Hunter Cattle Company: a three generation family farm

Hunter Cattle Company: a three generation family farm

by LeeAnna Tatum

Tara Ruby, photographer

There are lots of great reasons to visit Hunter Cattlejust outside of Brooklet, Georgia. There’s MooMa’sFarm Store which is not only stocked with lots ofgreat Hunter Cattle products including selectionsof grass-fed beef and pasture-raised pork and theirnew line of Meadow skin care products, but you’llalso find lots of other great locally produced foodsas well.

Or maybe you’d like to stay the night on a farm.Take in a sky full of stars at night and wake up tothe sounds of chickens clucking and crowing in themorning, having spent the night in one of their twoloft options.

Perhaps you’d like to join in on an educational tour and learn more about where your food comes from and the importance to your health and the environment of choosing foods produced as naturally as possible.

Regardless of your reason for going, you’ll be gladyou made the trip.

Hunter Cattle is a family farm. It’s owned and run by the Ferguson family with three generations living and working on the farm together (well, they do have their own houses. As Del says, “We aren’t that crazy!”). But it’s also a family farm because everyone there is family, even though not everyone is related. Employees, customers, visitors all become part of this extended family where love, compassion, and friendly bantering thrive.

Now that the stage is set, let me introduce you to the people you’ll meet on your visit. Because truly it’s the people who make the place.

If he’s not out being the face of Hunter Cattle, you might find Del Ferguson, aka Pa, with his laptop holding down one end of the farm table in MooMa’s Farm Store or chatting up a potential buyer on the phone while sitting on the front porch. Del is the patriarch of the farm family, you’ll recognize him by his beard and his ever-present hat.

Del Ferguson, aka Pa

He’s always ready and willing to give out some hard-earned advice, but he has learned over the years to wait until he’s asked. The unsolicited variety, it seems, is never fully appreciated. It can be a fine line to walk when you’re CEO of a company and head of a family where there is a lot of crossover between the two and plenty of strong personalities. He seems to have figured out how to keep his balance pretty well as he walks that line.

Business as usual for Del.

There’s a good chance you’ll find his wife Debra Ferguson, aka MooMa, hard at work at the farm store. She might be behind the register ringing up a sale, serving up lunch for her hardworking crew, in the kitchen rendering beef tallow for their new line of beauty products, or providing some unofficial counseling to a customer-turned-friend.

Sherri and Debra in MooMa's Farm Store. In addition to HC products you'll also find a great selection of other locally produced grocery items.

Debra may be the company’s accountant, but she’s not likely to spend her days sitting behind a desk. She’s mom or grandma to at least half the staff after all and that’s enough to keep any woman run off her feet!

Kristan Fretwell, Del and Debra’s daughter, is the General Manager at Hunter Cattle. If you want to find Kristan on the farm, go wherever the action is and follow the sound of her voice! If she’s not using a speaker to give a tour, she’s shouting out directions to the farm boys from across a field, or crackling over a walkie delegating effectively from the far side of the farm.

Kristan Fretwell keeping a watchful eye on cattle and the farm boys bringing them in.

Formerly a school teacher, Kristan holds herown on the farm. She spends much of her dayswrangling cows and farm boys - who happen to be her sons and nephews. When she tells them to jump, they only want to know how high. Because when it’s time to get the work done, she’s all boss and they know it.

Unless you’re the USDA inspector, you probably won’t go looking for Del and Debra’s son, Anthony. And truth be told, he’s okay with that. He heads up the processing center and likes to spend his days grinding out delicious pork sausages and making sure all the Hunter Cattle meat products exceed expectations. Don’t look for Anthony to be leading the farm tours or sitting down for interviews.

Anthony Ferguson

Hunter is the youngest of Del and Debra’s kids that lives and works on the farm and one for whom the farm is named. You can find Hunter planting and tending his trees or managing the farm’s compost and vermiculture. (Rumor has it, family members have to be sneaky if they’re going to snag worms for fishing.) As one of the farm hands, Hunter is used to being bossed by big sister, Kristan. Though the two clearly have a sibling relationship, when it comes down to it, they do work well together.

Hunter Ferguson

The farm boys, as they are known, are Del and Debra’s grandsons from about the age of 8 to 16. They can be found working hard planting and harvesting in the garden, tending to the livestock and using their skills on horseback to move the cattle. They seem to manage to have some fun in the process.

The little ones (including the only girl on the farm), those not old enough for the rough-and-tumble chores, can be found closer to the Farm Store, gathering eggs, climbing on gates, or socializing the tamer animals on the farm that participate in the educational tours.

Meadow, the only girl on the farm!

Sherri and Erin are also familiar faces on the farm. Sherri started out in the processing plant but now works alongside Debra in the farm store. You won’t likely find Erin indoors as she prefers working with live animals and lively kids (plus she’s lightening quick on a gate when there’s a cow on the loose).

Though they didn’t plan it that way, each member of the family on the farm has settled into their own unique roles, each bringing his or her own talents and strengths to the farm. Not only do they work well together, but they even spend time with each other on what is sometimes their only day off - Sunday church service and lunch is also a family affair.

“It is so awesome that we each have a place thatwe exactly enjoy and fit real well into. It wasn’t aplan, it’s just how it all functions,” Debra explained.

“We’re fixing to celebrate our 40th weddinganniversary,” Debra said of herself and Del, “andwe get to work together everyday. We would rather work with each other than anybody, so it’s really wonderful. To get to be the influence that we get to be with our grandchildren is a gift that we do not take for granted and absolutely love that we get to be a part of that.”

