Author Archives: John Holcomb

GFB Leadership Takes Southeast Georgia Ag Tour

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Alma, GA

Down in southeast Georgia recently, Georgia Farm Bureau’s Board of Directors got an up close and personal look at the different crops that are grown in the region. It’s an experience GFB President, Tom McCall says allows those that protect and promote agriculture a chance to see a different perspective they may not have ever gotten to witness before.

“Farm Bureau’s job is to protect and promote agriculture and I wanted the board to be able to see firsthand, operations. We don’t grow a whole lot of tobacco in North Georgia and we were fortunate enough that Daniel and Patricia invited us to their farm. He grows cotton, tobacco, mainly tobacco, and peanuts and corn. I wanted to help the board understand what actually happens on a tobacco farm. All the labor, electricity, gas and all it costs to produce tobacco, along with cotton, corn and peanuts, but I think the most interesting thing today has been the whole tobacco process,” says GFB President, Tom McCall.

“We all talk about each other’s crop and we’re always discussing each other’s crop when we meet, but this was an opportunity to bring them down here and show them kind of what we do. They’ve heard me talk about cooking tobacco or harvesting tobacco, but they’ve never actually seen the process and it’s hard to explain and getting them to be able to view it, see how it comes and goes is just fun. Plus, it gets everybody together. We grow cotton and peanuts and we looked at both crops of that and we looked at the neighbor’s blueberries. It’s a big blueberry growing area. Just gives them a different region of the state to see what’s really going on,” says Daniel Johnson, First Vice President.

According to Johnson, they’ve been growing tobacco for forty years now, and says in those forty years, a lot has changed, all except for his love for the crop.

“We grow five hundred and fifty acres of Fluker Tobacco. All of our tobacco is made for Cigarettes; it’s where it goes to. This is our fortieth crop of growing tobacco. It’s been our mainstay on the farm. We’ve tried to add and make adjustments in equipment to make it easier. We gone about as far as we go, as far as making it better. So, it’s just our way of life. We’re in a region down here that there’s not but two things that really made this part of the country, and that’s pine timber and tobacco, and we’re fortunate enough to be able to still grow it,” says Johnson.

As Johnson stated, Georgia used to be a big tobacco producing state, but he says over the years, the acres have dwindled down due to regulations, buyouts, and even labor challenges as tobacco is a very hands-on crop.

“Georgia used to grow a lot. I can’t remember what the top acreage was. Probably forty thousand acres. Now we’re down to like eight or nine thousand acres where North Carolina is still in the 250 thousand-acre range. Then you’ve got labor; tobacco is a labor intense crop and a lot of older growers took the chance to get out of production when the buyout come through and they did; I don’t blame them. We were still young enough that we could still grow tobacco and still produce it,” says Johnson.

Ag Leaders Address Challenges, Opportunities at Annual Ag Issues Summit

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Perry, GA

In just over four months, state legislators will be returning under the Gold Dome and kicking off the 2024 session. Just like with every year, there are a number of ag issues they’re hoping to address, which is why the annual Joint Agriculture Committee Chairmen Ag Issues Summit is so important, as they discuss issues within agriculture with fellow ag industry leaders and professionals.

“Representative Robert Dickey and myself we co-hosted it and we worked together with our friends across the industry to come up with speakers and with subjects that are near and dear to the ag industry with challenges and opportunities that we need to look at going forward,” says Russ Goodman, Senate Ag Committee Chairman. “We heard some great speakers. We talked about foreign ownership of land. We talked about fertilizer. We talked about a future economic forecast and production agriculture. We just looked at a lot of different subjects and looking at what opportunities lay ahead for us as policymakers, the things we can do to help our state’s farm families and to help our number one industry.”

One of those speakers was Iowa State Extension Economist, Chad Hart, who spoke on the farming economy and the challenges impacting it; everything from the weather to geopolitical factors around the world that Hart says is causing problems for our producers here in Georgia and across the US.

