(upbeat music) - [Narrator] "A Fork in the Road" was brought to you by.

(upbeat music ) - [Narrator] You are never far.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] You're never far from Farm Fresh.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] You're never far from Georgia grown.

Find Georgia grown near you at www.georgiagrown.com.

- [Narrator] Since 1917, the "Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin" has been George's primary resource for all things, agriculture.

From thousands of classifieds for livestock, farm supplies, equipment, and home grown goods to the latest and most important farming news.

- The fascinating and ever-changing world of agriculture.

Let's hit the road here in Georgia and meet the farmers, producers, makers, and bakers who keep us all fed and keep us coming back for more.

Straight ahead at the "A Fork In The Road."

♪ I came from the mud ♪ ♪ There's dirt on my hands ♪ ♪ Strong like a tree ♪ ♪ There's roots where I stand ♪ - [Narrator] Georgia farmers, artisans, merchant and producers.

We depend on these men and women every day of our lives.

Through the choices we make in the food we consume.

Their strategy and approach is always shifting, but the end game remains the same results.

(slow music) Let's now head to East Georgia and explorer, two dairies that are revolutionizing this industry by utilizing George's unique climate and its farming ingenuity to produce some of the best milk in the world.

And we delve into the world of one of the state's most diverse businessmen, who is also involved in the world of dairy and keeps homegrown, local and fresh, close to his heart.

(upbeat music) Let's begin this episode in Waynesboro, Georgia at Hart Dairy to learn how they deliver the cream off the crops.

(soft music) - [Narrator] There's something different going on here.

These cows seem a little more wild, natural, laid back.

These are dairy cows, roaming, the acres and acres of lush green grass here in Waynesboro, Georgia, just South of Augusta.

And watching over them is a team of people who care about these cows, the milk they produce and the lives of the cows themselves.

(soft guitar music) - Our dairy is unique in that, we're one of the only farms in the country that graze cows outdoors 365 days of the year.

Grass feed is not a new concept to the United States.

There are other grass feed farms, but they're typically in more Northern environments.

We're grazing outdoors for all 365 days of the year is very difficult due to the weather.

(soft guitar music) We're fortunate to be in the Southeast United States where we can grow grass all year round.

And therefore can take advantage of that and have our cows out where they should be grazing on grass for all 365 days of the year.

(slow music) - [Narrator] Richard Watson is from New Zealand, a world, quite different from the United States, for cows and people.

But it's the farming philosophy where Richard and the Hart Dairy team learned how they can make a difference.

Not just for these cows, but for the industry as a whole.

(soft music) - [Richard] The idea in 2007 was to bring my background and grazing and grass and forest based farming to the Southeast.

(soft music) - [Richard] So in 2007, I built the first farm we bought via crop land it was irrigated and basically put a New Zealand stall dairy, which is fencing, water troughs, plenty of acres for the animals to roam around and then a milking facility that they're brought to twice a day to be milked.

Since then we have built two more dairy farms.

And now we have three large grazing based dairy farms that have a capacity to milk up to 3000 cows.

- Our cows are outside, they're grazing, they're in their little groups of friendships that they have.

I think that is something that people are more concerned with now in the US.

As to where their food comes from and wanting to see how it's made.

- [Richard] Because we're growing something all year round.

We do sequester to a lot of carbon.

The university of Georgia has done a study, where they looked at soil organic matter and carbon, and found that we sequester to over three and a half tons of carbon per year.

(indistinct) here because there's something growing there.

And we're recycling those nutrients through the cow.

That equals about 1,500 cows on the road for every farm that we have.

After five years, that's enough carbon in the soil, organic matter to equal that of virgin forest.

So not only are we sequestering carbon drawing it out of the atmosphere, we're also regenerating the land to levels that were there when the trees were felled generations ago.

So not only do we have healthy, happy cows, very highly nutritious milk, but we also try and look after the environment as best we can.

- Farmers, have got to get to know the consumer better, but we also want the consumer to have the opportunity to know us better.

