Still Getting Up with the Cows and the Pigs
Still Getting Up with the Cows and the Pigs
๐ข๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ ๐ข๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฌ๐๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐
๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐
๐๐ก๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ
When he was 15 years old, Pete Waller took over Ottawa Farms after his father passed away. He was the third generation of his family to own the Bloomingdale farm.
Some 75 years later, Waller still owns and runs the farm, unfazed by his advancing years, a rezoning battle that reduced his farm from some 700 acres to 150 acres, and the encroachment of progress all around him as small family farms become an anachronism.
While many his age opt for a slower pace, Waller, 89, is up with the cows and pigs, scores of which call Ottawa Farms home. His daily work schedule is one that people half his age would find challenging.
โPeteโs very active and spunky,โ said Anna Walker, who has worked as Wallerโs office manager for the past year. โHe bales hay, personally checks all the crops and runs the farm. Heโs not slowing down at all.โ
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Waller, who owns an insulation company, has the last working farm in the county. In 2019 that status was threatened over a rezoning battle with the City of Bloomingdale to turn the property from agricultural to industrial and take advantage of its close proximity to the port.
Following lengthy negotiations, both sides agreed to a rezoning agreement in which Waller would lease out all but 150 acres of his farm for commercial warehouses. The project calls for nine warehouses to be built on 400 acres over a 10-year period. The agreement also stipulates the farm remains in the family for 100 years.
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The farm has been in the Waller family since the 1870s. It owned land on each side of a railroad that ran through the farm and had a trading post and train stop known as Ottawa Depot. Local farmers would load their produce on the train for sale at the market in Savannah.
The depot burned down in 1928 and wasnโt rebuilt due to the growing popularity of Model As and Ts.
The farm was subsequently named Ottawa Farms. Wallerโs grandfather was a farmer and railroad engineer who died in a train wreck. He left his farm to Wallerโs father and aunt. Wallerโs father and his three siblings, along with his widowed grandmother, raised vegetables and sold them at a roadside market at the farm and a market in Savannah.
When Waller was growing up, his father added a sawmill and turpentine business at the farm to go along with the vegetable selling. With no fences, more than 500 cattle roamed from Pooler to Statesboro and surrounding areas. The family also owned 40 mules that were used for vegetable farming.
๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฆ
The death of his father forced the teen-aged Waller to grow up in a hurry. โI had to take over and make it happen,โ Waller recalled. โAt 15 years old, if you didnโt farm you didnโt eat. It was a way of life for me.โ
In the 1940s, he continued, life was different from nowadays, when youngsters generally have more options and arenโt placed in a position where they have to work to support the family.
โBack in those days there was a sense of pride in working hard to provide for your family,โ Waller said.
What started as a 15-year-old suddenly thrust into the position of taking care of his family developed into a young man who embraced his new path and vocation.
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Waller learned at a young age that to survive and succeed he had to stand out from the crowd. He focused on bringing visitors to his farm, specialty crops and black angus cows. Waller built a general store that offers black angus beef, jams, jellies, and an assortment of fruits and vegetables that rotates with the seasons.
โI never allowed anything to stop me from learning and growing, not only as a young man but as an accomplished farmer,โ Waller said. โAt one time there were 35 dairies and a number of little farms in this county. We are the only one left, so we must have done something right.โ
Along with his 100 black angus cows, whose meat he sells to butchers, Waller raises pigs and grows strawberries, blueberries, corn and onions. He also hosts a number of events including an annual strawberry festival and rodeo, pig races, weddings and birthday parties.
๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ
Through his many years of owning a farm, Waller, not surprisingly, has met many people, a number of whom are in the political arena. A staunch republican, he served on the county Farm Service Agency for 40 years and was appointed to the state board by two presidents: Bush and Obama.
โBeing involved with so many important boards, he had a great opportunity to meet and mingle with so many political figures,โ said Walker, noting that his appointments to state boards by presidents from different parties shows his diversity and ability to garner support and friends from both sides of the aisle. โHeโs friends with Gov. Kemp. Iโm planning a huge party for Peteโs 90th birthday at the Savannah Yacht Club, and the governor might attend.โ
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Walker describes Waller as a good man with a heart to match who is very inspiring. She said heโs never been the type to rely on others to work on the farm because he knows best how he wants things done. Walkerโs independent spirit has helped fuel a long career that shows no sign of ending as heโs about to start his 10th decade of life.
โPete told me the minute he stops working heโll die,โ Walker said. โHe wonโt retire.โ
Waller concurs. โItโs a natural way of life for me,โ said Walker, who attributes his longevity and success to hard work and a positive attitude. โIโve been doing this for so long I donโt know how not to do it. I still work because itโs what truly brings me joy in life. I enjoy watching crops grow and having a bountiful harvest.โ
As to anyone considering a career as a farmer, Wallerโs advice is simple and reflects an approach heโs followed for 75 years: โIf you want something to happen, you have to make it happen,โ Waller said.