April 16, 2025
Changing careers after decades can be daunting, but for Ginger Carawan, it felt more like coming home as she was reconnecting with her passion for agriculture. After 30 years in traditional banking, Ginger transitioned 5 years ago as a Servicing Specialist with AgCarolina Farm Credit in the Swan Quarter branch.
Ginger’s passion and roots in agriculture align with AgCarolina Farm Credit’s mission and purpose. Growing up in Engelhard, a small town in northeastern North Carolina, her dad Troy Hodges, was an owner and salesman for John Deere, and her maternal grandfather was a dairy farmer. Farming has always been a part of her life.
Nearly 44 years ago, Ginger married Bryan Carawan, a third-generation farmer. “Our dates were sometimes spent plowing, picking or checking a crop,” Ginger recalls. Those dates continued into marriage. “Farming can be long hours. If you want to spend time with them in the busy season, you may have to ride along or take them a picnic lunch.”
In partnership with Ginger and Bryan’s two sons, Dillon and Devin, Bryan’s brother, Tony, and his son Chase, they own and operate Carawan Farms, located in Swan Quarter, NC. Surrounded by water with some of the blackest, most fertile soil, the family farm tends a 40-mile stretch from Engelhard to Rosebay where they currently grow field corn, soybeans, fresh market green beans and sweet corn. The family also owns and operates Mattamuskeet Fresh Produce where green beans are graded and sweet corn is chilled and shipped.
Bryan and Ginger felt it is important to teach their boys the value of hard work. The lessons they taught their sons on the farm continue with another generation as they teach their grandchildren the same valuable lessons.
For Ginger, farming and family are synonymous. She finds joy in each day whether it's bringing her farmers picnic lunches on the family farm or serving the farmers in her area through AgCarolina Farm Credit. Ginger says,
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in agriculture where my Roots Run Deep.”