- [Narrator] Hart is a family name for Richard, his mother's maiden name.

- It's so much to my mother.

We all wouldn't be here without our mothers.

These cows are all mothers.

- [Narrator] But add the E and the word heart becomes the mission of this dairy and everyone involved.

Being the country's only 365 day a year, certified humane dairy may not mean a lot to everyone, but to these cows, these workers and the taste of the milk.

It means everything.

(dramatic music) - [Richard] Due to the fact that they graze in grass and that we use New Zealand crossbreeds that are Jersey Holstein, which is the Friesian crosses.

The milk is richer for a start as it's higher in both protein and fat, which gives it a creamier taste.

The fact that the cows eat grass also changes the fatty acid profile.

And those fatty acids produce a lot of aromatic compounds that make the milk taste a certain way.

So it has a lot more of these components in it, which not only make it a more healthy milk to drink.

It also changes and alters the taste and makes it richer and creamier.

- [Narrator] Now for the next step, the milking process.

(loud music) - [Narrator] Carousel operation that seems to be out of the ordinary, but coming from New Zealand, it's the norm.

Every day, these cows know what to do.

And what's also interesting is that they tend to keep the same order lining up each day, much like a classroom filing an alphabetical order.

The same girl you see in the front of the line on Monday, will be right there on Friday as the first to get milked.

The order isn't determined by the farmers.

The cows just seem to figure it out.

Even stepping off the carousel, it somehow just comes naturally.

(fast music) - The cows do all have an individual personality and you just get to know them by which one comes in first.

And then one of them is always the last one to come in.

And it's almost always the exact same one every time milking comes around.

The first one, she'll be there every day, right on time.

Ready to go.

And then the last one, maybe she's a little bit lazier.

She'll still come in, but she's always gonna be last.

(fast music) - We have got four people in the parlor.

One person put chlorine on and strip out cow looks for abnormal milk.

Second person clean cow with the towel; Third person attach the cups.

So cow can get milked.

It usually takes eight minutes for a cow to let that milk go.

Then the cow gets to this position, we have got that person taking cups off and putting iodine salt that tits gets sealed and no bacteria gets into the milk.

(slow music) - [Richard] We have cows that are 10, 12, 13 years old or more.

The average number of lactations in the US Holstein is about two.

So for us to have cows that are aged 19,12 year plus, is an indication of just how healthy and how efficient in the wellbeing of our cows in this environment.

The cows are obviously the important piece to us and their health and wellbeing is the primary focus of our dairy.

(fast music) - [Richard] But we also to be good stewards of the people that work for us and the people we're supplying.

We want a story that truly shows the benefit of what our cows can do on this grass.

Through the supply chain to the consumer.

- [Narrator] The reputation of milk has been through a roller coaster over the past half century, but Hart is a shining example of how to do things right, keeping it natural, respecting the source and improving the taste are all part of their mission.

And with a team of scientists, farmers, engineers, and investors at the helm, who all believe in doing things right, milk may be ready to rightfully reclaim its status as the original super food or super drink.

(smooth music) - [Narrator] From a New Zealand style dairy finding a perfect home in Waynesboro, to a technological marvel found in the dairy of Dearing.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] These are the cows of Hillcrest Farms, curious, even keel, just hanging out in the sand, getting spinning brush massages at their leisure and to that a pleasant sprinkling mist whenever the Southeastern sunshine gets the slightest bit uncomfortable.

Yes, the cows of Hillcrest, are quite possibly the happiest cows on earth.

(upbeat music) And the Rogers family who runs this dairy farm here in Dearing, Georgia.

Believes that happy dairy cows are the recipe for both quality and quantity.

Oh, and massive high-tech milking robots.

Of course.

(fast beat music) - We're George's first robotically milk dairy.

We're one of the very first ones in the Southeastern United States to milk cows with robots.

- [Narrator] That's right.

state-of-the-art robots do all the work underneath and their bovine companions wouldn't have it any other way.

These machines are impressive, refined and precise.

