Like many similar businesses, work at Bridgeforth Farms in Limestone County is a family affair.

Greg and his son Lamont work in cooperation with Greg’s brother Bill and his sons Kyle and Carlton in order to run the operation.

Kyle said he, Lamont and Carlton are fifth-generation farmers, with the family able to trace its agricultural roots all the way back to the post-slavery era.

“We have been growing ever since,” he said. “It has been a battle throughout different operations and crops. We are focused on that legacy a lot through our day to day.”

Bridgeforth Farms encompasses about 10,000 acres of land, split between Limestone, Madison and Lawrence counties. Kyle said his family grows traditional row crops like cotton, corn, soybeans and wheat.

He said when it comes to administration, each of the five partners work together and do “a little bit of everything” to make sure things keep running. He said Lamont is a “big force” in what leads the farm today.

“Some days, we’ll spend the entire time in the field,” Kyle said. “Some days, we spend all day in the office, and other days are a mix of the two. Every day has different priorities. We all take a general role and share the field operations and administrative work somewhat evenly.”

Working the soil

A typical day for Kyle begins at 5:30 a.m. After breakfast, he generally gets to work by 7 a.m. Next comes a family meeting to discuss where to focus their efforts for the day, then the group disperses and sets to task.

“Right now, the corn harvest is right up on us,” Kyle said. “We are just in the first days of it. We have the combines in the field and the trucks going with the support equipment.”

The cotton and soybeans are still maintained in the meantime. Kyle said the Bridgeforths will harvest those crops around October. Wheat is generally harvested in the spring or early summer.

When it comes time to harvest, Kyle said it is “all hands on deck” for the Bridgeforth family. They have been doing it for years, so they mostly know what is coming.

“It requires a lot of preparation and management,” he said. “We have to perform maintenance on our equipment and check for when the crops are ready. We have to go over the logistics of it, where each person is going to be and how much of the crop is going into the bins.”

Kyle said being a farmer is a great way of life. He said it’s an honor to continue the work of his family’s previous generations, and “someone has to be a food producer.”

“America is renown for having the most efficient, strongest food system in the world. Despite the problems today, we are in a secure place compared to a lot of places around the world.”

Modern times

Like most professions, modernization has changed the way the farming industry operates. Kyle said the Bridgeforth family has seen a great many of these changes throughout its long history.

“It’s a rapidly changing industry,” he said. “We see a lot of adjustments, changes in the market and policy, advances in technology. It’s all advancing very quickly. It has really become a game of staying up-to-date on all the information available.”

Another modern issue affecting the farm has been the coronavirus pandemic. Kyle said he and his family have been maintaining social distancing guidelines and wearing masks when they have visitors in the office.

“We have been very cautious,” he said. “We check temperatures any time we are in group settings. We have dealt with the same things as everyone else. Productivity farming was considered an essential business, so we haven’t had to adjust hours.”

Speaking of essential, Kyle said he believes farming is exactly that — essential. He believes it is one of the core industries that keeps America going, though fewer and fewer people are working in the field.

“Agriculture as a whole is consolidating in a lot of ways,” Kyle said. “Equipment has gotten larger and more complex, so the ability to manage things has become more vast.”

When he is not working on the farm, Kyle is also a member of the executive board and former chairman of the Limestone County Economic Development Association. He said LCEDA helped lure businesses like Mazda-Toyota Manufacturing and Toyota-Bushoku to the county.

He said Limestone County has always been a pioneer for the state, and luring ag-based businesses here is not as difficult as other areas.

“It requires a tough stomach to be in the industry, but this area is one of the best to be in.”

Looking ahead

Kyle said even though the Bridgeforths equally distribute much of the family’s workload, they still feel the pressure to keep the business afloat like any owners. He, Lamont and Carlton all have kids of their own, but Kyle said keeping the family legacy alive is an added motivation, not a point that causes pressure.

After working in Washington D.C. for a time, Kyle returned to Limestone County to work on the farm about nine years ago. He has a wife, Meaghan, and a son, Benjamin, who will be 2 years old next month.

Kyle said he, Lamont and Carlton would love to see their kids become the sixth generation of Bridgeforths working on the family farm, but that will be up to them, just as it was for the fifth generation.

“Since we were young, it had been our goal to come back and work on the farm,” Kyle said of himself, his brothers and Lamont. “Our fathers didn’t put any pressure on us that we didn’t put on ourselves.”

Kyle said it will be up to Benjamin in the future whether or not he wants to take up his dad’s profession. For now, Kyle just wants to make sure Bridgeforth Farms is left in a strong enough position that Benjamin could come back one day and work the land if he so chooses.

“The same goes for Lamont and Carlton,” Kyle said. One of our goals is to give our children the option to farm if they want to, but we’ll support them in whatever career choice they make.”