“Just here within the U.S., we’ve had a drought. You know, it’s covered the southern and central part of the U.S. here for the last three years. That definitely has an impact. We’ve seen drought also in South America, but probably one of the biggest things I think farmers throughout the country felt were this, let’s call it the seesaw of import prices that we’ve seen over the past couple of years. Fertilizer was a big one for a lot of folks, especially last year. Compared to this year. We saw prices rocket to record levels. Well, some of that is linked to COVID going back to supply chain problems back then. Some of that is related to the Ukrainian war. A lot of the fertilizers that we bring in here to the U.S. gets its start in Eastern Europe. So, you’re seeing these international incidents combined with natural disasters that have led to increasing expenses here to conduct agriculture,” says Hart.

As mentioned, that wasn’t the only topic discussed, but according to Robert Dickey, House Ag Committee Chairman and farmer himself, it’s that issue he says needs some major attention this upcoming session, as he believes that when ag succeeds, the entire state does.

“We’re facing it all. Agriculture is one of those industries that just gets it all. So we need some levers. We’re looking for what would be good for our citizens and our farmers. I think when farming, the state’s largest industry succeeds, our state will succeed and have trickled down to our community. So that’s one of the challenges, where we look to make sure AG is long term profitable in our state and other states are doing more than Georgia, and that’s where we’re going to look further,” says Dickey.

By: John Holcomb

Small, Unique Farm Store a Staple for Fresh, Locally Grown Products

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Newnan, GA

If it’s pasture raised beef and pork, locally grown fruits and vegetables or even raw milk you’re looking for, Country Gardens Farm has what you need. However, this third-generation farm in Newnan hasn’t always been such a one stop shop.

“I’ve been growing something all my life. My grandfather, this was his original farm. My Father farmed here, but I’m the only one that’s kind of taken it to the level of selling retail. But for about thirty years, we’ve had a retail, nursery, and garden center and sold ornamental plants that we sold to the public and this just kind of transitioned into food,” says Mike Cunningham, Owner of Country Gardens Farm.

That of course is an understatement, as customers get the chance to browse a wide selection of products grown right here on the farm or surrounding areas, which guarantees the highest quality and freshness.

“So, we offer our customer a small farmers market here on the weekends so they can get meat, milk, eggs, cheese, vegetables; kind of a one stop little farm stand; our own little farmers’ market. That’s what I’m trying to do. So, they’re always after local produced fruit, vegetables, meats and they’re looking for to know where their food’s coming from,” says Cunningham.

What sets this operation apart from the rest are the multiple classes if offers throughout the month, with the goal of making it both fun and relatable.

“We got the one area that we call the teaching gardens and that’s something that they can envision in their backyard. It’s not like a huge hundred foot bed, but little, small gardens that they can envision doing this in their back yard. We’ve seen a lot of people that have never gardened before in the last few years and they’re really excited and we like to see them have a good experience with it,” says Judy Cunningham.

With a number of topics such as canning and fermentation to go along with the gardening, the Cunningham’s are hoping to bridge the generational gap when it comes to agriculture.

“It’s been kind of a disconnect over the years and they may have remembered their grandparents cooking and canning and now they’re thinking back to that and they say, ‘well, that’s something that I really want to learn’. We have a big population here, close by now,” says Judy

This 150-acre farm always stays busy as it grows a year-round selection of vegetables and plants. However, it’s a time and labor commitment they wouldn’t have any other way.

“When we’re planting seed and we’re seeing things germinate and come up out of the ground or we’re in the greenhouse back here in the wintertime, we’re starting our peppers and tomato plants and things, I think it’s something that’s wired in me to appreciate things that are growing and seeing things mature,” says Mike.

