GARLAND, NC – Billy Augustine looked around one of the high tunnel grow complexes on his farm in Bladen County in eastern North Carolina, surveying three acres’ worth of romaine lettuce.

“Who else’s got green produce in North Carolina in early February?” he asked.

Augustine is under 40 and already a highly successful entrepreneur. Since starting his operation in 2014, he has expanded the acreage under high tunnel from one acre to 20 acres.

“I’m not stopping,” he said. “I’m looking to add another 30 acres of high tunnel.”

WJA Farms, as his farm is known, grows a wide array of produce but primarily tomatoes and cucumbers. Some of it is grown conventionally – marketed under the Pretty Boy brand – and some of it is grown organically – marketed under the Pretty Girl brand.

This is the first year Augustine has grown romaine. The crop is looking successful, and the hope is that the high tunnels will be producing crops 12 months a year.

As well as developing his own farm, Augustine has also established and built another business, All American Produce, a grower/packer/shipper.

Billy Augustine checks on peppers in one of his high tunnels. Photo courtesy of All American Produce

All American includes 20 growers who farm 3,000 acres both conventionally and organically. The farmers raise many crops, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, radish, squash, zucchini, bell pepper, cucumber, eggplant, butternut squash, round tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, grape tomatoes, melon, blackberries and blueberries. About 1,000 acres under production are used solely to grow blueberries.

All American was founded in 2020. That year it did $1 million in sales. In 2024, it did $20 million in sales, and Augustine is looking to continue its growth.

“The more and more we get into this, the harder it gets to find farmers to participate,” Augustine observed. But he’s optimistic. “We’re creating opportunities, and there’s a good future for people who are willing to commit and work hard.”

Augustine grew up in the produce belt of New Jersey. His mother’s father started a grower cooperative in Vineland, NJ, 60 years ago. His father, Bill, began raising blueberries in Hammonton, NJ, “the blueberry capital of the world,” more than 40 years ago.

In 2001, Bill Sr. moved to North Carolina to be able to get an earlier start on the blueberry harvest. In 2010, Billy Jr. moved there as well to help his father grow his blueberry operation to over 800 acres in production.

A few years later, when Augustine was looking to start his own operation, it was already evident there would be pressure on domestic blueberry producers from imported blueberries, so he decided to get into produce – specifically tomatoes – to start.

He attributes his ability to rapidly grow within the produce industry to his extensive farming background and the knowledge he had of the industry thanks to his family history.

As Augustine has grown his business, so has he had to grow his infrastructure. This past year, he took over the area’s old blueberry growers’ cooperative building for storage and packing. It is sized to handle further growth.

He’s also taken on a director of operations, Ian Perkins; a social media director, Virginia Torres-Eme; and an all-star business development and sales team consisting of industry veterans Christina Monnin, Taylor Martin, Veronica Morales and Joe Rosa.

Augustine markets direct retail to tourists traveling through the region on their way to the beach, and he also sells to large, national retailers. He is looking to develop year-round contracts with the large retailers, which will require him to solidify the production side of the business by adding additional growers.

There is a third business Augustine runs as well, American Dream Transportation, which is a produce transportation operation. The company is run by his lifelong friend and partner Christopher Eme.

When Augustine looks back over the past 10 years, he remembers a “big learning curve.”

“I remember getting up at three in the morning to deliver produce and being back in the office late at night at the end of a long day wrapping things up, before starting it all over again,” he said.

That’s a tale familiar to many (if not all) entrepreneurs.

“It’s fun, though,” Augustine said. “My hobby is work. I enjoy it.”

by Karl H. Kazaks