Learn how one multistate farmer is promoting diversity in agriculture and bringing attention to the importance of inclusion in the industry.
Ask PJ Haynie what keeps him motivated, and he’ll say it’s watching a crop grow. This dyed-in-the-wool farmer learned his vocation in life in the shadow of his father on a Virginia farm that was started by his great-great-grandfather.
It’s a story that could be like so many other father-son generational farming succession stories; however, Haynie is one of less than 10,000 Black, row-crop farmers in the U.S. today. He has had a unique, if not singular, set of challenges put forth in front of him yet he has found success on his own terms.
When opportunity intersects with Haynie’s optimism, sparks fly. For his achievements in farming, Haynie was named a Top Producer of the Year Finalist in 2024. The program is sponsored by BASF, Case IH, and Rabo AgriFinance.
Upon graduation from Virginia Tech University, Haynie boomeranged home to farm with his father (Philip J. Haynie II). But he wasn’t settled for long, and soon went to Mississippi and then to Arkansas to learn how to farm in the Mississippi Delta.
“Quite often when I meet the person sitting next to me on an airplane, they say I don’t look like a farmer. What is a farmer supposed to look like?” Haynie says. “I’ve been given a gift to show others and share with others. My work is to spotlight diversity in agriculture.”
Haynie says it’s his torch to carry and shine the light. While proud of being a fifth-generation farmer, he acknowledges a dark history his great-great-grandfather worked hard to leave behind. After being freed from slavery, he purchased 60 acres of land on Sept. 14, 1867, in Northumberland County, Va., ground the family still operates on today.
“I don’t want anyone to think Black farmers don’t have any of the same agronomic challenges white farmers have,” he says. “We have the same uncontrollables: weather, price, insects. It’s the historical inequities that create the economic disparities we are currently seeing.”
He points to statistics showing that in 1920, there were one million Black farmers in the U.S. compared to four million white farmers. In regard to Black land ownership, in 1920, Black people owned 16 million acres of land in the U.S. Currently, Black land ownership is less than two million acres.
Haynie has leaned into many opportunities to expand his family’s farming operation — both geographically and vertically.
“Mike Tyson famously said, ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.’ And I would add Mother Nature has a powerful jab,” Haynie says.
A Tenacious Advocate
When PJ Haynie returned home from college to farm full-time, he heard about the USDA Loans for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, but he was immediately met with resistance from a USDA staff member.
“I asked the gentleman, ‘Why are you trying to discourage me? You know a friend of mine, and you gave him a beginning farm loan. Why are you discouraging me from getting involved in farming?” Haynie says. The conversation was getting a little elevated, and the USDA employee pulled his desk drawer open, and brandished a loaded pistol at Haynie.
“He looked at that pistol, looked at me and said, ‘Son, I think this conversation is over,’” Haynie recalls.
Haynie reflects on that story and many others of racial adversity that he has experienced over the years. An unwavering belief in his purpose and resolute perseverance have powered him through and above such discrimination and threats.
“Unfortunately, Black farmers are an endangered species,” Haynie says. “For us to make a difference, we have to protect the small herd of remaining Black farmers that exist and create opportunities for their children and grandchildren.”
In agriculture, we understand that land ownership creates generational wealth. That’s one of the missions of the National Black Growers Council, of which Haynie was a founding member in 2009.
“It’s important for people to understand history and the events that led to the current statistics of less than 10,000 Black row-crop farmers in the U.S.,” he says.
The 14 million acres of land Black Americans have lost over the past 100 years represents over $326 billion in wealth that was extracted from Black families.
“My family currently leases over 3,000 acres of Black-owned land,” Haynie says. “Growing up in Virginia, I never imagined that this was a possibility.”
Haynie just completed a two-year commitment on the USDA Equity Commission, which gave its final recommendations to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.
“If we don’t continue to keep our foot on the gas, Black row-crop farmers are going to be extinct,” Haynie says. “I’m hoping to do my part to help reverse that downward trend.”
He suggests for landowners who are beginning to wind down their farm operation to consider working with producers who have been historically underserved.