By: Damon Jones

Therapeutic Farm Creating Opportunities

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Appling, GA

The journey to Cooper Ridge Farm wasn’t always a pastoral path. Josephine and Justin Fuller, once entangled in the corporate web, discovered a yearning for something more profound, more purposeful, more powerful. This epiphany led them away from the confines of boardrooms and deadlines. Even as Justin continued his role as a construction project manager at the Savannah River Site nuclear facility, the couple found themselves at a crossroads. It was in their newfound haven that they realized both the land and animals surrounding them could be a tool for healing and learning.

“We both wanted property and when we found this property, it was already an established farm, at least the fencing was here, some of the fencing. So, then we started to get our animals and we realized that we really have something special here. It just kind of fell into place. The animals that we were purchasing, our goats, we and even the people that we got them from said, ‘this one goat is like a dog. He’ll follow you around everywhere.’ The low line black Angus have a different temperament that is very calming than a full size Angus. They just tend to be a calm breed. So, it just kind of fell into place with each animal that we’ve added to our farm,” says Josephine Fuller, Founder & CEO of Cooper Ridge Farm.

With participants, aged three to twenty four gracing their pastures, Cooper Ridge Farm emerges as a place of endless possibilities. For children and adults with and without special needs, the embrace of a non-judgmental animal partner can be life-altering. As sunlight filters through swaying branches, young hearts find solace, acceptance, and empowerment in the company of these gentle creatures.

“I think animals calm and motivate us, and that in and of itself opens the doors for self-improvement on so many levels. Just by a look or a touch, it completely changes the world of the person interacting with that animal. Traditional therapies, they go through their system of traditional therapies and they may plateau at certain points. They’re looking for something that I think piques an interest in a child that has a natural interest with animals. I think children have more of a natural interest with animals when they’re younger. They want to learn about farm animals, they want to be outside. Some like to get dirty, or they come here and they learn how to get dirty and be okay with that,” says Fuller.

Among the many stories of growth at Cooper Ridge Farm, one shines notably bright – that of eleven-year-old Gideon Davis, a young man navigating life on the autism spectrum. For Gideon, Cooper Ridge has become more than just a place; it’s a sanctuary where leaps and bounds aren’t just dreams, but tangible milestones. Gideon’s mother Jenny, marvels at Josephine’s uncanny ability to unlock her son’s potential – going as far as calling her a Miracle Worker.

“Since his diagnosis at the age of two, we’ve been in occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, and he’s gained a lot of skills, but in a therapeutic setting and office clinic, that sort of thing. But while he is here working with Ms. Josephine, all those things he’s learning in OT and physical therapy are coming into play. When he’s using his knees and squatting down to pick up a bucket of chicken feed, instead of bending over with his back like he used to and working on lower body strength and upper body strength, and as he’s walking, not only is he trying to communicate directions to this lovable goat, he’s also following multi-step instructions from Ms. Josephine, which is one of the things that we’re always working on,” says Jenny Davis, Gideon’s Mom.

“We do our sessions for ninety minutes, which is longer than most therapies that a child will attend,” says Fuller. “It gives us the ability to have animal time and also other activities, whether it’s gardening, out learning how to seed, how to plant things from seed and harvest and take it home. Whether we’re learning about color number, animal identification, there’s all different things, or maintaining our meal worm farm, they’re getting involved in everything.”

For Jenny Davis, Cooper Ridge Farm has ignited a spark of hope. A hope that Gideon’s future is one of independence. A future where he isn’t bound by the limitations of his condition. Cooper Ridge stands as a testament to humanity’s innate desire to heal, connect, and evolve. Josephine, Justin, and their four-legged residents have nurtured a space where seeds of change are sown and miracles unfold, one hoof print at a time.

“We live for the future. I mean, we work day by day, but we live for the future. We want them to be themselves, and we want to help them improve in any way that we can. If there’s a goal to get them out and working someone out and having a job, whatever suits them. Maybe that’s not a goal and maybe it can’t happen, but there’s a possibility and we want to open those possibilities,” says Fuller.

