Alyssa Ridenour
reporter@greenepublishing.com
Ashley Farms is owned and operated by Don Ashley and his sister, Theo Meadows. The two of them were recently awarded the 2020 Jon Gould Florida Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year award. However, the farm wasn't always a tree farm and the sibling farmers have lives outside of just farming.
Don Ashley, a lifelong resident of Madison, is the husband of Tamara Ashley and has two kids named John Ashley and Sara Ashley-Ford. When he's not working the farm, he's fast at work at Madison County Community Bank, where he has earned the title of executive vice president and senior lender.
Back in 1962, Ashley Farms grew shade tobacco, used for wrapped cigars. Unfortunately, the market for shade tobacco went downhill and the Ashleys soon found it difficult to make ends meet. "We had to find a way to pay the bills without giving up our land," stated Mr. Ashley. They wanted to keep their land and still bring in an income for bills and basic necessities. In the mid-70s, Mr. Ashley decided to do away with growing tobacco.
After stopping tobacco production, they began brainstorming what they could grow. They noticed a high demand for lumber and decided that they should start a tree farm. By 1984, they had begun to grow long leaf pine trees. The Ashleys love and respect wildlife and are careful to participate in reforestation and environmental sustainability when they harvest trees. They have also incorporated woodlands, food plots and corn fields into their farmlands.
When their trees are harvested, they are taken to multiple different locations for several different uses including but not limited to saw mills, paper mills and veneer mills.