Sleek cattle graze contentedly in well-kept pastures. Dust rises in clouds as tractors till the fields, Grandchildren hunt, fish and ride horses on property that has been in Portal farmer Jimmy Skrine’s family for decades, and the 73-year-old takes an active role in operating the farm that has been his life for over 60 years.
    “I have farmed since I was big enough to get on a tractor,” Skrine said recently at a luncheon where he was honored for his life’s work. “I’d hate to go ahead and make a change and do something else.”
    He and his family were guests at the recent Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce annual Farm City Luncheon at the Bulloch County Center for Agriculture, where he was surprised to learn the Chamber’s Agribusiness Committee chose him as the 2014 Farmer of the Year.
    The honor reflects Skrine’s dedication to the farm life. He, his son Scott Skrine and grandson J.T. Skrine operate about 1,700 acres near Portal, where they tend land they lease and own. Skrine Farms raises hay, cotton, soybeans, peanuts, wheat and beef cattle.
    Skrine was just a 10th-grade student when he dropped out of school to work on the family farm, located just a short distance from the Portal city limits on Portal-Metter Highway. The Skrines also lease crop land in other areas around Portal.
    His father was a sharecropper when he suffered a stroke, and Skrine jumped in to take over for the family. He dropped out of school “and I just never went back,” he said.
    A few years later, at age 19, “I went out on my own,” he said, continuing a life he had grown to love. “I’ve been blessed ever since.”
    His first wife, Linda, passed away in 1996. He was alone until 2006, when he got up the nerve to speak to a lady he had seen “walking around town.”
    He noticed “she didn’t have a ring on her finger,” he said, so he started asking questions and learned she was not attached. “I stopped by one day when she was in her yard an asked if she could help me,” he said with a chuckle. He pretended to have something in his eye, and the conversation led to his asking her out for dinner.
    Eight years later, Gwen Skrine, a lifelong city girl, finds herself a happy farmer’s wife. “She loves it,” and spends time planting flower beds and enjoys helping with the cattle, he said.
    He maintains two herds of cows, as does Scott. “We all work together,” he said.
    What does Skrine enjoy most about farm life? “I enjoy the outdoors,” he said, describing mornings when he puts on his shoes on the back porch, watching the sun rise and mockingbird and quail that frequent the farm. “I just love being outside. I love the land, I love to see things grow. It makes me feel relaxed and that I am accomplishing something.”
    Skrine and his family are well-established members of the Portal community. “They’re good people,” said Portal business owner Larry Lanier.
    “Jimmy has always been a good farmer,” he said. “I have known him more than 60 years. He tends to his own business, expects you to tend to yours, and is a good neighbor. He will help you in any way he can.”

    Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.