A third generation farmer, Greg Salac, can’t imagine living anywhere else or doing any other kind of work.

Salac grew up in Robertsdale and graduated from Robertsdale High School. He then went to work at Saufley Field at the Pensacola Naval Complex in Pensacola, FL. While he worked, he also went to school at Faulkner State Community College and Troy University at their satellite campus in Pensacola, FL where he received a bachelor’s degree in business management. After working at the Navy base for twenty years, he decided to go to work on the family farm, which was started by his Czechoslovakian grandparents in 1920.

Salac says farming is something he always wanted to do. He believes in the farming way of life that was bred into him at an early age. He says there are many advantages, with job security being the most valuable. If you can stay in business, you will always have a job.

Like any other job, there are disadvantages to farming. Salac said high commodity prices and the rising cost of fuel and equipment can make some years more difficult than others. But he says, “In most years you get out of it what you put into it.” That part of the farming lifestyle is what motivates Salac to keep at it year after year.

When he’s not farming Salac loves to cook. He has always dreamed of owning a restaurant. If he wasn’t a farmer, his career path might have led to owning a quick lunch spot with burgers and barbeque. Since he hasn’t started his restaurant yet, he enjoys cooking for his three children, Christen, Thomas and Rachel.

He believes that his son, Thomas, and his nephew, Trenton, may be the next generation to take over the family farming business.

For Salac, he hopes retirement comes sooner rather than later. For some people, that means no more work.  But he wouldn’t mind working seasonally running equipment and harvesting as he’s needed. After all it’s what he feels that he was born to do.