“The next generation will be grown from the seeds we plant,” Haynie says. “Unfortunately, the hands that grow the food we consume every day are not as diverse as the knees sitting under American dinner tables. We need to create more opportunities for the few remaining Black farm families. Every morning, I wake up with the weight of helping to prevent further Black land loss and additional Black farmers from going out of business.“
Geographic Leap of Faith
It was Mother Nature who opened Haynie’s eyes to expanding to the Mississippi Delta. Seeking to gain further efficiencies, and with limited geographic expansion opportunities available in Virginia, Haynie looked south, to where he could truck equipment to and plant a month earlier.
“The stretch of coming to the Delta caused growing pains; it was like our waistline got bigger but the pants stayed the same size,” he says. “We now farm ground that’s 1,000 miles or 16 hours apart. In farming, it’s not how big your belt buckle is or how shiny your truck is; it’s the happiness you have in what you do.”
Motivated to Lead
In learning from his father’s success, Haynie picked up one key attribute: the ability to motivate people.
“With our team on the farm, it’s about building respect and rapport, leading by example,” Haynie says.
He readily admits there’s no textbook for what he’s learned in farming; the process of trial and error has taught him many things to share. On any given day, his call log is likely maxed out — displaying 100 calls — by lunchtime.
“We like to quarterback everything,” Haynie says. “So, for example, if we’ve got men working on the east side of the farm, they can call a ‘runner’ for tools or diesel or whatever they need. That keeps focus on the most important task,” he says.
Much of his role is reacting as the day unfolds. But with a long-term view, Haynie is focused on giving opportunity across his team.
“When a young man comes to work on our farm, my goal is to motivate him beyond what he sees in himself and help him reach his maximum potential,” he says. “If I don’t achieve that, then I feel I’ve failed.”
Seeds to Grow
As a farmer, Haynie learned new production practices: irrigation techniques, farming on raised beds and more, but he also formed an important camaraderie with other farmers.
“It has been incredibly valuable to look beyond my local community and the four counties I farmed in. When I came home from Virginia Tech in 1999, if you told me you’d give me $1,000 for every Black farmer I knew who was farming over 1,000 acres, I wouldn’t have been able to cash a check,” he says. “And then I started farming in the Delta, and I found many more Black farmers who I could build a network with and share stories unlike anything I had found before.”
As an extension of this informal fraternity, a nonprofit organization called the National Black Growers Council was formed in 2009. Haynie serves as chairman of the board.
“Your network is your net worth,” he says. “I used to despise parking my tractor to attend meetings. But I realized, who else better to tell PJ’s story than PJ? To be a consistent advocate, I need to engage and share why we do and how we do.”
Haynie credits his father for encouraging him to expand the farming operation and try new agronomic practices. One example is growing canola in 2015, and then transitioning to rapeseed after a few years.
“I have learned to turn stumbling blocks to stepping stones.” Haynie says.
As he started farming in Arkansas, Haynie introduced new crops to the business, including rice, which opened another door. In 2020, he became co-owner of the first Black-owned, food-grade certified rice mill in the U.S., which is located in Pine Bluff, Ark.
“Rice is only grown in six states, and Arkansas is the No. 1 rice producing state in the country,” Haynie says.
In 2020, when Haynie and his partner acquired the rice mill, there were approximately 50 rice mills in the U.S., and none were Black owned.
“As a commodity farmer, no matter how much corn or beans I grow, you can’t directly take that home and feed it to your family,” he says. “The rice really allows us to grow a product, process it at our facility, and offer that to you to take home and feed your family.”
Haynie says the advantages of vertical expansion are both economic — capturing more value in the processing chain — and family-based. The rice mill provides an opportunity for the entire family to contribute. From his son completing a summer internship at the rice mill to a sister that provides financial oversight, each member of the family contributes in their own way.
Three words are interlocking links in Haynie’s life: faith, farming and family.
“My four sisters and I were all pushed to go to college and get an education because of our family values,” Haynie says. “We knew the foundation of education can never be taken away from us, and we just wanted to be able to bring our skills back to the family business to help it to grow.”
In what Haynie described as a “happy day” was a time he was on the farm in Arkansas and received a FaceTime call from his daughter back in Virginia operating a tractor during her college break.
“Farming is a joy, and it’s a privilege. My family legacy is rooted in it, and it’s been my mission to raise my children with the same work ethic that my family instilled in me,” Haynie says.
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