By: Ray D’Alessio

Field Day Highlights Important Efficiency, Sustainability Research

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Camilla, GA

In Camilla recently, producers gathered for the Stripling Irrigation Research Park’s biennial field day – a day that showcases the important research that is conducted each year that is aimed at educating producers on the latest and greatest technologies and practices they can take back home to utilize on their farms.

“Field days like this are a great opportunity for us at the university to extend that knowledge that we generate at our research plots to the general public, especially our growers who take this information and they can put it to use on their farms, whether it’s how to fertigate a crop, how to chemigate a crop, or how to better irrigate their crops, they can hear about better ways of doing those things here during our field day,” says Calvin Perry, UGA Stripling Irrigation Research Park Superintendent.

One big focus of the park of course is irrigation research, in which Perry says has helped Georgia producers better utilize water management on their farms for more than two decades.

“This facility was developed around two thousand to be focused on irrigation management and efficiency or irrigation here in southwest Georgia. We have seven similar facilities around the state, but we’re the one that is most focused on one area: that being irrigation and irrigation management. We know our farmers are going to have to irrigate most years, so we want them to be as efficient as they can be when they irrigate, so our facility does the research that helps them gain that knowledge and know how to use the technologies that can help them be efficient,” says Perry.

According to Perry, irrigation will continue to be needed for food and fiber production and being as efficient as possible is crucial in order to be better stewards of that limited resource.

“Water use efficiency is important because we’re going to continue using water in agriculture, and South Georgia is one of the largest users of water compared to more metropolitan areas. So, we’ve had, we’ve gone through water wars with Florida and Alabama , we’ve gone to the supreme court and the supreme court justices basically pointed out, we need to be efficient when we irrigate. We know that, we want to be good stewards of the water, farmers want to be good stewards, they irrigate but they also use the water for their families, so we want help them be as efficient as they can be to keep the water in the aquifers and in the streams, keep the critters happy but also be able to irrigate the crops,” says Perry.

One highlight of the day was Commissioner Harper giving the keynote address, in which he spoke about the importance of agricultural research that’s vital for the survival of production agriculture.

“If we don’t invest in the next generation, it’s going to be more difficult for agriculture to continue to be successful. You know, every day, farmers and producers are asked to do more with less, produce more product with less input, and we do that through research and innovation and what they’re doing here at the irrigation park here at Striplings, helps us do that especially from a water perspective, and the usage of water but also, you know, they’re looking at other aspects of the crop from fertilizer and everything in between, so it’s important work and it’s important we continue to invest in that work as a state and as a nation because of the role that it plays in the advancement of agriculture,” says Harper.

By: John Holcomb

Pigs at Center of Research to Reverse Stroke Damage

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Athens, GA

With more than four trillion dollars spent each year on health care in the US, finding new and innovative ways of treating debilitating diseases has become a priority within the medical community. That’s certainly the case here at the University of Georgia, where their Regenerative Science Center is hard at work on one of the main culprits.

“Currently, we’re working on a major stroke project where we’re looking at nuero stem cells to see how they can turn into neurons and astrocytes and integrate into damaged brain tissue, hoping to reverse stroke injury,” says Franklin West, UGA Professor.

This would be a huge breakthrough in the medical community, where this condition has touched nearly everyone’s lives in some way.

“There’s fifteen million people worldwide that have a stroke every year. Hundreds of thousands of people are significantly affected in the US. So, we have the ability to take things from the bench we believe to the bedside with the technology we’re developing here and have developed here at the University of Georgia,” says Steve Stice, Director of UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center.

In order to get the most accurate information, this study uses pigs as their models, which will hopefully increase the likelihood of success, considering they share many characteristics with humans.

“There’s been over seven hundred human clinical trials that have led to limited number of FDA approved treatments. And these have all been based on rodent models. And so, the field generally believes that we need to improve our testing regiment. And so, pigs actually are one of the best models because they have similar anatomy and physiology to humans,” says West.

