Russ Page Says His Activism Stems From His Farming

Russ Page didn’t grow up on a farm, but he began working on one when he was 11.

It was the love of animals and of farming that brought Page to the University of Georgia in 1981 and to Oconee County.

Page is one of the founders of the Oconee County’s successful farmland protection program, one of the originators of Oconee Farmers Market, and a tireless advocate for historic preservation and greenspace.

Page also is a cattle reproductive physiologist with a doctorate from Rutgers University and post doctorate fellowships at West Virginia University and the University of Pennsylvania.

And he was a successful businessman, having started a company called Reproductive Progress in 1989.

Page says he prefers to think of himself as a farmer, saying the other things he has done in his career are in service to farming.

Next month, Russ and his wife, Joan, are moving to Wilmington, N.C., to be closer to family and to the ocean.

Friends who want to wish them well can drop by from 6 to 8 p.m. on July 2 at the Cotton Gin on U.S. 15 south of Watkinsville.

For more on this story, with a video interview with Page, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Russ Page