Farming Runs in the Family
A Legacy of Farming
Ernest and Sarah have been married since 2004 and have six children, with only an eleven-year-old and thirteen-year-old still at home. The Fulford family hails from a long line of Jefferson County farmers who have been growing peanuts in Monticello, Florida, since 1945 when Ernest’s grandfather, C.A. Fulford, planted his first field.
“My granddad was the first one to pioneer green peanuts in the state of Florida,” Ernest says proudly.
The income C.A. earned from peddling boiled peanuts through Florida’s state capital after getting out of the Navy is how he first purchased the land in 1945, which the family still farms today. Ernest and his oldest son, Clay, are the third and fourth generations on the current farmland. They grow green peanuts for boiling and dry peanuts for processing, and Clay was recently named Florida’s Outstanding Young Peanut Farmer of the Year.
Along with cotton and peanuts, Ernest, who has been farming for 32 years, occasionally grows corn and soybeans as well. “I’ve been farming ever since I got out of college,” he recalls. “I’ve worked on the farm my whole life—ever since I was old enough to reach the steering wheel.”
He continues the family tradition of growing green peanuts, keeping a small twenty-acre plot in his operation. However, instead of peddling them at the state capital, he sells them directly to consumers for boiling. It’s a staple Southern treat in the fall to have boiled peanuts.
Expansion and Challenges
According to Ernest, there’s not much row crop agriculture left in Monticello, and as he witnessed fields shifting to pines and cattle, he was eager to buy a nearby 120 acres when it became available a few years back. “It came up close to my property, and I couldn’t let that go.”
It was this land purchase that originally led Ernest to Farm Credit of Northwest Florida. “I was just going around trying to find the best interest rate on the land I was going to purchase. They had the best rate and the best available options as far as terms,” he recalls.
Between hurricanes and a farm injury, the last few years have been rough ones for Ernest. “I had a bad farm accident in ‘18 right before Hurricane Michael,” he says. “We were trying to get our peanuts out before it got here. I fell off the top of the peanut trailer and destroyed my wrist and arm and messed up my shoulder.” He also hit his head on the fall down, leaving doctors to question whether he’d survive. “The doctors were amazed I lived but told me I’d never use my right arm again.”
Not one to be told “no” easily, Ernest searched out a surgeon at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida, to help fix his rotator cuff. “They took muscles out of my back and rebuilt my right rotator cuff,” he says. Still, he managed to complete the 2018 season by driving equipment and bringing in the harvest with only the use of his left arm. “I have complete use of my right arm now,” he happily reports.
During his recovery, Ernest continued his education by taking agriculture courses at the University of Florida. Although he never completed his college degree, he figures he’s probably taken enough courses to earn one by now. Always eager to learn, he’s particularly interested in business and agronomy courses and continues his education simply for the opportunity to learn.
Finding New Support
Between the hurricanes and the farming accident, his reserves had been depleted, and Ernest eventually needed a larger operating loan. He readily admits, “If it wasn’t for Farm Credit, there’s no way I’d still be farming right now.” The bank his grandfather had originally conducted business with decades ago had sold out to a larger bank that was no longer agriculture-friendly. “I went in to renew my operating loan, and they wouldn’t do it,” he says. “That bank didn’t want to renew my current line, much less offer me more credit. That’s when Farm Credit was willing to help me out because they understand the cyclical process of harvesting crops and the risk associated with it.”
“Farm Credit had already been tickling my ear,” he says with a chuckle, adding that they were willing to work with him on everything, including the carryover from the hurricane loss. “I called them and said, ‘What can you do?’ and went and sat down, and they’ve been amazing.”
Presently, Ernest works with Farm Credit’s Rural Lending Expert, Jonathan Roberts. Speaking of Jonathan, Ernest says, “He’s pretty young, but he knows what he’s doing.” As for Jonathan, he conveys he is always eager to speak with Ernest “as I’m always intrigued to hear what he has got going on and see how he accomplishes all of the tasks at hand.”
All of Ernest’s loans are now with Farm Credit: equipment, operating, and land loans. “If they had a deposit account, that would be with them too, but unfortunately, it’s still at the bank,” he says.
Taking on Leadership
Ernest enjoys his relationship with Farm Credit so much that when they called and nominated him to be on the Board of Directors, he agreed, assuming he’d never get elected. However, he was elected by other member-owners of Farm Credit of Northwest Florida and says he’s loving all he’s learned so far. He enjoys the travel, training, and opportunities to review the cooperative’s success and help make decisions for the company.
“I love numbers,” he says, chuckling as he clarifies that he’s much better with numbers that don’t have anything to do with dates or ages—like his wife’s birthday or his children’s ages.
In addition to being on the Board of Directors with Farm Credit, he is also President of the Jefferson County Farm Bureau and serves on the Jefferson County Farm Services Agency Committee. He’s also involved with the Budget and Personnel Committees at First Baptist Church of Monticello and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Ernest’s neighbor is now pushing him to get into grapefruit and satsuma production, and he’s simply waiting on the logistics and operations to line up in order to plant his own citrus acreage. There’s little doubt who he will reach out to when it comes time to finance his new venture. And there’s little doubt who will meet his agricultural financing needs with low rates and solid terms. “Farm Credit is great for agriculture,” he says. “I would recommend them to anyone.”
To find out more about how Farm Credit can help you achieve your operational goals, contact one of our experienced loan officers or visit our website at GoRural.net for answers to all of your financing needs. Because at Farm Credit of Northwest Florida, we live up to our mission to provide "Financing for People Who Live, Work or Play in the Country."