Stringers named Farm Family of the Year

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  • Rhett Stringer’s hard work at Stringer Family Farms has not gone unnoticed as he was recently awarded as the Upper Chattahoochee River Soil and Water Conservation District Farm Family of the Year for Lumpkin County.
    Rhett Stringer’s hard work at Stringer Family Farms has not gone unnoticed as he was recently awarded as the Upper Chattahoochee River Soil and Water Conservation District Farm Family of the Year for Lumpkin County.
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There are no vacation days on the farm.
And that’s something Rhett Stringer can attest to.
“Rain, shine, cold, hot. It doesn’t matter,” he said while standing on the outskirts of the Stringer Family Farm off Pony Lake Road last week. “It’s hard work.”
But that hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed as Rhett, his wife Rachel and their livestock-loving one-year-old Charlie have been named the Upper Chattahoochee River Soil and Water Conservation District Farm Family of the Year for Lumpkin County.
“Rhett’s just an outstanding young man,” said local group supervisor Kenneth Beasley.
He’s also a man of many professions.
“You need a real job if you’re going to farm,” said Stringer.
And those other professions aren’t exactly odd jobs.
Stringer is the owner and operator of Chestatee River Adventures, a Lumpkin County Commissioner for District 3 and is currently one semester away from graduating from the University of North Georgia.
Once he earns his degree, he plans to go into the insurance business, all while keeping the farm going.
“I can do it all since the river business is so seasonal,” he said.
As for farming, there is no off-season, as the 27-year-old Lumpkin County native spends most of his days managing the 600-acre cattle farm that has been in the Stringer family for five generations.
And sometimes that’s how he spends his nights too.
“If the cows get out,” joked conservation supervisor Tracy Grizzle.
“It just depends when the phone rings,” replied Stringer with a laugh. “…We’ve got good neighbors who give me a call.”
It’s all part of the job.
And it’s a job that Stringer took on in earnest in 2014.
“It’s kind of been a hobby farm,” he said. “But I’m trying to make it more of a working farm and get it as close to profitable as you can be.”
That working-farm now includes a sizable herd of 125 brood cows, 90 calves and five bulls.
Since taking over, Stringer has worked to update farming methods to keep the enterprise functional and environmentally friendly.
He’s moved away from plastic food basins and installed a new freeze proof “ball style” drinking trough that’s connected to an underground well.
“That was a game changer,” said Stringer.
He also installed new fencing and concrete stream crossing pads to keep his cows from muddying local waters.
This, said Beasley, is the kind of future-minded forward-thinking that farming needs right now. And it’s one of the key reasons the yearly accolade went to Stringer Family Farm.
“He has a farm plan on soil and water conservation,” said Beasley. “And he’s put it into practice.”
Not all of the farm’s uses are found in the soil though. Occasionally the quiet fields of Stringer Family Farm become the much more action-packed home of the Stringer Drop Zone.
“Rhett works with the Ranger Camp,” said Grizzle. “They use his farm for parachuting.”
Jump practice is possible since Stringer has installed special fencing that can collapse to the ground in order to keep any wayward Rangers from getting snagged.
“He has to fix his fences so they’ll lay down,” said Grizzle. “It’s something to see them all jumping.”
Back on ground level, Stringer is now readying for calving season, which begins early next year.
And he’s bracing for the weather that will go along with it.
“Nothing ever happens when it’s good weather,” he said.
Despite the hard work, Stringer said there’s also a certain satisfaction that comes from a farm done right.
“The best part is seeing the finished product,” he said. “Seeing the hay field that’s waist high and the perfect grass. Or seeing the 700-800 pound show-calf go across the scales. You feel like you really did something….Knowing somebody somewhere is feeding their family with something you raised makes you feel good.”
In other words, farm life is tough, but it’s worth it. Even when the phone rings at night.
“The neighbors all know my number,” said Stringer with a grin.