By Clint Thompson
A Georgia produce grower and industry leader was named Farmer of the Year at the 2025 Georgia Ag Forecast meeting on Friday.
Kent Hamilton, chief executive officer at Southern Valley, located in Norman Park, was recognized during the Ag Forecast event. He’ll later compete against other farmer of the year recipients from the Southeast for the Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year Award in October.
“It’s an honor to be recognized for that, to be considered head and shoulders above the competition that’s out there, because there’s certainly a lot of competition. I was pleased to hear that,” Hamilton said.
Southern Valley produces a plethora of fruit and vegetable crops. They include cucumbers, bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, zucchini, cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, watermelons, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, acorn squash and variety pepper. Southern Valley offers produce year-round. It is not, however, immune to production and marketing challenges.
“It’s certainly a competitive industry. The markets that we sell into, other growers are constantly looking to get into our markets, whether it’s U.S. growers or growers from Mexico or Central America. That’s certainly a challenge. Before you grow it, you need to have an established market for whatever you’re going to be growing,” Hamilton said. “Labor has been our biggest challenge the whole time, and it really continues to be our biggest challenge.”
Despite the constant obstacles, Southern Valley remains an industry leader in the Southeast. Hamilton understands why.
“Having good people that work with me, people that’s committed to the mission and what we’re trying to accomplish, that’s very important,” Hamilton said. “Determination is a big thing, having people and then blessings from God are awfully important.”