Tag Archives: georgia

Unlocking Georgia’s Agritourism Revolution

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Peachtree City, GA |

With the goal of supporting local farms and spreading the story of agriculture, the GFB Certified Farm Markets program has seen their number of participating farms skyrocket over the past few years, providing a snapshot of the diversity of operations that can be found here in the state.

“This year, we have a hundred farms across the state of Georgia that invite you to come and visit them to see what they do. No two are alike. So, we have everything from farms like Alo Farms, who is hydroponic, to row crops, to hog farms, to farms that do both vegetables and beautiful flowers,” says Kelly Henry, GFB Certified Farm Market Coordinator.

To help guide you through all of these different choices is the GFB Farm Passport, which not only provides a detailed description of the more than one hundred operations, but also rewards for paying them a visit.

“You take your farm passport with you and just like if you’re visiting another country, you get stamps. Your stamps earn you prizes at the end of the year. Five is a T-shirt. Ten is Ag swag. Twenty is a farm to table dinner and tour, our signature event of the year. And then, thirty is goodies from the farm,” says Henry.

It’s not just the visitors that benefit from this program, but also the farms that are involved like Alo Farms, a unique operation in Peachtree City.

“We joined a few years ago and it’s just been an amazing partnership. All the participants in the stamp program are just excited to be here. They have great questions. We love being able to share and talk with them about the farm. So, it brings a lot of enthusiastic customers who appreciate agriculture and what it takes to run and operate a farm. It’s brought us a lot of local people who didn’t know we were here,” says Alec Brown – GM of Alo Farms. “So, Alo Farms is a family owned and operated company. My dad, Jefferson, he’s an architect, and he started our farm about 15 years ago on the design and innovation side as a means to address food insecurity on a large scale and specifically in urban environments. So, our commercial farm right now is less than 20 thousand square feet. We’ll out produce about 75-125 acres worth in soil of the same types of crops.”

This is just one of the many agritourism destinations that will be featured in the new, 2024 Farm Passport when it’s released in less than a month.

“Kickoff is exciting every year, March 16th and will run all the way through the year. So, we even get those Christmas tree farms in at the end of the year. So, if you haven’t gotten your passport yet, you can start it at any of the participating farms found at gfb.ag/passport. You can also pick one up at any of your local county Farm Bureau offices,” says Henry.

By: Damon Jones

Georgia Federal-State Inspection Service’s Important Role within the Peanut Industry

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Ty Ty, GA |

Each Fall, all across the state, peanuts are dug up, harvested, and taken to buying points that will shell them and market them to their final destination. However, an important part of that process is what’s called grading, which is completed by the Georgia Federal-State Inspection service, that ensures both the grower and shellers receive a non-biased grade that’s used to make sure all parties get compensated fairly.

“We’re an organization founded in 1927 to be a non-biased third party between the buyer and the producer. Mostly in Georgia it’s peanuts, but it’s different commodities also. What we really do is we ensure that the buyer isn’t paying too much for the peanuts and the producer is getting a fair amount for the peanuts as well. So, our organization doesn’t lean toward one side or the other. We’re here to be a nonbiased party,” says Willie Musselwhite, District Manager for the GA Federal-State Inspection Service.

According to Musselwhite, the job is one that’s taken very seriously, as they strive for uniformity so that it’s an equal playing field for everyone, which is why when they take samples from each truck, they work it in a very methodical way to ensure it’s done properly and consistently.

“To the farmer, he wants to get paid. He worked very hard to produce this product and he wants to get paid the ultimate price for his profit. So, once we are going in there and determine the grade, it really determines how much the farmer’s getting paid for his peanuts. So, if it grades really high, he wants a premium grade for his peanuts, but on the other hand, if it were to grade a lower grade, the buyer would not want to pay that premium price for it. So, what we’re doing is we’re telling the farmer, and the buyer; this this is what you have. We don’t set the prices for them, USDA and the buyers, they set the prices, but whatever grade it has that determines the price on the peanut,” says Musselwhite.

Musselwhite says that the grading process is also important because it can help further improve peanut production here in Georgia as it gives researchers, breeders, and growers information that can be useful in the future.