The Hunter Cattle Family: (back row l to r) Anthony and Beth Ferguson, Jacob Ferguson, Debra and Del Ferguson, Meadow Fretwell, Forest Fretwell, (front row l to r) Riley Ferguson, Daniel Ferguson, Hunter Ferguson, Bear Fretwell, Canyon Fretwell, (on the rails): Liam Ferguson (left) and Trail Boone Fretwell (right).

Del and Debra consider themselves blessed to have this opportunity to work so closely, not only with three of their children, but with their grandchildren as well. Hunter Cattle has done comparatively well in a market where many have tried and failed. From the outside looking in, it can seem like the fairy tale version of the American family farm.

But things haven’t always been easy for the Fergusons or their farm. This particular story was not the one they had envisioned for themselves. It is in fact, a story of loss, struggle, adaptation and perseverance.

The recession in 2008, was a devastating blow to the Fergusons who were in the real estate and construction business. As their clients and renters were unable to make payments, much of the property they owned and managed ended up in foreclosure, including 2/3rds of the land where the farm now sits.

“I feel blessed because of the struggles,” Del recollected. “Number one, going through the recession when the recession was in our industry, real estate/construction. And then with learning a brand new business - in a way, a new life - with the farming. We had a few years where we were just practicing farming … when it turned out to be a fulltime job, that was very hard and very stressful. We almost didn’t make it. But, thank the Lord, we did. As a family, we have grown closer together.”

Transitioning the family business from real estate to farming wasn’t an easy one. And at first, not everyone was on board. As Debra recalled, Kristan was originally resistant to the idea of moving on the farm with her husband. Eventually, they did decide to move to a home on the farm, but with no intention “of working like y’all do”. “But she got bit, and she does,” Debra said with a laugh.

“One thing Del has said is that in the business before, people could buy houses from somebody else. But this business is one that we really feel like we’re doing a service. We’re providing a service that people can’t get just anywhere … and it can change their life. It makes the difference and we see that. And we love that part,” Debra explained.

The farm didn’t really start out as a business, more of a way of life. But as more and more people were seeking out grass-fed and pasture-raised options, the commercial opportunities began to present themselves.

“Our journey really started as a passion to have good food for ourselves,” Debra said. “Kristan was unable to eat beef, she hadn’t eaten beef for years. So, when we wanted to do the cows, we just knew we wanted to do them as naturally and as humanely as possible. And that was just for ourselves. And it’s wonderful that other people saw the value in it.”

“It’s a blessing to me,” Del explained, “because not only are we providing good food, but we have people come out here with cancer looking for better food that are told that they have limited time to live. And we have the opportunity to not only give them good food but to sit here and pray with them and try to help them along too.”

Making connections with chefs has also been a key factor in the growth of the farm. Chefs who place a high value on quality product and are loyal customers provide a steady source of revenue that is vitally important. The Green Truck Pub in Savannah was a key early customer and they have been consistent since the beginning.

(See our feature story on the Green Truck Pub, Farm to Pub in an earlier issue. For a full listing of restaurants and stores that carry Hunter Cattle products, see their website.)

“Another rewarding thing is the restaurants that they have the same kind of passion that we have,” Del said. “There are very few of them - there are a lot of great restaurants - but very few of them that are dedicated to providing the very best quality and that truly support the local farmers. But there are some that do and we are blessed to have them.”

“Green Truck has been a wonderful blessing,” he continued. “Since the day that they opened, theyhave been constant. Every week, we know that wecan supply them and help keep our farm going.”

Del, who oversees sales and production on thefarm, is always working to make the next sale.

“My dad taught me years ago, you gotta keep pressing forward,” Del recalled. “Because you might have a chef who really loves you but he might be moving on next week, you’ve got to always try to find new business.”

The business has grown steadily since it began in 2003. From the early days of handing out information sheets at the Statesboro Farmers Market (where they are still a fixture) to making on the shelves at Whole Foods and Lucky’s Supermarket locations in Georgia and Florida.

The family has stayed true to their values and commitment to producing quality meats.

Education has also always played an integral part in farm operations. Whether it’s teaching someone how to cook with a whole chicken or showing a group of school kids where eggs actually come from - it’s all about helping people better understand their own relationship with the food they eat.

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“I remember when we first started selling chickens, whole chickens, and people would say, ‘I don’t know what to do with a whole chicken.’ And how we had to educate. I love that part of it,” Debra said.

A relatively recent addition to the farm has been the renovated lofts which allows visitors to have an extended farm experience.

“We love it,” Debra said. “We’ve had people from all over the world. To get to see kids catch their first fish, that’s amazing! And just the things we get to experience with them as their first. To hear grandparents say, ‘I grew up on a farm and I just wanted my grandchildren to collect eggs’. It’s awesome.”

Debra and Kristan in the kitchen where Kristan is most definitely not washing the dishes.

Visitors weren’t exactly part of the original plan when the Fergusons first chose to move on the farm, but they’ve come to see all the unexpected developments in their story as welcome blessings after all.

“When we moved out here, I wanted to be a hermit in the back 40 and never see anybody again,” Del explained. “When (our friends) started coming out and they loved it here like we do - it actually warms your heart. I’m thankful that we can share it!”

Debra echoed her husband’s sentiment, “To hear someone say, ‘I didn’t know there were that many stars’… it makes you want to share it.”