SBDC Client Wins 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On April 1, 2019 Mr. Will Harris, fourth-generation cattleman and owner of White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia was presented with the UGA Small Business Development Center’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award.  The award is sponsored by Cadence Bank, N.A., and Senior Vice President Ruby Lalani along with UGA President Jere Morehead presented it to […]

UGA Offers Georgia Farm Business Education Conference

The UGA Small Business Development Center, UGA Extension, and the UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences announces a partnership to bring the Georgia Farm Business Education Conference to Tifton, Georgia. This Conference is open to all of Georgia and surrounding states. The Georgia Farm Business Education Conference is designed for growers and producers who […]

Grass-Fed Beef Producer Revives Old Business Model and Creates New Jobs

Will Harris’s day starts much like his father’s and his grandfather’s and his great-grandfather’s did: with his boots planted firmly in the same fresh-smelling, fertile soil of his ancestral farm in Early County, Georgia. Like a cherished family tradition, the natural cattle-raising method Harris follows at White Oak Pastures resembles that practiced a hundred years […]

UGA Outreach Program Helps Farmers Build a Better Business

Dennis Hollingsworth was fresh out of college the first time he tried running a farm.  It was the early 1980s in south Georgia, and he stuck with it for four years in some of the roughest economic conditions since the Great Depression. Then he left for an IT job. “I went to Atlanta and I […]

Funding Options for New or Young Farmers

For many young farmers there is a deep desire to grow their farming operation, however, most are faced with the challenge of getting financing. Young farmers that are just getting into the business have not had time to build a lot of equity. Because of this, banks will consider the young farmer to be riskier compared to a seasoned farmer. One of the many variables banks will consider is how well the farmer can manage their working capital, and without a history of that from operations, it’s more difficult for a bank to determine the likelihood of repayment. Today, with low commodity prices and smaller margins between expense and revenue, young farmers are exposed to tough decisions and banks are tightening their internal lending policies. Despite this, there are still many opportunities for the young farmer.

Times Are Tough-Scrutinize Every Input Choice

Seems like most everybody who retails ag inputs is offering products that they profess will boost yields, even make ‘em skyrocket. Only problem is, claims often aren’t backed up with unbiased data to prove that these materials provide growers with a return on investment–that ROI that should guide every decision.

Dreaming Cow

Dreaming Cow - UGA SBDC

Expansion Financing Essential for Rapidly Growing Thomasville Producer Kyle and Janelle Wehner started Dreaming Cow in 2009 to test whether their yogurt concept could be built into a national brand. Using an all-natural recipe derived from the South Island of Janelle’s native New Zealand, they make Dreaming Cow yogurt on Kyle’s parents’ Thomasville farm. Kyle […]