the same for me.” He also quickly adds, “I don’t see how people do it without grandparents.”
These two brothers know that they’re doing what needs to be done to look out for each other. “We both know we’re doing the best we can do with the time we have and doing it the cheapest way we can,” Mark said. “We don’t judge each other, we all try to look out for one another.” Judson and his wife have two children and Mark and his wife have three, and neither is sure that any of them will choose to come back to the farm once they finish their education. “Jobs in farming aren’t glamorous,” said Judson. But all five have experienced farming, its lifestyle, and appreciate the commitment it demands. One sure thing with the Herrington family is that their love, dedication and appreciation for agriculture runs strong and deep throughout their family roots. That is certainly a heritage and legacy of which they can be proud.