MEET THE MODERN FARMERS
CARLTON
BRIDGEFORTH
Bridgeforth Farms
Tanner, Alabama
“I worked really hard to get a respectable paying job,” says Carlton Bridgeforth of his former career at Deutsche Bank. So why leave Wall Street for the family farm in Alabama? The 32-year-old insists that sentiment had little to do with it: “I saw a business opportunity here.” His equally successful brother Kyle, 28, then a D.C. lobbyist, did, too. Upon returning home in 2009, these prodigal sons expanded the existing crops— wheat, corn, cotton, and canola—to include sorghum, a gluten-free grain that’s popular in China and gaining steam in the United States. “All our decisions are market-based,” Carlton explains. “If we project that we can receive the price we want, we’ll put something in the ground.” The duo also brought modern technology to bear on the farm’s 10,000 acres. Like his father before him, Carlton holds a leadership position with the National Black Growers Council: “We reach out to black communities and talk about opportunities for young people. Black farmers are a dying breed. There aren’t many of us left.” Still, he remains hopeful. “You have to be an optimist when your life is about planting seeds and praying for rain.”
—Miranda Crowell
a new breed . You have all the skills you need except for good lawyers and caution some of the people and gov. organizers that you have partnered with should be checked to see if they have been or not involved in the subtle destruction of black farmers. you know forcing farmers to down size by black mailing then withholding funding getting local banks to withhold loans forcing you to use companies that they choose without your input. Etc… It’s sad that I’m so paranoid and jaded. But I’ve sen so many farmers articles that put the US gov. Ag. organizations front and center in having intentionally created systems and situations where damage to black farmers who wanted to make there own decisions about the direction of how they want to farm. You need research, protection, lobbys and lawyers are your next level of growth . Better hurry cause even in this photo this person sits front and center like he is in control.
Good morning, My name is Victoria Davis out of North Carolina area. I recruit beginner farmers, ranchers and socially disadvantaged veterans.
I’m interested in becoming an partner with your organization. My contact number is: 252-425-8865
Thank you