- So cows get to go milk when they want a milk, they just get up, go to the robot, go in and identifies her.

As soon as it identifies her, it starts cleaning her.

And then it puts the milk zona in the milker, checks the milk, make sure everything is just super quality and then it sends it to our bulk milk tank.

(upbeat music) - The robot looks for several factors in the milk.

It's gonna look any inconsistencies thing and notifies if something doesn't look right.

And if it doesn't look right, it can divert it down the drain.

So it never makes it into the human food supply.

A person can do the same thing by observing when he puts a little milk on a container and looks at it and make sure it looks good, but our eyes aren't as good as all those sensors in the robot.

So you get an extra level of protection with these robots as far as milk quality.

(soft music) - Over a period of hours, she started to make more and more milk.

So yes, she gets some relief to go in and actually milk.

So we're not actually going out and pushing them to a barn and running them through a parlor to milk them in the conventional way.

Here they just get up when they wanna to milk, they come in.

And of course it does give them a little bit of extra feed in there.

Sort of like getting a little treat.

So they're sitting there nibbling while they're milking, but it's at fun zone and they're really comfortable.

And they actually like it in there.

(soft music) - [Narrator] Seriously.

These ladies of the Holstein variety, literally posture and position themselves to be milked by these friendly robots.

And as soon as the milking begins, the robots can actually predict how much milk this particular cow is going to produce.

(cow mooing) (upbeat music) - [Rodgers] And this robot knows, it says, Hey, I anticipate, it's been this many hours since she milked.

I'm anticipating 52 pounds of milk.

- [Narrator] The milk bingos through these tubes and into the massive holding tanks, never being exposed to air, keeping quality and safety at a premium.

- Within two minutes, it's already at 37 degrees, which is just remarkable we cool off that fast.

So we get it really cold, really fast.

Keep it at that temp.

And we gonna try to hold that temp onto the truck and the truck's gonna hold it all the way to the bottler.

And there, they gonna to bottle it.

And hopefully within 24 to 48 hours at the very most, they're gonna have it in the stores ready for you to purchase.

So here lately, mine has been going to open Alabama to a bottling plant, it may go to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

It could go to Spartanburg, South Carolina or Atlanta, Georgia.

It goes where it's needed.

They bottle it up and get it in the stores as fast as possible.

Two of our dairies are all over the United States.

And I even toured some in Europe.

So when I come home and see us and our fellow dairy men in Georgia, or some of the finest best managed dairies in the United States.

The Southeast is a marker for just cutting edge technology and cutting edge farms.

So it's really good to buy products here locally from Georgia.

To support your local farmers is always a good thing.

(loud music) - [Narrator] Milking is the centerpiece of this family operation that has been evolving through four generations of Roger's descendants since 1941.

However, Mark and the family soon realized that this is a spectacle that shouldn't be kept a secret.

Visitors to this McDuffie County marvel, can learn all about these robots and even take a tractor tour through the dairy and around the farm.

Fun for adults and kids alike, especially when babies are being calved on a regular basis.

Just like these two who were born in the morning, I arrive.

- [Mark] One of my friends calls it infotaining.

We gonna give you out some information, but man, we gonna to entertain you while you're here.

You gonna see some robots.

We gonna talk about sustainability.

When it comes to the STEM program at school, science, technology, engineering and math, we've got it all.

(fast music) - [Narrator] Happy cows producing high quality milk with the help high-tech milking robots is just the way it works out here in Dearing.

(fast music) - [Narrator] Maybe humanoid robots like this are on the drawing board for the future of Hillcrest.

But until then Mark and the family will go with the robot versions that work best for the comfort of their bovine buddies.

(fast music) (cow mooing) - [Narrator] Lets now journey all along I20 from Covington to Madison and actually almost everywhere else in the state and beyond that's the everyday diversity of Georgia businessman, Keith Kelly, and his company, Kelly Products.

(slow music) - [Narrator] Keith Kelly is a man with a vision, several visions, in fact, but what sets this Georgia grown businessman apart from the crowd is the diversity and what he has accomplished and is still accomplishing.