While many treatments now focus on just minimizing long term damage, this project is unique in that it hopes to actually cure it.

“The therapies that are being worked on, many of them just limit the damage that occurs from stroke. What the stem cell therapy does, it has the potential to actually reverse stroke damage. So, it replaces those lost brain tissues like neurons and astrocytes. And so, it’s not just limiting damage. It’s actually reversing it,” says West.

According to West, so far, the results have been very promising.

“These nanoparticles actually create a microenvironment that’s actually more conducive for  stem cell engraphment. And so, we’re seeing higher levels of engraphment which has led to what we believe is improved recovery in our animal models. And so, we’re really encouraged by the direction and hoping that it will take off,” says West.

As for when we might see this kind stem cell treatment used in hospitals, it might not be as far off as you think.

“This is really paving the way for our clinical trials. And right now, in collaboration with a company called Aruna Bio, we are collaborating with them to file what we call an investigative new drug application with the FDA. And we’ll file that in the next couple of months, hopefully we’ll start treating patients that have had strokes by the end of the year,” says West.

ABAC’s New 4-D Farm Striving to Advance Agriculture

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Tifton, GA

With farmers now faced with the unenviable task of producing more with less, efficiency is key for the long-term success of agriculture in the US. That’s why projects like the 4-D farm on ABAC’s campus are more important than ever, as it provides a testing ground for the latest practices and technology.

“So, the 4-D farm is a decision and data driven demonstration farm where we put in practices that have been developed at these sites, research sites through UGA that get implemented here at ABAC on our actual demonstration farm so that we can test them in a production setting,” says Alex McLemore, Associate Professor at ABAC.

Unlike many testing sites, this farm will not just focus on certain crops, but an entire cycle of them year-round. That type of diversity is designed to give the most accurate picture possible for the growers on their operation and how they can become more efficient.

“By putting them into a full farm production setting, we’re actually looking at a, like a full farm instead of just one individual crop. It allows us to look at this kind of futuristic as well as climate smart applications and how they can save money, reduce fuel, all those different things that kind of help them out on their farm. Just in general, we want to do everything we can to become more climate smart. You use less fuel. So, you can end up saving money. It allows you to put you to money elsewhere and expand and it can also help you conserve your resources, which means you have less inputs and stuff like that. So, it’s really a very wholistic, not just one single entity, but really building upon itself,” says McLemore.

Recently, this project received a four-million-dollar grant from USDA, which will provide the most up to date equipment and technology.

“So, that money is going to go towards personnel, data collection, AI type systems, artificial intelligence as well as just kind of the products needed to put in at the farm, updating some of our irrigation equipment so we really have some of that state of the art, industry standard new technology and stuff like that,” says McLemore.

They won’t have to wait long to see some return on their investment, as this new demonstration farm is set to open in the next couple of months.

“The project starts in September. We’re really going to get really heavy into the data collection component of it so that we can step into the decision part of that data driven demonstration. Starting September, we’ll start harvesting that corn that’s in the background and we’ll start getting data off that and we’ll be looking into our soils and thinking about our crops for the next four years or so,” says McLemore.

The future is what this operation is all about as it combines research efforts from UGA and Clemson with the practical application on a state-of-the-art farm, to keep the agricultural industry moving forward.

“The overall goal is to just make farming more robust and more climate smart here in Georgia and beyond and to demonstrate and show what can be done of all the great work that’s happening over at UGA and all of our educational stuff here at ABAC and how we can expand upon what we are currently doing and just demonstrate how we can take things from the past, put them into the future and really be resilient on these farms,” says McLemore.

Family Turfgrass Operation Growing Quality Sod for Over Twenty Years

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Abbeville, GA

Here in South Georgia, this turfgrass operation is hard at work harvesting some fresh sod that will most likely make its way to Atlanta and transform someone’s yard. This of course is nothing new for them as it’s something they’ve been doing for more than two decades since getting their start in the industry.

