At 82, local farmer still cultivates the land he loves

Robert Jefferson Farrior was born on George Washington’s birthday but named after Thomas Jefferson 82 years ago in Duplin County. Coming from two large farming families — Albritton and Farrior — agriculture has been part of Farrior’s identity for as long as he can remember.

His maternal grandfather, Jim Albritton, was a major strawberry grower who developed the Albritton strawberry variety in the 1920s. His paternal relatives, the Farriors of Wallace, were also respected farmers.

Today, Farrior lives in his grandfather Albritton’s old home, sheltered by the towering oak and magnolia trees he planted. There, he says he’s content to take life one day at a time.

“My prayer every morning is, ‘Lord, show me what to do and give me the strength to do it,’” Farrior shares.

A 1966 graduate of North Duplin High School, Farrior still treasures mementos from his youth: a green felt banner, the hat he wore on the sports field, and his old baseball mitt. After high school, he attended Campbell for Pre-Law, but farming kept pulling him back home every weekend. When his father died, Farrior shifted gears, finished a teaching degree, and returned home for good to take over the farm.

Farrior taught Math and Social Studies at North Duplin and East Duplin, where he found creative ways to bring the farm into the classroom. Real-world lessons, like calculating labor costs or understanding the economics of farm life made his teaching memorable and meaningful. His connection with students ran deep; many still check in on him decades later. But despite his rapport with teaching, the work of the land kept tugging at him.

“It was hard for me to sit in the classroom with all my buddies going out on tractors or out hunting,” he recalls. “So I just quit and started farming.”

Once fully committed, Farrior built a thriving produce and grain operation. At its peak, he kept more than 1,800 acres in production. In the 1980s, when a trucking strike hit, he had 500 acres of produce left. After that loss, he came back smaller with specialized production in collards and greens. For 50 years, he supplied collards and specialty produce to Piggly Wiggly. Though he no longer farms on a large scale, he still grows collards as a hobby, and his reputation draws people from across North Carolina and even out of state. At his cut-your-own fields in northern Duplin County, about a mile east of Faison on Highway 403, visitors can find turnips, rutabaga, mustard greens, and cabbage collards “bigger than your head.” As Farrior puts it, “A satisfied customer is your best advertisement; I strive to satisfy.”

Like all farmers, Farrior has weathered his share of hardships. “I have learned that you have to take what the good Lord sends and do the best you can with it. Everything will work out,” he says. Farrior farms by himself using the same old equipment he’s always worked with — machines he can fix himself because he’s “from the old school.” He laughs, “I probably couldn’t even drive the new stuff.”

With no farmers in his immediate family, he doesn’t know who will carry on the operation when his time is through. But that uncertainty doesn’t trouble him. Farming has always been his joy and his passion.

His advice to others is simple but firm: “Set your goal and go for it. Don’t let anyone say you can’t do it. If you try hard enough, you can. And if you don’t know what you want to do, try different avenues until you find something you’re passionate about.”

He reflects on his own path — from going to college for his mother to returning to the tractor he always loved. “I am glad I went to college,” he says. “I have lost a lot of physical things, but my education is something they could never take away from me. Education is invaluable; you can’t put a price on that knowledge.”