Why This Outstanding Apple Grower Is Known as a Carolina Crusader
August 9, 2022 
Kenny Barnwell is this year’s Apple Grower of the Year East Region Honoree. When he isn’t growing apples, he’s advocating for the industry.
Photo courtesy of Kenny Barnwell Orchard
Kenny Barnwell, a fifth-generation apple grower in the Appalachian foothills of Western North Carolina, has never rested on his laurels since taking over the family orchard in 1989. Whether he has rested at all is debatable.
“I’ve personally known him for over 30 years and have sat in at least a thousand ag-related meetings with him during that time,” says Mark Williams, Executive Director of Agribusiness Henderson County (AgHC). “He voluntarily contributes countless hours as one of the strongest advocates for the apple industry and ag-related operations. Kenny has the respect, admiration, and appreciation of all who know him.”
Not bad for a guy who went to college to stay out of the apple business.
“The last thing I ever thought I’d be was an apple grower,” Barnwell says. “My parents were educators. I went to college and got a degree in chemistry and a degree in biology. I came back and, after doing some interviews to do plant work and research, I decided that was not for me.”
Barnwell wound up helping his uncle run the namesake business for several years before assuming sole ownership of what is now Kenny Barnwell Orchard. The wholesale business in Hendersonville, NC, supplies farmers’ markets and other local merchants as well as large companies, such as Gerber and Peterson’s, the company that provides McDonald’s with their apple slices.
“I have expanded my orchard slowly,” Barnwell says. “In 1992 I got my mother and father’s part of the family land, and we started pushing up the old trees. Everything that I got from my family has been replanted at least once, and a lot of it’s been replanted twice.”
INDUSTRY MOUTHPIECE
Each of Barnwell’s 25 varieties of apples, including an increasing number of ‘EverCrisp’ and ‘Honeycrisp’, is grown high density on trellises. With 2½ to 3 feet of in-row spacing and 12 feet of row spacing, a typical acre — among 160 overall — accounts for approximately 1,200 trees.
“By keeping shorter limbs and getting more light into my apples, we’ve gotten to where we’re growing some really good apples,” Barnwell says.
As successful as he has been in the orchard, what separates Barnwell from many peers is his activism away from the farm. He boasts board and community involvement with the:
• North Carolina Apple Growers Association (21-year board member, three terms as president)
• Henderson County Agricultural Advisory Committee (current chairman, fourth term)
• Agribusiness Henderson County (founding member, chairman two terms)
• USDA Farm Service Agency County Committee (Henderson, Polk, Transylvania)
• “Friends of the Commissioner” group with North Carolina Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler
• U.S. Apple Association Scientific Advisory Committee
“Kenny routinely represents the interests of the agricultural community regarding public policy issues at the local, state, and federal level in areas such as comprehensive planning, ag funding, farm labor, crop insurance, environmental issues, food safety, and chemical regulations,” Williams says.
GIT’R’DONE
Barnwell patterns himself after the generation of industry leaders in North Carolina who were making their mark when he was starting his business 30 years ago.
“They went to Raleigh, and they got special bills passed,” he says. “Then we had a generation that didn’t do much. They kind of rested on their laurels, and we were left out of programs. I saw that.”
Barnwell has been on the offensive ever since.
“You’ve got a group of politicians out of this area that are willing to listen to agriculture. You don’t have that in a lot of areas,” Barnwell says. “But you have to make sure they understand your needs. Don’t ask for the moon — because you’re not going to get it. But try to be relevant.
“I do. I go to a lot of meetings and spend a lot of time away from the farm. We’re just going to keep on trying to fight the good fight down here.”
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