(loud music) - [Narrator] From software to insecticides.

From healthy, all natural protein bars to top of the line archery and honey accessories and supplies.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Kelly Products brand headquartered in Covington, Georgia.

- When I started this whole company, I was able to start manufacturing lawn and garden chemicals because I understood that business.

I started by developing a software company to automate the registration licensing process, which was the other company we started at the same time.

You know, I started far enough back where PCs were just getting started.

I recognized that there was a lot of consolidation going on in the industry and I really needed to have a better relationship with one or more of those basic chemical companies.

And so I put this idea together that if they would give me exclusive rights, that I would give them a third of the downstream revenue and they agreed and they said what would retailers say?

And so I took them around to retailer for about a year Home Depot, Walmart, Lowe's all the big buyers, you know, everybody.

And I want them to just bring it.

February of 98, they cut off everyone that had rights to use the trademark Seven and gave it to us exclusively through what built our company.

(soft music) - [Narrator] When you have such variety, you need to depend on your lieutenants.

And Keith does some of them like his kids, Brad and Laura, have proudly taken on major roles and responsibilities in the business.

Allowing Keith focus on brainstorming and developing new ideas and also supporting a variety of nonprofit missions around the world.

- [Brad] I'm passionate about it.

So it's not really worked to me.

I love it.

You know, I don't do the day-to-day operations at any of these businesses.

I review them every month.

We sit down with the leaders and set goals and plans and whatever.

We have leaders in every one of those businesses that are running the day-to-day operations they are doing a phenomenal job.

- [Narrator] So now that we know the men, lets delve a little deeper into one of his visions that has become a treasure trove of all things, Georgia grown.

And for that, we head to Madison, Georgia and keep an eye out for the big green chicken of the Farmview Market.

(cock crowing) (soft music) - [Narrator] Georgia grown peanuts, pecans, coffee, cracker jerky, jams, jellies, everything from your everyday necessities to fresh produce.

- They make lot of products and doing a great job, a great family.

A couple with some children.

- [Narrator] And even a line of Georgia grown gourmet options are scattered all around this magnificent market.

- We started growing a small garden for employees, just a fun thing.

So we just grew and grew and grew.

Today we grow about a hundred thousand pounds of produce a year for our employees.

We do eggs, we do broilers we do pork, we do beef and they kept saying, you know, Keith, you can't buy stuff for us like this.

You can't get stuff like this.

We ought to do something with it.

And so my son had joined the company and my daughter, and they were both interested in this whole food world and healthier foods and we kind of put a plan together of what we wanted to do.

And that's how we came up with this whole concept of Farmview with proteins being our centerpiece.

It is a great adventure.

It's something I'm passionate about because we're able to help other farmers, some farmers, and some are just mom and pop operations, everything from making their own soaps to making their own jams, to making ketchup to making chips.

Proper pepper pimento cheese produced in Sandersville, Georgia, really great product.

About 300 and something of them presently that we serve in our store from all over the state.

And I love it.

You know, I love that part of it.

(soft music) - [Narrator] And here's another thing.

The building itself is a little piece of history.

- This barn we're in is a 1750 Dutch barn within Saudi Arabia in New York.

They would have had a decking up here and grain would have been stored above these beams.

Much of those days when these were built, they were set up with the prevailing winds and they'd had big doors on each end.

And so they'd open those doors up, let the wind pass through and they would throw the grain into the air and let the chaff blow out the doors.

And you've heard the term threshold where they put big boards across those doors and it was the hold of thresh.

So it was there to hold the grain inside the barn.

So the husk would blow out.

The grain would stay in the barn.

And that's where a threshold, the term threshold came from.

(soft music) - The other barn and the other rooms are English barn, and it was a hay barn.

So they would have stored hay up in the loft and dropped it down for cattle.

Preserving history and utilizing something really old and not letting it go away and having it for people to be able to see And they are pretty marvelous constructions.

You didn't have drains.

You didn't have big lifts.

