2023 Harvest of Thanks is a special edition of both AgDay and U.S. Farm Report. The show helps celebrate and honor traditions, while also sharing stories of gratitude. 2023 Harvest of Thanks is sponsored by Case IH and BASF.
When you think of Virginia Beach, you probably don’t think of row upon row of vegetables, various produce, crops and cattle. For the Cullipher family, the diverse landscape is the foundation that’s now fueling the seventh generation of Cullipher Farm.
From apples to strawberries to “you-pick” pumpkins, the business is the bedrock of a farm that’s changed, evolved and grown. This year, Jeb Cullipher achieved his greatest dream: to start farming on his own.
“If there’s something that makes you curious, you should investigate it. Luckily, I’ve always been curious enough about farming,” he says.
A Love for Farming That’s Contagious
That love for farming is contagious on Cullipher Farm — it’s a love that’s been passed down from Jeb’s dad, Mike, and his granddad, Louis, who are the fifth and sixth generations to farm in the family.
“When I got into college, I worked for the Virginia Department of Transportation and farmed part time. I did that for almost 12 years,” Mike says.
In 1998, Mike and his wife decided it was time to chase his farming dream full-time, and in 2000, he got his chance to carry on a legacy that was built and labored by the generations before him.
“My family was in eastern North Carolina, originally,” says Louis, talking previous generations. “We were sharecroppers, but granddaddy was the landlord. He was very compassionate.”
Louis’ granddad wanted to give his son the opportunity to farm, but with only so much room to grow in the peanut business, Louis’ dad knew he needed to find new opportunities to survive.
“That’s why my daddy got into the vegetable business — sweet potatoes, chickens, hogs and all that. He did that to survive,” Louis says.
“They moved to Virginia right after the war. In 1947, my dad’s mother’s parents got disabled. My great grandfather got sick. My dad’s mother, being the daughter in the family, was told to move home and help take care of her father.”
In 1947, Louis’ parents moved to Virginia. While still farming peanuts back in North Carolina and growing produce in Virginia, he blazed a new path. Years later, just like his father, Louis had an epiphany of his own.
“You wouldn’t know it, but my dad is very creative,” Mike says. “He was delivering to a Whole Foods store and came home one day and told me, ‘They’re going to run us out of business with their marketing ideas, using wooden crates and their displays. The one thing we have they don’t have is we have a farm.’ He then said, ‘We need to figure out a way to get as many people to come to the farm and stay as long as they can. That’s how we can survive.’”
With that, they moved from a wholesale business to 99% retail, with the original farm market located just 4 miles up the road from where they are located now.
“It’s just amazing the appetite people have about how plants have grown, and we have a real good story to tell,” Louis says.
Symbol of the Past: Original Farmall Remained in the Family for Nearly 100 Years
While their story and farm have changed, the one constant has been a special piece of antique iron: an original Farmall that was the first tractor Louis’ granddad ever owned.
“That Farmall represents our legacy — granddad had the foresight to own this kind of tractor, the first one in his county in 1923. That tractor has never been outside the family,” Louis says.
Louis’ Wish for the Next 100 Years
It’s a rare treasure that represents nearly a century of change and growth, as Louis reflects on his one wish for the next 100 years.
“If I could come back 100 years from now, I hope we’ve grown, we’ve got to change,” he says.
Mike says he cherishes his family’s past, and his father’s foresight to fuel change 16 years ago.
“With Jeb’s new cattle business, we’re doing the same thing my grandfather and great grandfather did. We’re changing, but at the same time, we’re really not changing. We’re going forward, but we’re also going backward at the same time,” Mike says.
Grateful for Six Generations of Toil and Change
The Farmall from the 1920s will continue to be a tribute to the past, but also a nod to what’s allowed the seventh generation to grow. For that, Jeb is grateful.
“I really can’t express that enough,” Jeb says. “I’m very grateful to the both of them, but especially my father. He’s really given me a lot of opportunity at a young age to develop my own unique interest and passion.”
“And I got that from my dad,” Mike says. “His thing was, ‘If you think it’s a good idea and we can afford to do it, then do it.’”
Reigniting a Passion to Farm in the Older Generations
As Jeb wraps up his first year of carving out his own operation with cattle, it’s also reigniting the passion in Mike.
“One of my dad’s oldest friends always said that when you lose a spark, you need to quit and go home. If you lose your spark, you’re in trouble,” Mike says. “Jeb kind of got my spark going again.”
As for Louis, he couldn’t be more proud that their Virginia Beach farm is where Jeb wants to be, the seventh generation to carry on the family’s farming legacy.
“Jeb would be successful in anything he chose, but we’re certainly glad he selected farming,” Louis says.
