SMR names new SMR Farms president

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Gary Bradshaw’s mantra for farming is a well-known adage: A farmer’s best fertilizer is the footprints he leaves in the field.

As Schroeder-Manatee Ranch’s new president of SMR Farms, the company’s agricultural division, Bradshaw plans to leave plenty of his own on fields for SMR Farms’ citrus, sod, tree and cattle operations.

“It’s a great opportunity I’ve been given,” said Bradshaw, who replaces longtime SMR Farms’ president Mac Carraway. “I know I have my work cut out for me. I like challenges. I’m up for it.”

For 16 years, Gary Bradshaw has worked in SMR Farms’ sod/turfgrass division, most recently as its production manager.

Bradshaw said the transition from his role overseeing SMR Farms’ turfgrass and sod production division to overseeing all of SMR’s agricultural operations should be seamless.

“I have a great management team,” Bradshaw said. “I’ve worked with them — citrus, tree, cattle — for years. They’re all good people, all hard workers.”

Bradshaw also said he does not expect to make any dramatic changes to the farms’ operation, because it already performs well.

“We’re going to do what we do best — sell a great product at a good price,” he said.

Bradshaw, who chairs SMR’s safety council, said will continue to lobby for a strong culture of safety at SMR Farms, continuing monthly “tailgate sessions” on safety practices, among other measures.

Over the last few years, Bradshaw’s responsibilities have grown to the point he hired a supervisor to assist with day-to-day sod farm operations. For example, he helped with the creation and maintenance for Premier Sports Campus and assisted with the Winterfest music festival — projects not included in his job description, said SMR CEO and President Rex Jensen.

Jensen described Bradshaw as a team player.

“I haven’t seen him confronted with a situation he didn’t approach willingly or constructively,” Jensen said. “He’s got the whole package. He’s always rolled up his sleeves; he’s what SMR is all about.”

Bradshaw, who has been in the sod and turf grass industry for 37 years, started his career as a professional baseball player, first with the Milwaukee Brewers, before becoming a state trooper in 1977.

“I was making $10,000 a year back then,” Bradshaw said of time in law enforcement. “Most all of us had extra jobs, because we couldn’t (make) overtime.”

Bradshaw had a side job helping to build a barn at a sod farm. After he finished the project, the company asked him to become a full-time employee.

“The rest is history,” Bradshaw said. “You can have a good career in farming.”

Bradshaw said he loves working the land.

“You take the dirt God gave us here to work (and watch plants grow),” Bradshaw said. “It’s a chore. You have pests and weeds to deal with. But, to see the final product — you have a nice big sod field looking at you — that’s my satisfaction.”