“Majority of what we grow goes to metro-Atlanta area. So, if Atlanta sneezes, I guess we catch a cold. So, we keep up with what is happening in the Atlanta market. A lot of great customers, but it’s taken us about twenty-three years to get the great group of customers that we have right now. We got some regular customers and then others that just call in, maybe homeowners or contractors that are interested in our products; in our Bermudas and our zoysias,” says Chris McIntyre, Vice President of McIntyre Turf.

Over the years, they’ve worked hard to expand their customer base and to expand their operation by adding new production acres, crew members, equipment, and new varieties of grass.

“We’ve grown from starting out with one small field of twenty-five acres, one pivot and kind of added on each year. Tried to add a pivot and twenty-five, thirty acres. We started with a small crew with a manual sod harvester, now we have two automated sod harvesters, much larger crew, trucking has improved greatly, we’ve got a nice fleet of trucks that haul our sod regularly,” says Burt Bynum, Owner of McIntyre Turf.

“Well of course we’ve grown our acreage and then we’ve gone through and a lot of customers that we’ve added, trying to get a good fit you know, we have to work well with our customers and they have to work well with us and we have to know what their business is, and so we feel like we’ve been successful there and that has taken a good twenty three years to do,” says McIntyre.

However, a growing operation also means more opportunity for challenges, like with costs of inputs such as fuel and fertilizer, but they say the main challenge is mother nature, as this Spring was unusually cold and caused their grass to nearly stop growing.

“This past year, we had a good growing season. As winter came in, everything was good, started warming up early, our grass started growing and then it got cool in March and April and even in May, really cooled off for us, so it almost kind of put a halt to our growing, trying to grow our sod back to where we could harvest it,” says Bynum.

According to Chris, there’s one more challenge, and that’s their water, as they can’t grow grass without it , which is why they rely heavily on irrigation systems and say they couldn’t operate without them.

“The things we can’t control really are the water and temperature. Both of those are important for growing grasses. Particularly our warm season grasses and then if we didn’t have these irrigation systems and a good water source, we have ground water and surface water that we are able to draw from, but we couldn’t do what we do without this irrigation. Anytime we do add new acreage, it’s a must. It’s got to have a way to put water on it,” says McIntyre.

By: John Holcomb

Southeastern Peanut Growers Gather in Destin

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Destin, Florida

While Sandestin might be a spot for those looking for a little fun in the sun, it recently played host to a conference highlighting one of Georgia’s staple crops, the peanut. Here at the Southern Peanut Growers Conference, producers got an opportunity to hear from experts, share ideas with fellow growers and get a fresh perspective about the industry.

“We’re bringing in a wider array of speakers. We’re trying to reach out into other areas that sometimes we’re not thinking about. We have our county production meetings. We have a state production meeting in Georgia every year. That gets you the basic knowledge on the production and all of that, but sometimes we need to think outside the box and this is an opportunity to do it,” says Joe Boddiford, Chairman of the GA Peanut Commission.

That’s exactly what longtime Congressman Austin Scott encouraged the growers to do, as he discussed an overlooked aspect when it comes to negotiating the new Farm Bill in Washington.

“Who owns the data on the crops that come off your farm? Some of the tractor companies want to own it. The seed companies want to own it. Ultimately, I believe it should belong to the farmer. Now, if the farmer decides that they want to contract that data out, that’s an asset of the farmer and they’ve got the right to do that, but we have to be having an honest discussion about who owns the data on the production on our farm,” says Rep. Austin Scott from Georgia’s 8th District.

However, that isn’t the only issue being talked about in the nation’s capital, as farmers are being put at more risk than ever due to a drop in spending on our nation’s food security.

“We only spend about one quarter of one percent of our total federal spending on the risk management practices for our farmers. So, as a country, that’s a very small amount. It puts a tremendous amount of risk on the backs of the family farm. If reference prices and other things don’t move to give those farm families more of a backstop if commodity prices fall, we stand the risk of vast bankruptcies throughout rural America. That’s something that would be devastating for our country and our food supply,” says Scott.