“Georgia produces technically 50 percent of nation’s peanuts and we strive every year to produce different varieties; University of Georgia, yield better yields and make higher quality peanuts. So, we do the research through grading, different trials and all that they’re trying to make a better product. Because after a while, the problems you have now, it fails to grade what it was . We’re always having different things come out the university system and different geneticists are making it happen. It’s very important for the peanut industry to have to have somebody doing that because it’ll provide more income for the farmers in the long run and a better quality peanut for the shellers, the candymakers, and the industry in general,” says Musselwhite.

By: John Holcomb

This Cobb County Company Finished Strong in Puerto Rico

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Acworth, GA

On the outside, these might look like just your ordinary shipping containers, but take a look on the inside and you might get a sneak peek into the future of mushroom production, as this prototype from MycoLogic implements controlled environment technology designed to maximize harvests.

“It’s about providing the optimized conditions to reduce the time for cropping as wells as to increase the yields of the mushrooms that were produced,” says Chris Cornelison. “So, the old adage time is money, right? So, the faster you can grow more mushrooms, the more profitable your operation is.”

The biggest obstacle to making a profit is the ever-rising cost of production. However, growing mushrooms in this kind of controlled environment keeps those expenses to a minimum.

“The biggest difference between plants and mushrooms is that mushrooms can grow in the complete absence of light. So, you save a lot of energy or save a lot of money on not having to um, use energy to produce light. In this container, we operate on about twenty to thirty dollars a month,” says Kyle Gabriel.

Another benefit to this type of production is farmers can make use of the byproducts their crops produce by fertilizing different types of mushrooms.

“One of our initiatives is trying to find locally sourced agricultural waste materials and then developing the correct formulation or the ideal ratio for different species of mushrooms to grow on. So, if we can find an area say in Georgia that has a large amount of cotton gin byproduct, peanut shells, corn shaft, we can sort of tailor what mushrooms will grow ideal for that particular region,” says Gabriel.

This would not only be beneficial to the farmer’s bottom line, but also the environment as a whole.

“You know, there’s a lot of byproduct in Georgia, whether it be peanut hulls or spent cotton gin byproduct that are perfectly suitable for mushroom cultivation. They’re produced in thousands of tons, right? And so, if we can recapture some of those residues to create a value-added product; not only is that good for sustainability, but that’s also good for the state’s economy,” says Cornelison.

“It will add to the circular economy where we’re recycling, we’re taking these byproducts that would be a burden to the farmer and they would sit in the field or they would be burned which is bad for the environment and then we can turn those into products that can grow mushrooms,” says Gabriel.

This idea already has a number of believers, as MycoLogic has partnered with multiple farmers across the state, which is the first step in their five-year journey finally coming to fruition.

“We are both applied scientists. So, we’re always looking move discoveries out of the academic laboratory and into the market to realize the full potential. So, the overall goal for the project is to continue to refine the technology based off of customer feedback and partnerships with existing growers and come up with a minimal viable product that we hope to launch in 2023,” says Cornelison.

By: Damon Jones

Fruits, Vegetables and More in Savannah

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Savannah, GA

For the past 21 years, fruit and vegetable growers from all over the Southeast have made their way to the annual Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable conference – a four-day event that’s purpose is to equip producers within the industry with all the tools they need to see success back on their operations.

“We are back in person in Savannah for the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference; our attendance is at record levels, but it’s the one place where you bring together all of the fruit and vegetable production side of the industry all under one roof, so everything a grower needs from seeds and equipment to fertilizer and then most importantly is knowledge,” says Chris Butts, Executive Vice President of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. “We’ve got four full days of education sessions, full of real-world information that our growers can take back and put to use on the farm.”

One of the educational topics discussed at the conference was food safety – an issue that Rob Martin with the UGA Small Business Development Center says is vital to the fruit and vegetable industry and believes it’s something that can be controlled.

“We know from the data that annually, one in six people in the United States gets sick from some kind of food borne illness,” says Martin. “So, of those numbers, the amount that are hospitalized, the amount that die, three thousand people a year die due to food contamination, so when you think about the importance, that’s the importance. I can handle getting ill and sick after eating something, but put me in the hospital, losing a family member because of something like that, that’s pretty serious, and when we know food safety is basically something we control.”

