Barnes Family Cabbage Farm in Hastings, Florida: Fighting the Freeze

 

Meet Jim and Rebekah Barnes, third generation cabbage farmers in Hastings, Florida and Farm Credit of Florida members. 

 

For more than 30 years, the Barnes family has run Barnes Farm, LLP, tending to 800 acres of cabbage and producing an incredible 40 million pounds each year. Farming isn’t just their livelihood, it’s their legacy. As Jim puts it, “This is what I was born and raised to do. It’s an honest living.”

 

Last week’s freezing temperatures put that dedication to the test.

 

When a freeze warning hits, the clock starts ticking. The team jumps into action, turning on water, checking how long the freeze will last, and harvesting as many ready heads as possible.

 

Jim says temps around 28°F don’t scare them, but once it dips to 25–24°F, that’s when things get serious. It becomes all hands-on deck: getting cabbage into coolers, keeping water flowing, and protecting every acre they can.

 

Warm water is one of their best tools. Running 70-degree water over the rows helps raise the temperature around the plants and shield them from the cold. It’s tough work, long hours, and a race against nature, but it’s what keeps fresh Florida cabbage on our tables.

 

We are grateful for farmers like the Barnes family who show up, no matter the weather.