Rethinking Success in Specialty Crops
Winter meeting season has wrapped up in Alabama. Fruit and vegetable growers now turn their attention to strawberries, spring vegetables and — if the good Lord allows — a strong outlook for 2026 crops.
Earlier this month, the Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association (AFVGA) gathered in Gulf Shores for its annual conference. It was a valuable time to reconnect, learn and focus on how we can strengthen the industry we all love.
A Common Theme
In recent years, one theme has consistently risen to the top: the strength of Alabama’s direct-to-consumer farms. Many growers have built their business models around local sales. At this year’s conference, AFVGA President Taylor Hatchett shared how her operation uses community supported agriculture, farm-to-school programs and value-added products to serve customers directly. Her session drew a standing-room-only crowd, a clear sign of where grower interest is heading.
Across the state, on-farm stores are opening, and communities are showing overwhelming support. These operations are proving that consumers still want to know their farmers and still value local, fresh produce grown by families they trust. Alabama farmers may be onto something.
A Local Economy
Direct-to-consumer farms certainly face the same challenges others experience, including labor shortages, weather swings and rising input costs, but they are often insulated from one of the biggest pressures in fruit and vegetable farming today: imports pushing prices below sustainable levels. AFVGA will always advocate for growers competing in wholesale markets because they face a profoundly unfair playing field, but we also celebrate those who serve their customers and communities through farm-to-plate retail models.
Growers who have embraced the local sales niche deserve more credit than they often receive. Early in my career, I sometimes viewed large-acreage operations as inherently superior. Today, I see how these smaller, diversified farms have created stable and resilient businesses that their families rely on, and their customers deeply appreciate.
Consider Jeremy and Julie Calvert near Cullman, Alabama. Their farm stand has become a traditional stop for families heading to Smith Lake. They have carved out a niche providing strawberries, blackberries, peaches and vegetables grown on Sweet Grown Alabama farms to their neighbors and to the thousands of visitors who pass through each year. Jeremy is a farmer in every sense of the word, created to grow food for people. I am grateful he has found a way to continue fulfilling that purpose through local sales.
Cultural Perspective
Culturally, we have drifted away from honoring businesses that simply provide a stable and honest living. Too often, we celebrate only the entrepreneurs who scale massive operations or achieve sudden wealth. Agriculture can help lead us back to valuing something different – something steadier and more grounded.
Drive across Alabama, and you will find family farm stands scattered along highways and backroads, some generations old and others newly built. These farms deliver far more than fresh produce. They bring economic activity, healthy food access and a sense of place that connects people to their community and to the land. They strengthen not only their own families but also the fabric of rural life.
So here is my challenge: Let us celebrate the farms whose success may not fit the preconceived ideal. Let us honor the growers who have built resilient and community-rooted businesses — the kind of businesses that keep agriculture alive not only on balance sheets but also in the hearts and homes of the people they serve. Agriculture is stronger because of them, and they deserve our full recognition.
Blake Thaxton is executive directorof the AFVGA.