According to Alexis Hamilton, Extension Specialist with Virginia Tech, food safety is a matter that must be practiced by every single person working on the operation.

“There’s so many people that are involved in producing food and making sure that everyone is onboard with every action that they partake in; in the packing house or in your fresh produce operation, making sure that every one of those is aimed at producing safe food is going to go a long way to ensuring that the product that makes it to the market is one that we can safely enjoy,” says Hamilton.

However, making that a reality is a different story, which is why Martin believes the best way to make sure everyone is doing their part, is by making food safety a part of the culture within the operation.

“Just like anything else, with an operation, if the owner, the manager, the line down is not bought into the process, we can’t expect our employees and workers to be bought in. So, it’s important for us to understand as managers and owners that if we don’t show it and exude it, and give that example, then we can’t expect our employees to. So, that’s the importance of kind of building that culture, going about that process and just making sure it’s a, it’s a requirement and a focus on importance for the operation,” says Martin.

By: John Holcomb

San Juan Hosted 2023 AFBF Convention

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San Juan, PR

After years of planning and endless challenges, including two major hurricanes, San Juan finally got to say, “Welcome, Mi Familia” to American Farm Bureau’s annual convention. It’s a time to unite and hear the opinions of current agriculture leaders as well as future ag leaders on the current state of the farming industry. It’s also a time to put aside the daily stresses of farm life and enjoy the sights and sounds the host city has to offer, or in this case the host island.

“San Juan right now, so far would be at the top of the list,” says Daniel Johnson, First Vice President for Georgia Farm Bureau. “We’ve been to a lot of conventions, a lot of places, and this compares to anything we have in the United States. I mean, their convention center is wonderful. It’s state of art.”

Tom McCall, GFB President adding, “I was pleasantly surprised. All the facilities and the hotels down here, and there’s a good crowd. They’re expecting around five-thousand people from across the country.”

While many of the attendees used this convention as a destination vacation, for the GFB Young Farmers and Ranchers taking part in the various competitions, vacations aside, this was a business trip.

“I come down here with a job and task at mind, and also, like I said, to meet new people and experience this convention. This is my first time ever attending American Farm Bureau, so I wanna soak it in and learn. That was my main reason for coming down here,” says Hart County Young Farmer, Brian Fleming.

Admitting he was nervous before his presentation in the Excellence in AG competition, Fleming says he stayed up all night rehearsing, which resulted in little to no sleep, but once he got going, Brian was smooth, confident, and spoke with emotion when expressing his passion for agriculture.

“From the time I was a little boy, ag’s been my life. As I got older, Farm Bureau became my life and the two combined together. Like I said in that last slide, I want the future generations to have that same opportunity that have been afforded to me over the years. So, that’s where my passion comes from,” says Fleming.

Brian however, wasn’t the only one with passion on his side. Willie Sizemore of Leesburg had a virtual cakewalk to the sweet-sixteen of the discussion meet. This future lawyer arrived in Puerto Rico with well thought out opinions and ideas for the purpose of problem solving, which of course is the whole premise of these discussions.

“What’s interesting about this competition compared to the state is you get all these nationwide perspectives,” says Sizemore. “You know, we had an individual who was competing with us that raised pigs in Nevada outside of Las Vegas and fed leftovers from the casinos to their operation to reduce input costs. We’ve got to wake up early in the morning, put on a suit at the beach, and that’s not a normal thing you would do, but it’s important to represent Georgia Farm Bureau this way and to represent our County Farm Bureau, Lee County Farm Bureau. For me, it’s important to show up prepared and and do well, and that’s why I’m here is to do well. It might be a business trip, but it’s a fun trip at the same time.”

