Our History

In the early 1930s, Herman saw the need for a fertilizer blending plant to supply the growing number of farmers who were migrating to the Everglades Agricultural Area, so he designed and built the first fertilizer plant in the Glades. He also opened a store for farmers, the Wedgworth Supply House, providing everything from seed to equipment for local growers. Soon after, he built a vegetable packing house to pack and ship the winter vegetables to cities in the north.

By 1938, Wedgworth Farms, Inc., Wedgworth Produce, Inc., and Wedgworth’s, Inc., the fertilizer company, were continuing to prosper and expand. The farm was growing a wide variety of winter vegetables on almost 2,000 acres and shipping nearly a half million packages to market each year.

Herman was also active in his community. He was Chairman of the “Market Committee” of the Belle Glade Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Belle Glade Rotary Club, and Chairman of the Trustees of the Community United Methodist Church. And he was now the proud father of three children.

In 1938, Herman decided to modernize the packing house with a state-of-the-art ice-making and storage addition. On October 12, while supervising the installation of a 10-ton ice machine on top of the new ice storage building, Herman H. Wedgworth was fatally injured when a hoist collapsed and the ice machine pinned him to the packing house floor. His injuries were primarily a result of his saving another man's life by rushing in to push him out of the way of the falling beams instead of seeking safety for himself first. For more than three hours before he died, Herman remained lucid and talked with Ruth about how she should carry on without him. Herman was only 37 years old when he died. Ruth was left with the businesses to run, most of them heavily mortgaged, and three children: Helen, 14, George, 9, and Barbara, 4.

Over the years, Ruth Springer Wedgworth proved more than equal to the task. She managed the farm and all its operations effectively and eventually became one of Florida's most successful women in business. Under her management, the farm expanded to 4,500 acres. During WWII, Wedgworth Farms received many awards from the U.S. government for providing food for the nation. In 1942, a large commercial cattle operation was started . . . as an offshoot from George's high school 4-H project! Ruth was President of all three businesses through the 1940s, '50s, and '60s: Wedgworth Produce, Inc., Wedgworth Farms, Inc., and Wedgworth’s, Inc.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Mrs. Wedgworth oversaw the transition in the family's farming operation from primarily vegetable farming to sugarcane. During her many years in the farming industry, Ruth S. Wedgworth was recognized for her ability and considerable contributions to agribusiness. In 1988 she was inducted into the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame, only the second woman to be so honored. Ruth received honorary doctorates from the University of Florida and Florida Southern College. She was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association in 1958 and from the Florida Farm Bureau in 1980. In her “spare” time, Ruth Wedgworth was a director of Florida National Bank of Belle Glade; chairwoman of the Highland Glades Drainage District; a member of the Governor's Committee on Migrant Workers; a board member of the Palm Beach County Hospital District and the Palm Beach County School Board, the first president of Belle Glade's Business and Professional Women's Club . . . and a Sunday School teacher at Community United Methodist Church. But Ruth would tell her friends that her most important job was raising Helen, George, and Barbara. Ruth Springer Wedgworth passed away in December of 1995 at the age of 92.

Ruth's older daughter, Helen Jean, graduated from Pahokee High School in 1941 (Belle Glade High School had not been created yet) and in 1943 married Joe Tom Boynton of Pahokee. Together, they formed Boynton Farms, Inc., which would later become one of the founding members of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. Helen was a primary founder of Glades Day School and a lifelong patron of the arts, notably of artist Graham Ingels. Helen Wedgworth Boynton passed away in May of 2007 at the age of 83.

In 1991, Helen and her sister, Barbara, spearheaded the Wedgworth family's gift of $1 million to the University of Florida IFAS Everglades Research and Education Center in Belle Glade. This gift, and a matching grant from the state, funded a new 21,000-square-foot laboratory, with research facilities and offices for 75 faculty and staff members. The University named the facility the Herman H. and Ruth S. Wedgworth Laboratory.

