Billy Augustine of Bladen County was recently recognized by Produce Business Magazine as one of America’s 40 under 40 produce farmers. Billy is President of American Dream Produce, American Dream Transportation, and WJS Farms. Billy is from Hammonton, N.J. He came to Bladen County with his father Bill Augustine when they went into the blueberry business. Billy enjoys golf, fishing, and travel. His motto in life is “If it were easy, everyone would do it.”
Augustine began working in his family’s blueberry operation, Winners Circle, in New Jersey as a young boy. In 2014, he moved to North Carolina to expand the operation an additional 1,000 acres with his father. While in North Carolina, Augustine started his own organic tomato operation, WJA Farms, and has continued to innovate and expand in the organic produce business. The farm focuses on high tunnel production of various conventional and organic fruits and vegetables, and has expanded year after year.
In 2020, he partnered with a friend to found American Dream Produce, which encourages U.S.-grown produce in the North Carolina area. The grower/packer/shipper manages growing and sales for his family’s blueberries, his farming operation, and a group of local farmers that raise 500 acres of mixed organic and conventional vegetables. In 2021, Augustine founded another company, American Dream Transportation, where he is the sole owner. He also participates in “The Produce Box,” which purchases fruits and vegetables from North Carolina farmers to create curated boxes and distribute them to residents. This past year, the boxes became a part of the USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program.
Q: How did you begin working in the produce industry?
Produce has been in my family for three generations before me. My great-grandfather started managing a co-op and was a broker in Vineland, NJ. My mother and her two brothers still run that company.
My father is a first-generation farmer, and farming was a way of life growing up. It has been in my blood from a young age and has become my life’s passion. Growing food is the most important thing on the planet.
Q: What do you know now you wish you knew when you first started your career?
That working in the produce industry would become an addiction!
Q: As a young professional, what aspect of the business most challenged you?
The cost of entry and financial burden it takes to run a farming operation and produce company. It is not easy to be a young entrepreneur and secure the capital it takes to get started.
Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of in your career?
Starting not one, but three different companies in a few short years.
Q: What advice would you give someone new to the produce industry?
It is going to be tough; it is going to be hard. It takes a lot of sacrifice, but it is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life — to produce something that feeds the world.
Q: What do you see as the most critical “hot button” issue facing the industry in the next decade?
Labor. Every year, the labor force gets smaller. The older, more experienced generation is shrinking and the next generation doesn’t show as much interest in agriculture and the work it entails. We, fortunately, have the H2A program, but it is expensive. We import a tremendous amount of labor, and what happens one day if that all comes to a halt?
Q: What would you like consumers to know about the industry?
What it takes to get food on their tables. It not only supports the farmer, but it also supports every other business associated with agriculture and small, rural towns throughout the country that depend on agriculture to survive.
Q: How has the industry changed during your tenure?
The advances in technology and efficiency have been mind-blowing. Production has increased, as we have more equipment coming on board to help us grade and sort produce and be more efficient in the field and warehouse. We also have a lot more focus on food safety.
Q: How has the past year changed your life and your future outlook?
COVID-19 obviously was a game-changer for everyone, especially the produce industry. It makes you appreciate how important it is to keep our country fed and hold onto our domestic food supply. We learned the important role diversity plays in surviving, be it the crops you grow or the markets where you sell.
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