LAKE PARK — Carter Farms, located in Lowndes County, was awarded the Centennial Family Farm Award in October during the annual Georgia National Fair in Perry. This award recognizes farms owned by members of the same family for 100 years or more. 

“The centennial farm designation recognizes the hard work of our family members through the years,” said Ronald Carter, the current owner of Carter Farms. “I’m honored to receive this award on behalf of my ancestors and the future generations that will continue to farm this land.”

Carter Farms is a 129-acre farm located in Lake Park. 

“Once I graduated high school, I moved to Florida to work for Mt. Dora Children’s Home from 1958 to 1959. I returned to the family farm to help my dad with farming,” Carter said. 

Carter said his father, Darvin Carter, inherited part of the farm from his own mother, Florence Carter, when she passed. Over time Darvin Carter acquired the other portions of the farm that were owned by cousins. When Darvin Carter passed away he left the farm to his wife, Urrie Copeland Carter, who eventually gave ownership to Ronald Carter in the early 1980s. 

Ronald Carter said the farm has included a variety of crops and livestock through the years, such as cattle, hogs, chicken, lambs, corn, soybeans, tobacco and peanuts. He said some of the buildings still standing at the farm were constructed by his father, who was a skilled carpenter as well as a farmer. 

“There have been good times and hardships on the centennial farm,” Carter said.

“I remember as a child our farmhouse burning so we had to remodel the smokehouse and move into it for a short time,” he said. “We had a tobacco barn burn down too. Recently, we had damage to our equipment shelter and corn crib from Hurricane Idalia and Hurricane Helene. Also, we lost multiple pecan trees from the hurricanes – some were more than 50 years old.”

Carter Farms continues to be a family farm. Ronald Carter’s children, Andy and Joy Carter, were involved with 4-H and Future Farmers of America growing up. Both went on to receive the American FFA degree. 

“They both showed steers, heifers, lambs, pigs and chickens on the county and state level. In 1989, Andy exhibited the Reserve Champion Market Steer and the Lowndes Area Market Beef Show and Joy exhibited the Grand Champion Homegrown steer. Joy also exhibited the Grand Champion Market Steers in 1991 and 1993, as well as the Reserve Champion Market Steer in 1992,” said Ronald Carter. 

Today, Andy Carter maintains a beef cattle herd at the farm and works as a soil conservationist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Joy Carter works as the assistant executive director for the Georgia Peanut Commission.