Lynetta Usher Griner is the Florida Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award winner for 2018.
Every year at the Sunbelt Expo a farmer from each Southeastern state is chosen to be given the state Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. Then, from that group, one Farmer of the Year is chosen. Meet the Florida farmer who was honored at this year’s Sunbelt Expo, as shared in a Southeast Farmpress article, below.
Florida Farmer of the Year Award Winner
“Lynetta Usher Griner’s life and career plans changed dramatically during 1989. That year, her brother Tommy Usher died in a boating accident on the Suwannee River. A seventh generation Floridian, Lynetta lives in Levy County, Fla., where she had been practicing law. With her brother’s unexpected passing, she found herself essentially in charge of Usher Land & Timber.
Usher Land & Timber based in Chiefland, Fla., is a logging and farming business started by her grandfather. Her parents, Etter and Helen Usher operated pulpwood harvesting crews, ran cattle and bought land when it was inexpensive. Lynetta still practices law but that is secondary to running her business which has established thriving timber and beef cattle enterprises.
As a result of her success as a beef cattle farmer, logging executive and timber producer, Griner has been selected as state winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award.
Usher Land & Timber has 9,500 acres of family owned land. Some 6,800 acres grows timber that produces an average of six tons per acre per year. The family also owns grazing land in Kansas and Nebraska. Crops that support the cattle include irrigated forage sorghum on 135 acres, non-irrigated hay on 120 acres and irrigated hay on 430 acres.
Her parents ran the beef herd as a hobby. As her brother took over, and then when she and her husband took up the reins, they converted the beef operation into a more profitable business.
The cow-calf operation has 827 cows. The farm’s cattle grow-yards have a capacity of up to 2,500 calves. She explains that a grow-yard is like a feedlot except that cattle also have access to pasture.
Her husband Ken also found his life changed by her brother’s death. Ken owned an automobile dealership, but now runs the beef cattle and related farming operations at Usher Land & Timber.
Ken raises about 40 beef bulls for sale each year.”
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