SEMINOLE COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) — The food on tables and clothes people wear likely include products grown at Double H Farms near Iron City, where a sixth-generation farming family has rebuilt after Hurricane Michael nearly destroyed their operation in 2018.

Judson Hornsby and his family own and operate the farm on land that has been in his family for more than 100 years.

“Right here, where we are standing right now, this land’s probably been in my family over 100 years,” Hornsby said.

Farm operations span thousands of acres

The family grows crops on more than 4,000 acres. This past year, they planted 1,900 acres of peanuts.

“We grow a total of a little over 4,000 acres. We have cotton, peanuts, [and] corn. We grow green beans, and we have some cattle, too,” Hornsby said.

Even when not in the peanut fields, the family works to prepare equipment for successful harvests.

“We’re just looking over all the diggers and pickers—reservicing them and getting them ready where we shouldn’t have any major breakdowns when we start back in a day or so when the weather gets good,” Hornsby said.

Hurricane Michael brought devastating losses

Hurricane Michael in 2018 remains one of the most devastating events in the farm’s recent history.

“It was pretty depressing to wake up and everything just, like, be gone overnight,” Hornsby said.

The storm destroyed buildings constructed by previous generations and wiped out crops that were ready for harvest.

“We had an original shop my grandaddy and them built, and Michael tore all of it down—and our shed out back. We had two more barns out back that—all of it was blown down,” Hornsby said. “We didn’t harvest any cotton when Michael hit. It pretty much destroyed all of our farm, our barns, shelters. Anything we had standing was pretty much gone, so it took several years to rebuild all that.”

The hurricane also destroyed hundreds of acres of pine trees.

“We just lost a lot of pine trees. Probably a couple hundred acres of trees,” Hornsby said. “We still have timber we replanted. We still have damage in the woods. Like, some people lost their whole timber crop. You know, that was their retirement and stuff. They just start from scratch or stuff like that, you know.”

Farming runs in the family

Hornsby knew from a young age he wanted to continue the family farming tradition.

“I grew up farming with my grandaddy when I was little on the tractor riding with him, and it was just—I was stuck. I was done then, so I can’t get away from it,” Hornsby said.

Multiple generations work together on the farm daily.

“My daddy’s 67, 68, fixing to have his 50th peanut crop, and he’s still working,” Hornsby said. “I work with my dad and uncle every day, and my cousin, my brother, and now my son’s actually farming.”

Challenges and rewards of farming

Hornsby said the most rewarding part of farming comes at harvest time, while current economic conditions present significant challenges.

“The most rewarding is probably the end of the year with your harvest, seeing what you got. Then, challenging—there’s a lot of challenges now, like the price of equipment. Commodity prices are extremely low. Interest rates almost doubled, you know,” Hornsby said.

Despite the hardships, Hornsby said he cannot imagine doing anything else.

“Feeding the community... our country, the world, you know, makes it mean a lot,” Hornsby said. “We get to take care of the land and produce food for, like, the world.”

The family’s resilience and commitment to providing food, fiber and shelter for their community and the world remain among the reasons Judson Hornsby is proud to be a Georgia farmer.

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