By: Ray D’Alessio

SCOTTY RAINES NAMED 2022 GEORGIA FARMER OF THE YEAR

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MOULTRIE, GA

Scotty Raines didn’t grow up on a farm, but his father kept a large garden at home. His mother, a beautician, had a beauty shop behind their house. So Scotty began his agrarian career by selling produce from the garden—tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and corn—to her customers. He also participated in FFA at Turner High School and, after graduation, became a farm technician with Agratech Seed Research. In 1991, he married Melanie, a girl he’d grown up with, and two years later began farming full-time in partnership with his father-in-law.

Raines said, “I’m very proud of my family. My wife keeps her accounting skills sharp by maintaining the books for three area churches. We are active in First Baptist Church of Tifton. When our oldest daughter, Celie, was in school, she was in the marching band. It was quite a feat because she is hearing impaired. Our second daughter, Christian, is an EMT. She loves helping people, although she battles Lupus and is in pain most of the time. I think this helps her relate to her patients.”

He added, “Her husband, Justin Pate, works full-time on the farm and has a passion for volunteer fireman work. He was just awarded the Turner County Most Responses and Responder of the Year awards. He and Christian have been working on their certification to become foster parents.”

Raines recalled, “My father-in-law and I originally farmed about 500 acres and eventually expanded to 1200 acres. I ventured out on my own to purchase 30 beef cows in 1994. During our partnership we purchased two farms; the remainder of the acres we worked was rented. My wife and mother-in-law were very active in the operation.”

In the spring of 1996, his father-in-law suffered some major health problems, so Raines finished the crop that year. He began farming on his own a year later with 1000 acres that grew over time to 2300 acres, with 1199 acres owned and 1101 acres rented.

Crop yields at Scotty Raines Farms Partnerships are as follows: 760 acres of cotton yielding 940 (conservatively) lbs/acre; 385 acres of irrigated peanuts yielding 5880 lbs/acre; 800 acres of cotton yielding 860 lbs/acre; 200 acres of non-irrigated peanuts yielding 4760 lbs/acre; 120 acres of corn yielding 219 bushels/acre; and 35 acres of watermelon yielding 100,000 lbs/acre. Raines also owns 27 beef cattle.

For marketing his crops, Raines uses a variety of techniques. In 2001, he purchased 25 percent of Hat Creek Peanut Company, a peanut buying facility and a chemical and seed selling point owned by four larger farmer groups. In 2022, Hat Creek Peanut Company will be entering into the trucking business to further help the owners and other area farmers to handle their commodities more efficiently.”

He commented, “I was confident it would provide us with a more active way to market our peanuts. Hat Creek and I later bought shares in Tifton Quality Peanut, a produced- owned shelling company that’s also grower owned. They shell the nuts and sell directly to companies like Mars Candy. Doing business this way puts us closer to the consumer and retailer in terms of sales. And anytime you can get one step closer to the consumer, I believe you’ve made a step in the right direction.”

In the beginning of his farming career Raines marketed his own cotton through local gins. He remembered, “Since I was so busy on the farm, joining Staplcotn, a marketing cooperative, was a better solution. It’s a great time-saving and solid way of doing things. And because we carefully manage insect pests and harvest in a timely manner, we maximize our cotton quality and therefore receive the best market price possible. I’m proud to say that our farms won a Georgia Cotton Quality Award in Region One in 2021.”

Raines’ cattle are marketed through one of the best stockyards in the South, located in his home county of Turner. Watermelon sales are conducted by brokers who handle the boxing and shipping of the produce. Raines added, “We monitor the corn market ourselves. Most years we put the corn in our bins and market later in the year at a higher price.”

Scotty Raines Farms Partnerships recently purchased a bale picker to allow for faster harvesting and reducing the number of laborers in the field. And they have purchased a precision planter with individual hydraulic down force. This planter helps to get the seed placed at the right depth, even over terraces, and doesn’t overlap seed. The aim is to produce a better, more uniform stand at planting and a better harvest in the fall. Raines also has a cabin on his land that serves as a wedding and meeting venue, generating extra income for the farm.

Meeting challenges faced by all farmers is a constant undertaking. For Raines, a major effort has gone into converting dryland production into irrigated production. He has used long-term leases with landowners, purchased irrigated land/irrigation systems,

and updated outdated irrigation systems. Another decision was to diversify by adding a watermelon crop and by increasing the number of corn acres under cultivation.