With that smaller safety net and the ever-increasing price of production, opening up new and untapped markets has become a priority for the University of Georgia and their peanut research team.

“One of the ways we can do that is by increasing the oil content of the peanuts as a potential oil market for peanut growers to participate in. The overall goal is to develop a dedicated, high oil peanut cultivar that will make a potential grower just as much money on the oil market as they would make on those same acres in the edible peanut market,” says Nino Brown, Peanut Breeder at UGA.

With those acres potentially going towards the high oleic varieties, that could improve the grower’s bottom line on two different fronts.

“We want to try to improve really two markets at the same time. So, improve the prices they’re getting on their edible peanuts and then hopefully also get some additional revenue from their high oil peanuts. You know, profitability is always number one and diversity is also a really important component of sustainability. So, we’re trying to address both of those things with our efforts,” says Brown.

By: Damon Jones

Annual Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day Showcases Latest Research, Innovation

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Moultrie, GA

To no one’s surprise, there was plenty to see down in Moultrie at this year’s Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day. Between the crops, presentations, and networking, it’s an event that producers and their operations can really benefit from.

“It’s just a great opportunity for the farmers to come in and see the latest technology, go ahead and start thinking about planting decisions and crop rotations for twenty four and twenty five. It’s just a great time to come out, see the latest technology, gather information to see how it might fit in their operation and enhance their economic and environmental sustainability,” says Chip Blalock, Sunbelt Ag Expo Executive Director.

While there, growers got to hear from University of Georgia Extension Specialists who provided them crop updates and management information, one of which was Extension Weed Scientist, Stanley Culpepper, who updated growers on the importance of weed management strategies especially when dealing with a year like this one.

“Weed control has certainly been a challenge. If you remember we were a little bit cool, we were a lot wet, early. Right now, we’re doing the opposite; we’re going to be hot and dry,” says Stanley Culpepper, Weed Scientist with UGA Extension. “We tried our best to be timely, mother nature threw a little wrench in there, but those residuals bought us time to get in there with the really good technologies, whether we had a Liberty based system, a dicamba based system, a 2-4D based system; those technologies allow us a lot of flexibility and are so important to our growers, and a year like this year really, really pointed out how important having these tools is. So, for our growers, I’ll remind them; resistance management, you’ve got to protect these tools. If you make bad decisions, three to four years later, you’ll lose these tools and guess what? We’re not going to have new tools. The regulatory challenges we have right now are unprecedented. That toolbox is going to be challenged like never before, so implement a good system regardless of the year, make timely applications when you can.”

Producers also got the chance to hear from Extension Peanut Agronomist, Scott Monfort, who updated growers on this season’s peanut crop, which he says is behind schedule thanks to the cold Spring we had.

“Most of our peanuts were planted in between May 12-25 or so. That did put us a little bit behind. The peanuts came out of the ground a little slower, we had some vigor issues, so things just were not as pretty as they normally would be and then we got into the rainy period there at the end of May going into June and that caused some problems with just trying to get into the fields and stay timely with weed control and some fungicides and some various things that we needed to do,” says Monfort.

However, Monfort says the crop is slowly catching up now that the weather has turned hotter and drier but says there’s one issue he’s worried about again this year and that’s Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus.

“One particular problem that we were very worried about with this early planted crop was tomato spotted wilt virus,” says Monfort. “The virus itself did not show up very much two to three, four weeks ago. The crop wasn’t moving, wasn’t growing, it was kind of hard to see, but now that everything’s starting to grow, we’re finding that the virus was just as bad, maybe not quite as bad as last year, but it’s out there on this early planted crop and I expect the June planted crop because it’s a cycle. The risk gets lower in May, gets a little bit more intense in June, so I expect we’ll see some more as the season goes on.”

By: John Holcomb