Barbara Ann Wedgworth graduated from Belle Glade High School in 1953 and later Florida Southern College, and began her career in education. In 1963, she married engineer John P. Oetzman. She lives on Singer Island, Florida, and is an officer and director of both Wedgworth Farms, Inc., and Wedgworth’s, Inc.

The only son of Herman and Ruth Wedgworth, George Herman Wedgworth, was born in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1928 and arrived in Belle Glade with his parents when he was just 18 months old. He would live in Belle Glade the remaining 86 years of his life.

After graduating from Belle Glade High School in 1946, George followed his high school sweetheart and future wife, Peggy Rawls, to Michigan State University, where he earned a degree in Agricultural Engineering. After college graduation in 1950, George returned home to Belle Glade to help his mother run the family businesses.

At the age of 32, George organized a group of 52 independent farmers in 1960 to form the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. He would serve as President and Chairman of the Board of the Co-op for the next 53 years, until his retirement at age 85 in 2013. Under his leadership, the Co-op grew to produce half a million tons of raw sugar and 25 million gallons of molasses a year. The Co-op also partnered with Florida Crystals Corporation to form ASR Group, the world's largest sugar refining company.

In 1963, George used his organizing skills to put together a group of local businesspeople to form a hometown bank. The Bank of Belle Glade opened that November and is one of the highest-rated banks for financial strength in the entire state of Florida.

George was instrumental in the formation of a leadership training program at the University of Florida that was named in his honor. The Wedgworth Leadership Institute gives dozens of the state's leaders intensive training in a wide range of topics.

In 1994, George Wedgworth joined his mother in the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame. In 2005 he was named “Sugar Man of the Year” as the recipient of the Dyer Memorial Award in New York City, and in 2011 he was honored as Palm Beach County Business Leader of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches.

By the time George Wedgworth passed away in November 2016, he had seen the family businesses grow dramatically over his lifetime. Wedgworth Farms, which his father and mother began with 320 undeveloped acres, now consisted of 10,000 acres of prime muck land and 10,000 acres of beautiful “old Florida” ranch land near Yeehaw Junction. Wedgworth’s, Inc., the fertilizer operation George's father started in a wheelbarrow, was now the largest fertilizer company in Florida.

Many years ago, George handed the reins of the family businesses, and their future, to his son, Dennis. Dennis was born and raised in Belle Glade, earned an engineering degree from Duke University and an MBA from the University of Florida. In July 2025, he stepped back from running the companies day to day. He remains Chairman of the Board of both Wedgworth Farms, Inc., and Wedgworth’s, Inc. Dennis is a member of the Board of Directors of Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative and sits on its Executive Committee. He is also on the boards of the Bank of Belle Glade and the Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association. Dennis Wedgworth has brought the highest standards of science and technology to both Wedgworth Farms, Inc., and Wedgworth’s, Inc., making both companies leaders in their industries. In 2026, Dennis joined his father and grandmother in the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame.

A fourth generation now helps lead the business.

Dennis's daughter, Katie Wedgworth Bryson, has worked at Wedgworth’s, Inc. for more than two decades in a number of roles and is now its pricing coordinator. Nephew Keith Wedgworth joined Wedgworth Farms out of college more than 25 years ago and has been a Vice President there since 2017. Katie's husband, Aaron Bryson, joined Wedgworth’s, Inc. in 2018 and was part of its management team until July 2025, when he became President. Nephew Patrick Altman came home to the family business in December 2022 as CTO, after 20 years building and running startups, in order to modernize the company's systems.

Nearly a century after Herman and Ruth Wedgworth arrived in Belle Glade, their legacy keeps growing. Herman and Ruth's foresight, work ethic, intellect, and willingness to take risks—traits they passed on to their children—continue to impact the Glades today through Wedgworth Farms, Wedgworth’s, Inc., Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, ASR Group, the Bank of Belle Glade, Glades Day School, the UF/IFAS Everglades Research and Education Center, and the Wedgworth Leadership Institute. Their heritage continues.