Raines has also had to deal with rising input costs over the years. He explained, “In 1993, we bought a tractor for $35,000. Now that same tractor costs $200,000. We buy fuel in bulk to save money, but now a 7500–lb. tank might cost $37,000 to fill up. And the prices we get for crops don’t always equal what we paid to plant and nurture them through to harvest. It’s a constant balancing act.”

Of course one of the most prevalent unknowns is weather. Raines said, “Irrigation helps with drought, but hurricane Irma in 2017 and Michael in 2018 really hit us hard, and we haven’t fully recovered from those two events when we lost most our crop. Since crop insurance was insufficient to recoup the losses, we were able to do some refinancing to overcome the impact of these natural disasters.”

In the area of environmentally helpful practices Raines uses variable rate fertilization of lime, potash, and MAP to increase the nutrient efficiency and reduce the potential of oversaturation of unneeded nutrients and fuel wastage. The application is all based on the five-acre grid soil sample taken annually. To protect watersheds and reduce the potential for soil erosion, the farm maintains terraces and waterways.

He noted, “My farm has collaborated with the University of Georgia Extension on research efforts such as soil moisture sensor projects that monitor moisture status and manage water applications. This has greatly reduced the amount of irrigation water used to produce a crop. I also purchase bulk chemical contains to minimize plastic waste. When we do use plastic containers, they are recycled.”

Raines added, “We use conservation tillage methods and winter cover crops, like clover and rye, and now triticale, on the vast majority of acreage. It’s an important tool to help with weed control, improve soil moisture holding capacity, and support the long-term sustainability of our farm.”

On the local county level, Raines is a current member and former chair and president of the Turner County Younger Farmer Association and a former president and board member of the Turner County Farm Bureau. The Raines’ were named Ashburn Turner County Farm Family of the Year in 2001. On the state level, he is the Georgia Farm Bureau District Director, serves on the Suwannee-Satilla Water Council, and was formerly the Southern Region Director of Georgia Young Farmers. Raines was also named Middle/South Soil & Water Conservationist of the Year in 2003. On the national level, he has served as a member of the Farm Bureau World Congress of Young Farmers. Melanie Raines currently serves as the chair of the Turner County Board of Elections.

In years past, when Scotty and Melanie have taken some free time, they’ve gone to St. Augustine to kick back and relax. More recently they’ve headed to the Gulf side of Florida, renting a small house or condo on the beach in Panama City or Destin. He said, “We also like go deer hunting with our daughters. Well, it’s more like I fix up the deer stands, and they do the hunting.”

After spending a long time in the risk-laden business of agriculture, the reward of seeing things grow to fruition is still quite real for Raines. He commented, “We recently needed to plant 140 acres of peanuts on dryland on the north side of our property. The planter sat there for three weeks until the good Lord sent half an inch of rain so that we could go ahead and do what we needed to do. The same thing happened recently on the south side of our farm with cotton. We got one inch at almost the last possible moment. So that’s when we gladly give thanks for prayers answered.”

Scotty Raines was nominated for Georgia Farmer of the Year by Guy Hancock, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, Turner County ANR Agent. He said, “I nominated Scotty Raines for this honor because he is a true representative of Georgia agriculture. He is a great collaborator on UGA Extension projects and is always willing to support our research and outreach efforts.”

He added, “Despite having to overcome numerous adversities in recent years such as tornados, hurricanes (Irma in 2017 and Michael in 2018), and other extreme weather events, Scotty has maintained a strong farming operation and a positive attitude through it all. He is always working towards integrating technology into his farm such as soil moisture sensors, GPS, and variable rate equipment to make the operation more efficient. The Raines family’s resilience and significant investments in agriculture have earned them the respect of those in their community and beyond.”

A distinguished panel of judges will visit Scotty Raines, along with the other nine state winners via zoom at a later date this summer. The judges include John McKissick, long- time University of Georgia agricultural economist at Athens, Georgia; David Wildy, Manila, Arkansas, the overall winner of the award in 2016; and Joe West, Tifton, Georgia, retired dairy scientist and assistant Dean of the University of Georgia Tifton Campus.