You had horses.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Of course, there's a restaurant in the Farmview Market as well, that serves a variety of tasty and healthy options, including a mouthwatering grass fed burger, which leads to the next portion of this story.

(mumbling) - [Narrator] The top-notch Farmview Meat Market, the centerpiece of this destination, and a big part of what Keith Kelly and his team are developing.

(loud music) So let's now follow the story of this meat market down South, the Leesburg, Georgia, just a few miles North of Albany to the Rock House Farm, where I met up again with Keith son, Brad, who has a genuine passion for this farm, these cows and the long-term mission of the market.

(loud music) - The offspring of this herd here is what you gonna be seeing at Farmview.

So we do, you know, conception all the way to the 18 to 24 month range.

When they're getting to that finishing weight, we feel really good about the way the animals are raised down here, the quality of the meat.

And I think that's a good bit different from what you might see in the more kind of industrial system.

And we can really stand behind the quality and the practices down here.

When animals are raised on grass.

And they've done studies where grass fed grass finished beef, almost rivals some of those cuts like salmon, things like that from a health standpoint, from an Omega standpoint.

And it's really all centered around, obviously their diet.

- [Narrator] The Rock House Farm is beautiful country.

And this lake here is also home to some trophy, large mouth birds that we'll have to save for another show down the road.

But while we're in the mood for those that move, we may as well head to the Rock House Creamery back North again near Madison where cheese, curds and what is arguably the most chocolate milk on earth await.

- The chocolate milk is awesome.

And we won an award with our chocolate milk and we worked with University of Georgia.

They helped us.

We developed kind of an adult chocolate milk.

It's very rich, very good.

And it won an award here in the state, "The flavor of Georgia" contest it won.

And a lot of people tell me it's the best chocolate they've ever had.

And we're producing creamline milk.

You know, we're not modernizing our meal.

We do pasteurize it.

We low temp pasteurize, which keeps most of the vitamins and stuff in place.

The cream will separate or come to the top.

And just like we did when I was a kid, you have to shake it.

It's been a lot of fun and it's doing great and getting better all the time.

(loud music) - The creamery is expanding.

We have expanded by merging Kelley Road Creamery into our creamery.

She makes some hard cheese, but she also makes soft cheeses and she makes fatter.

- As this all contributes to the texture of the cheese.

This how you work and treat your curds.

This is what we call a fresh cheddar curd.

These will go into molds to make wheels of cheddar, or you can try it as a fresh cheddar or squeaky, really mild flavor.

- [Keith] I love that.

- Normally have to go to Wisconsin or Minnesota or even New York to get fresh curd.

- And they're really good.

- [Narrator] It's safe to say that life's an adventure in the world of the Kelly's, exploring new ideas.

Going all in and doing it successfully more times than not.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator] It's why this team continues to thrive and support one another, no matter how different one brand is from another.

Offering products to folks all around the world, but also keeping a few things like Farmview Market right here in Georgia, close to home.

(slow music) - [Narrator] From a New Zealand style dairy in Waynesboro that is utilizing Georgia's unique climate to produce some mouthwatering milk.

To a state-of-the-art facility in Dearing with cow friendly robots and a marketing genius in Madison operating a special farmer's market and creamery serving us all kinds of Georgia grown goodness.

The future of dairy is strong in this state and will continue to thrive as long as innovators like these are at the helm.

See you at the next "Fork in the Road."

(soft music) (dramatic music) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] "A Fork in the Road" was brought to you by, (soft music) - [Narrator] From produce to people.

The best things are grown and raised in Georgia.

Even in tough times, we come together, work hard and grow strong.

When you purchase Georgia grown products, you support farmers, families, and this proud state we call home.

Together we will keep Georgia growing.

- Georgia FSIS provides efficient and accurate third party inspection services to members of the industry.

We inspect various fresh commodities, including peanuts, fruits, vegetables, and pecans.

The use of the inspection service ensures the shipment of high quality products and enhances Georgia's reputation as a supplier of superior agricultural products.