Harvesting a Legacy

Starting a farm requires a bold vision for a future you might never see.

This was foremost in Howard Newberry’s mind when in 1987 he acquired farmland in the northern tip of Madison County, Ala. A NASA engineer at Redstone Arsenal, he understood process. He also knew pecans, a staple crop in his native southern Alabama.

Howard’s son, Joe Newberry ’75, bought his own 40 acres beside his father. They were aided by “Doc” Carlile, another NASA engineer, south Alabamian and father of Marie Carlile Newberry ’76, Joe’s wife.

They shared a vision of a pecan farm until they realized how much time, patience—and especially water—it would require. In the interim, they planted a handful of pecan trees and turned the rest into an ornamental tree nursery.

Nearly 40 years later, Newberry Pecans is a thriving business with more than 1,500 pecan trees producing pecans every year and multiple generations contributing to its success in their own way.

“I always like to say ‘Your family might disagree, but my family just disagrees about nuts,’” said Michelle Newberry Epling ’06.

Kernel of a Dream

It is family lore that Joe almost earned an accounting degree out of love. A marketing major initially, he added a second major in accounting to spend more time with Marie, herself an accounting major.

“I was so in love, I wanted to be with her all the time,” recalls Joe. “Halfway [through] my junior year, I said, ‘What the heck am I doing?’ But I’m glad I did that now, because it really helped me in my business career.”

Joe worked for a bank for 18 years before joining Redstone Federal Credit Union, later becoming president, while Marie became a plant controller for Saint Gobain Industrial Ceramics. Her 30-year-career in manufacturing accounting helps her as current president of Newberry Pecans.

“Coming from manufacturing, I was able to see the processes and the steps it takes from start to finish on a product,” said Marie. “It helped me very much to logistically get things set up, get things organized, and also the financials and cost and things like that. Joe and I, we complement each other very nicely.”

In addition to their own careers and raising a family, Marie and Joe would join their fathers and neighbors on the farm on weekends and after work. In 2015, Joe and Marie took over the combined property and began the pecan farm in earnest. Originally a tribute to the Newberry-Carlile roots in south Alabama’s pecan country, the nuts were the ideal crop to survive generation after generation.

“[Pecans have] got 16 minerals and vitamins,” said Joe. “If you’re going to do things for the next generation, you need to do something that promotes health. [The trees] have a lifespan [up to] 200 years. This was a legacy we could leave our children.”

Cultivating a Community

Five years old when her family acquired the farm, working among the pecan trees was a way of life for Michelle Epling and her brother Scott Newberry ’03, now the director of software engineering for HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology. But she knew not every teenager did physical labor on the weekends. 

But years later, Epling credits that early hard work with preparing her for the rigors of the business world she inhabits today. 

Before becoming president of the Madison Alabama Chamber of Commerce, Michelle was been instrumental in growing the brand’s identity as the senior executive of sales and marketing for Newberry Pecans. She helped design the see-through packaging that earned them an “Addy” Award from the American Advertising Federation, and secured a partnership with dinnerware company Lenox to feature a pecan soda bread recipe—developed by Scott and his wife Kim Newberry ‘03—on their website for St. Patrick’s Day.  Michelle’s husband Adam Epling ‘05, a senior software engineer at Sysdig, maintains Newberry Farm’s website. 

Working for the chamber has taught Epling ways to grow the business, and has helped her further connect to the local community. Their products are so in-demand at local retailers they often sell out not long after the harvest in October.

“[Running a] family business gives me a better understanding of [other] business owners at our Chamber of Commerce, because I’m right there with them,” said Epling. “When I talk to businesses, I truly understand where they’re coming from. It’s really given me a nice perspective on how hard it is to run a business.”

Though not as large as some of Alabama’s other pecan farms, the family has found their own way of innovating, especially when it comes to irrigation. They use a device called a “warbler” to spread water more efficiently, and after joining the Alabama Pecan Growers Association, hosted a demonstration for the largest pecan producers in the state.

“I think it speaks to how you can build something from nothing,” said Epling. “On top of growing a wonderful family and kids and grandkids we also sell nuts along the way.”

By Derek Herscovici ’14