Farmers symbolize grit, hard work, tenacity, specially legacy or here at a watermelon field to visit with the family in Grady, Arkansas.

Than know all about it.

I'm Logan Duvall and this is good.

Roots markets are just part of the story of agriculture and for some farmers in the delta it's taken some very special characteristics to get here.

Let's fill it up.

Molar Bella I'm Abraham Carpenter Junior I'm the manager of Coghinas Produce Farm, located in Grady, Arkansas in Lincoln County.

I've been managed in the family business ever since I was 12 years old.

My dad and the rest of the family they entrusted me to do it, and everybody just kind of fell in line.

Mama originally started with one acre of land that she made more money after one acre land and my dad made working all year long at the lumber company.

He said well now if you gonna make that kind of money I'm gonna quit my job and I'm going to prove this full time.

My major crops are greens, cantaloupe, watermelon, peas, okra yellow, squash, zucchini, squash.

We grow some of the biggest, the sweetest watermelons into.

Whole United States, maybe even the whole world, I don't know, but I know their sweet.

Is there anything that brings people together like a watermelon man?

I'm telling you hot summer day with watermelon, good catalo and blood red blood red.

Is it sweet?

Hey man, I'm telling you you want to get a taste of it.

You tell me how you like it there is this the ticket that particular.

I think there's nothing better than a good sweet watermelon.

Nothingman watermelons kind of being good to you.

Probably this business is a business.

We grow about 250.

300 acres of watermelons every year.

People love to get those this we warm up and I know you know about warm as you can see, the sugar in that watermelon man.

Given all, that's the sugar man, I think their specialty.

Aspect where where y'all made a pivot back away from the commodities and into produce, yeah.

That's a business decision.

Well, that's true brother, my dad.

Damn initially started growing Cadangan soybeans went broke doing it.

So we kind of regrouped and Johnny growing produce and doing for 50 years.

Been real good to the family.

Man raised five brothers, three sisters, and 28 nieces and nephews on the phone.

Everybody was able level decent countable life.

Watermelon is absolutely amazing.

Thank you, brother.

Let's go see where where they come from.

Let's do that.

I tell you, we gotta feel full.

When Abraham was five years old, he was a leader.

Then I was bossy.

He was bossy.

So we just combine that boss in this together and made it happen.

One could daddy ceremony.

Yeah, I think we should.

I am Abraham's baby sister.

I work here at companies photos and fish in Pine Bluff.

OK, alright Mr. Brown.

Thank you.

I started working when I was seven years old.

It was a lot of us and everybody got their own little different attitudes and all that, but we made it all come together.

Everybody had a purpose and we all mixed it up together and made one big family that's hot.

This is definitely legacy.

You gotta vote on when you were 12 years old.

I did that, but I'm just going to my children, my nieces, my nephews, grandchildren.

We told him we prepare them with the ability to plant crops to grow the crops producing marketed and send it out to the stores.

We've done all of that and we've built them faith from ground up.

Thank you very much.

When in some years plus back there was a lot of discrimination inside of USDA.

We had prior losses foul against USDA for racial discrimination.

The attorneys came down from Washington and they presented it as.

You joined a lawsuit, you get $50,000 and your debt relief $50,000 and made a whole lot.

But the debt relief would have been major.

Someone's got to 50,000 and no debt relief whatsoever.

It was a big let down for many farmers essery than 20.

Some years later.

You know we will still fighting to get the right things done just to be treated fairly.

I'm really happy that the legislation passed and it's going to benefit a lot of farmers.

So the only thing that breaks my heart is the fact that so many others have passed away, you know, and without being able to realize this come to fruition, you know my mother.

She passed away in 2017 and before she passed it wasn't a dated went by that she didn't ask her junior, had a lawsuit coming along as we gonna get any relief.

I said Mom is coming.

So she looking down on us from heaven today, but Mom is here.

After spending time with y'all, the theme of family and hard work and faith is everywhere.

You're the next generation.

What's the future look like?

I plan on going to college and majoring in chemistry, learning about the chemical compositions and things like that being here and not just learning from someone else but coming outside with Dad at 6:00 AM.

And we're in the fields and we're looking hands on.

And it's a different experience.

It is so you were.

You might be a little bit of the anomaly that you're not wanting to run away from the family business is the part of it.

So what do you think the difference is there for you?

It is the people that you meet and they come back.

And they're like we took it to the family, get together and everyone enjoyed it.

Or we had it at family time on Tuesday night you have an effect on people's lives is more than just growing it and shipping it off here.

You get a connection with those people and they come back and they tell you the effect that you had on their lives.

That's beautiful.

Thank you.

I'm so excited to see what the future holds for the carpenters.

Yes, so it's definitely bright.

That is yes.

An afternoon with the carpenters can be summed up as family perseverance, love for good roots.

I'm Logan Duvall.