On Drew Wendland’s first date with his now-wife, the Auburn University sophomore was fun…but reserved.

Then, Lauren asked about Drew’s family and their farm in Autaugaville.

“I could just see his eyes lighting up telling me about ‘home,’” remembered Lauren.

She soon visited Autauga Farming Co., where cotton burst from bolls, cows nuzzled calves and Drew’s tight-knit family welcomed her into the fold. Just over a decade later, Drew and Lauren are making their mark on the farm while raising its sixth generation — Mills, 5, Smith, 4, and Rhett, 1.

As the farm’s crop production manager, Drew honors his agricultural heritage while improving each element that impacts agronomy. His father, Andy, and his youngest brother, Dan, have other duties, divvied by strengths and experience.

“My job is to never let the plants have a bad day,” said Drew, 31. “Every minute a plant stresses, yield or potential goes away, and it doesn’t come back.”

Drew’s shrewd decision-making maximizes efficiency, profitability and stewardship. Since returning to the farm in 2016, he’s created detailed budgets for cotton, corn, oats, sesame, soybeans and wheat, plus pasture and hayfields. Post-harvest data analysis gauges success.

A critical component of Drew’s production playbook is just that — an annually revised manual that documents techniques, anticipates issues and offers solutions by crop.

That’s been important as the farm’s workforce transitioned from seasoned employees to seasonal workforce with H-2A guest workers. As the de facto HR manager, Drew crafted standard operating procedures to ensure the team is informed and effective.

Meanwhile, Lauren brings balance to workers’ 10-month stints in the U.S.

“Now that I’m a mama, I think about what would happen if I sent my boys overseas to work on someone’s farm,” said Lauren, 31. “It takes a lot for these guys to come over here, and they deserve to be cared for and treated with respect.”

Compassion helps Lauren minister to others — whether taxiing her farm kid trio to the field, serving at Church Street Methodist Church in Selma or advising patients as a nurse practitioner. She’s a steadfast helpmate for Drew, too.

“Drew is very patient, and you can hardly farm without patience because there are a lot of things out of our control,” Lauren said. “He takes what God gives and rolls with it. Drew may have a hard day on the farm, but when he’s home, those little boys have no idea because he is in ‘daddy mode,’ and the patience continues.”

Drew is also tenacious. The second of five children, Drew developed a competitive spirit early, said his older sister, Katie Wendland Nichols.

“Drew sees something that he wants to do and goes after it with every fiber of his being,” Katie said. “That’s carried over into the way he is as a farmer and as a dad. He dreams big all the time and takes necessary steps to get to the end goal.”

Drew and Lauren’s oldest son exhibits that determination. Though just 5, Mills has already painstakingly planned for and added a small blueberry enterprise to the farm.

They’re supporting Mills’ entrepreneurship — an approach modeled by Drew’s grandfather, the late Milton “Buzz” Wendland.

“If you have something you’re good at and think you can contribute it, my family has always encouraged us to do that,” Drew said. “Dan has done that with the cow herd. They let me do that with bringing technology into row cropping. Mills is just starting earlier.”

Ties to the farm community tighten the thread of agriculture woven through the Wendlands’ life. They serve within the Autauga County Farmers Federation and its Young Farmers program, plus national organizations and state entities, like the State Hay & Forage Committee. Drew is a graduate of the elite A.L.F.A. Leaders program Class V.

A man of faith, Drew finds inspiration in wisdom handed down from his great-grandfather, Will Howard Smith.

“He said of his father, McQueen Smith, that everything he did was marked with firmness, self-discipline, self-restraint, a high regard for right and wrong, and ambition to succeed in all undertakings,” Drew said. “For 31 years, I’ve been able to see my dad and my granddad exemplify those characteristics. I just hope and pray those are the same characteristics I leave in people’s mind when they remember me.”