Bruce Allen Redmond
Georgia Farmer of the Year 2024
Bruce Redmond is boldly carrying on the legacy of his late father, Larry Redmond, who started Shiloh Farms in the early 1980s. The operation consists of 2800 owned and rented acres in Guyton and produces bahia grass, TifQuik bahia grass, dry and irrigated cotton, and dry and irrigated peanuts.
Redmond said, “Growing up in a farming family, working the land was in my blood from the start. After several years of being away at college, I returned home to help out. So between 2004 and 2018, I farmed alongside my dad and then had to take over when he passed away suddenly. Each day I still feel connected to him and all his hard work. So I strive to make him proud.”
Redmond’s wife, Jillian, is a Lynchburg, Virginia native who grew up in Lexington, North Carolina. The two met in Savannah in 2006 through Bruce’s best friend, who happened to be Jillian’s first cousin. To be closer to Bruce on a more permanent basis, Jillian ended up transferring from East Carolina University to Armstrong University where she graduated with a BS degree in 2010 in Respiratory Therapy. She works as a Registered Respiratory Therapist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in nearby Savannah. They were married in 2011 and now have four children, including a newborn, Halley.
Jillian noted, “It’s funny that, while growing up, I never even got close to sitting on a lawnmower. Now I’m on cotton pickers, sprayers, and peanut combines.” Bruce and Jillian’s oldest daughter, Lainey (age 9), loves being outdoors and is extremely active in softball and the Garden Club, which connects her to community gardening projects and local beautifying programs in our town. Ellie (age 5) is passionate about soccer and all three girls, including Shiloh (age 3), love to attend various festivals and educational opportunities around the county like the Effingham County Fair and the Fire Festival.
Shiloh Farms began growing certified Tifton 9 bahia grass seed in the late 1990s that was cooperatively bred by the University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station and the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Bahia is a durable, heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant, and easy to care for grass variety perfectly suited to harsh soil conditions. It has a coarse texture and can be used for erosion control and hay production. Shiloh Farms has, in the interim, become the biggest producer of certified bahia grass seed in the southeastern US. In 2005, the farm was chosen by the Georgia Seed Development Commission to produce the first large-scale TifQuik foundation seed plot in Georgia.
Redmond is one of only three certified growers of TifQuik seed in the world. It’s a relatively new bahia grass cultivar released by the USDA and the University of Georgia. In both greenhouse and field studies, TifQuik has proven to deliver significantly faster germination times, lower nutrient and water requirements, and a higher yield than earlier varieties of bahia grass. These qualities make it ideal for a sod-based rotation system with row crops like peanuts and cotton. It’s also been shown to reduce nematode and disease problems in subsequent crops.
Shiloh Farms’ crop yields are as follows: 588 acres of bahia grass yielding 240 lbs of seed; approximately 600 acres of TifQuik bahia grass yielding 80,000-100,000 lbs of seed; 758 acres of irrigated cotton yielding 1250 lbs/acre; 861 acres of dryland cotton yielding 850 lbs/acre; 70 acres of irrigated peanuts yielding 4500 lbs/acre; and 523 acres of dryland peanuts yielding 4400 lbs/acre.
Redmond uses two well-trusted marketing cooperatives: Staplcotn and Premium Peanut. He said, “Over the last six years it’s been one less stressor to deal with, being able to rely on these two great companies. As to my cotton, however, I’m in contact with Georgia-based Magnolia Loom that uses Georgia Grown cotton for their clothing products. I hope to begin contracting and booking some of my cotton with them in the upcoming seasons. I like the idea of seeing someone wearing a shirt from cotton I grew right here in Effingham County.”
Redmond handles his own marketing for his bahia grass and TifQuik crops through a website and word of mouth advertising. He said, “TifQuik is the most profitable component of my operation and a huge contributor to the yearly profit margin. It’s like an on-farm insurance policy in case something goes wrong with the cotton or peanut crop.”
In 2021, Redmond was designated “Conservationist of the Year in Soil and Water,” an award sponsored by the Ogeechee River Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors in conjunction with area banks. It represents the highest standards of excellent in soil and water management in the region. Redmond recalled, “It was an especially meaningful privilege for me to receive this award because my dad was the recipient in 1993.”
Redmond has built and maintained terraces and grassed waterways to control erosion, converted pivot irrigation systems to low-pressure sprinklers to conserve water, used GPS grid soil samples to conserve fertilizer, employed rotational planting of bahia grass to improve soil quality, scouting crops to minimize use of insecticides ad herbicides, installed soil moisture sensors to reduce overwatering, and participated in soil and water programs to enhance the farms’ crop quality. He’s also participated in three UGA variety and fertility research trials in 2023, along with a dozen more in years past.
