The Big Farm

Everyone knows that we have a produce farm. That’s why you’ve been reading my blog! But did you know that little old Piedmont Produce is actually part of a bigger group of companies? Our sister company, A. L. Baucom Family Farms, is a big time, row crop, combine driving farm! They are actually one of the largest farms in the state and have won many awards over the years.

Around here we call Piedmont Produce the ‘garden’ and A. L. Baucom Family Farms the ‘farm’ just so we don’t confuse the two. The farm side grows approximately 15,000 acres of wheat, corn, soybeans, peanuts, and cotton over several counties and two states! It’s just slightly bigger than our produce operation...

We have one tractor on the ‘garden’ side that is specifically for us. It is a small Kubota that has seen its fair share of action. It might be old but it gets the job done. The farm side however… Their tractors are top of the line and have more technology in them than you can imagine. I can log into a program right now and tell you where they all are, how fast they are moving, and what they are doing. Everything is connected wirelessly no matter where they are! We actually have programs that link the soil sampling data, to the spreaders, to the sprayers, and to the harvesters. Everything is integrated. If the soil sample comes back and says one acre on this farm is low on phosphorous, we can take that data and send it to the spreader when they are putting nutrients into the soil. The spreader will automatically adjust its rate to fit the soil sample data when it gets to that one acre. Not only does it make for more accurate farming, but we can also save on resources and maintain better soil health.

Things are winding down on the produce side. We still have tomatoes and okra coming out of the field but most of our time is spent prepping for next season. The big farm, however, is going full blast right now. It’s harvest time! I always enjoy watching them head out in the mornings. Seeing all the combines and huge tractors lined up really is impressive. For those of you that haven’t seen a cotton picker at work, you are missing out! Sounds like another blog post doesn’t it…?