Page 49 - Summer 2021

All of Ward’s cattle wear numbered tags in their top ears. And few, if any, are named.
Ward jumps from his pickup truck and approaches a massive bull, which stands quietly, unlike nearby cattle that stamp their hooves and roll their eyes.
“He’s bridle-trained,” said Ward as he pet the big calf.
Ward has come a long way from a three-room, three-teacher country school in Grady County. After graduating from Cairo High School in 1932, Ward attended Georgia State College for Men, Middle Georgia College and the University of Georgia, where he received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.
He received his master’s from Iowa State College in 1937. Returning to Athens, he joined the College of Agriculture staff at UGA.
During his four-year stint, he married a student, the former Ruth Miller of Edison. The couple began their family with a daughter, Rebecca Ward Vaughn, now a resident of Oglethorpe County.
An offer from the American Jersey Cattle Club took the family to New York City, where Ward headed the production-testing department for two years. Then he returned to Athens as assistant manager of the Athens Cooperative Creamery, afterwards transferring to the UGA teaching staff.
Meanwhile, he operated a registered Jersey dairy farm. In 1957, he became chairman of the dairy section for the Georgia Department of Agriculture and administrative assistant in its veterinary division.
During this time, Phil Campbell, an Oconee County native who knew Ward, became Georgia agriculture commissioner. He appointed Ward chairman and director of the Georgia Milk Commission, then assistant commissioner of agriculture in the Consumer Protection Division.
When Tommy Irvin became agriculture commissioner, Ward was appointed assistant commissioner of administration of the department. He retired in 1979.
Cliff and Ruth Ward purchased a farm on Ga. 53 for $480 per acre.
“At that time, Oconee County was nothing but a few small farmers raising crops and a county seat with only a couple businesses,” Ward said.
People drove dirt roads to Watkinsville or Athens. Between 1971 and 1979, when the couple built their home, they worked every spare moment clearing pastures and developing the farm.
“Ruth worked right along with me,” Ward remembers. “We did everything together.”
In addition to being one of the most prominent farmers in Oconee, Ward held several positions with the Georgia Department of Agriculture
Ruth Ward died after a long battle with asthma. Her touches are everywhere: in a collection of ceramic cows, her needlepoint cushions, the rug in the entry with a cow head figure in the center.
Ward follows with uneasiness the various zoning decisions of the Oconee Board of Commissioners, especially those involving large tracts of land in the green countryside. Most of his cattle- raising and farming neighbors belong to Oconee Citizens for Responsible Growth, a watchdog group concerned with planned growth and development in the county. Nor is he optimistic about stopping he inexorable demand for homes in Oconee, much of which is driven by the fine schools.
Driving through his pastures, Ward takes an old dirt road that cuts from Ga. 53 to Ruth Jackson Road. Several old homes crowd close to the narrow road. One brick home built in 1933 is occupied by his son, D. Preston.
Ward brakes at an old building that was clearly once a country store. An old gas tank with a glass top stands beside it. There is a porch where men once sat and whittled.
“See this?” he gestured to his pastures. “In a few years, this will become a subdivision. Oconee will become another Gwinnett. Only a land trust can save a farm. People must be willing to buy these big tracts and put them in trusts. But will they do it?”
SUMMER 2021 | OcONEE ThE MAgAzINE | PAgE 47