Redmond noted, “I implemented the bahia grass crop in a rotation for two reasons: 1) as demand as risen, the supply has had to increase to meet that demand and 2) the five-year rotation helps the soil rebuilt the organic matter between peanut crops. It also helps with peanut disease management, ensuring a reduction in the amount of fungicides applied.”
On the county level, Redmond has been a member of the Ogeechee River Soil and Water Conservation District for twenty years (2004–2024). In 2023, he received the Friend of 4-H award. He has served on his local USDA Farm Service Agency committee for seven years and is a supporter of Georgia 4-H and the Effingham Young Farmers Association. On the state level, he’s been a member for seven years of the Regional County Office Committee FSA. From 2000–2023, he was a member of the Georgia Agribusiness Council and received the Georgia Outstanding Young Farmer Award in 2012. He is a current participant in the Master Irrigator Program. On the national level, Redmond spent nineteen years (2004–2023) as a member of the National Federation of Independent Business. His wife, Jillian Redmond, is a member of the St. Joe Candler Safety Committee at the county level and is active in REC League activities for their daughters’ sports teams.
When the Redmond family has a slot of time in which to relax, they drive to nearby Lake Sinclair where Bruce grew up. Jillian said, “We love the lake and spend as much time near it, on it, and in it as possible. Bruce’s dad’s house is there, so we end up—farm duties permitting—enjoying some weekends and holidays wake boarding, wake surfing, and any other kind of boating activities. Locally we’re also active in Compassion Christian Church.”
At the forefront of Redmond’s future plans for the farm is purchasing more land. He wants to see the region remain in agricultural production. He said, “Our county is being faced with extreme urbanization that has caused some local farms to go out of business. The rest of us are left fighting to get any decent land we can.”
Short term goals for growth are more on the advancement and enhancement side of things, including more equipment storage, expanded office/storefront for bahia grass purchases (already underway), and meetings with potential feed and seeds partners. Redmond also wants to increase the irrigation capacity for his fields and invest in soil moisture sensors where irrigation is already in place. Meeting all those goals will require more equipment and thus eventually more storage space.
Redmond said, “I’m so grateful to be honored as the Georgia Farmer of the Year. Farming is all I’ve ever done, so what I’ve learned comes from the long hours and hard work that every farmer experiences. Any accomplishments have been built on the foundation my dad laid and strengthened by my family’s support and the contributions of our employees.” He added, “Farming is definitely a family enterprise. One person may be on the tractor, but the planting, fertilizing, and harvesting are the result of everyone’s combined efforts.”
Bruce Redmond was nominated Georgia Farmer of the Year by Blake Carter, Effingham County ANR Agent. Carter said, “When Larry Redmond, Bruce’s dad, passed away six years ago, Bruce’s world turned upside down. He was forced to take the reins of a business and farm he didn’t expect to run alone. While that loss was tough to overcome, he stepped up to the plate and showed the kind of farmer he is: dedicated to his family, their future, and his love for the highest quality agriculture.”
He added, “Bruce exemplifies what it means to be a farmer. He is tenacious, proactive, resourceful, efficient, and, above all else, caring. His family is central, and he respects and stewards the ground he farms and the crops he produces. Bruce has not only carried on the Shiloh Farm legacy but is quick to lend a helping hand to his neighboring farmers. The saying goes, ‘So, God made a farmer …’ In this case, that farmer is Bruce Redmond.”
Harper Family Holdings, the Alabama Farmers Federation, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Florida Farm Bureau, Georgia Farm Bureau, North Carolina Farm Bureau, Tennessee Farm Bureau, and Virginia Farm Bureau have joined together to generously sponsor the 2024 program.
State winners of the Sunbelt Expo award will receive a $2,500 cash award and an expense-paid trip to the Sunbelt Expo from the sponsors. A vest from the sponsors will be given to each state winner and nominator. The Moultrie Colquitt Co. Chamber of Commerce will give each state winner a local keepsake.
The state winners are now eligible for the $15,000 cash prize awarded to the overall winner by the sponsors. Massey Ferguson North America will provide each state winner with a gift package and the overall winner with the use of a Massey Ferguson tractor for a year or 250 hours (whichever comes first). A jacket from the sponsors will be given to the overall winner. Hays LTI will award the overall winner with a HAYS Smoker/Grill. In addition, the overall winner will receive a Henry Repeating Arms American Farmer Tribute Edition rifle from Reinke Irrigation.
The Sunbelt Expo is coordinating the Southeastern Farmer of the Year awards for the 34rd consecutive year. $1,324,000 in cash awards and other honors have been awarded to two hundred ninety six southeastern farmers since the award was initiated in 1990.