Author Archives: John Holcomb

The Boyd Brothers Are Farming the Same Land Their Family Has Worked for Six Generations

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Screven County |

Ask Wilson, Waylon, and Weston Boyd who’s in charge, and nobody’s giving a straight answer — and that, it turns out, tells you just about everything you need to know about how this family operates. Spend a little time with the three brothers and what stands out isn’t what makes them different. It’s what keeps them together.

“When you do something good, you want to tell your family — because they were there with you, and they’re proud of you just the same as you’re proud of them,” said Weston Boyd. “I think that’s probably one of the most special things about us working together. When we do bad or when we do good, the first person you want to tell is your family — and hey, they’re right there with you. That’s special.”

WINNING TOGETHER, LOSING TOGETHER

For the Boyd brothers, farming as a family isn’t just a matter of convenience — it changes how they approach the work itself.

“It means a lot more because you win together and you lose together. You try a lot harder when you know who you’re working for and who you’re working with,” said Waylon Boyd.

That shared investment also translates into day-to-day efficiency. After decades of watching each other grow up on the same land, the brothers have developed an understanding that can’t be replicated with any other crew.

“We’re more efficient because we know exactly how each other works. We don’t have to go through the learning process of figuring out how to work better with each other,” said Wilson Boyd. “He’s twenty-two and he’s twenty-four, and I’ve known them every day of their lives. We know exactly how each person ticks and how to make each one of us more efficient — and how to make each other happy, I guess is the word.”

THEY FIGHT LIKE BROTHERS — BECAUSE THEY ARE

That closeness doesn’t mean things are always smooth. The brothers are quick to admit that working together this closely means disagreements come with the territory — sometimes loudly. But in the Boyd family, a fight in the field doesn’t follow them inside.

“We’ll leave it all out there, but let me tell you — we’ll take it to plow dirt. We’ll fight it out for a second, give it a little while, and we’ll be back good. We can fight like cats and dogs and be back to brothers in a snap,” Waylon said. “We’re all struggling, we all want the same goal, and hey, that’s frustrating sometimes. But everything works out. We have a good time doing it.”

“It’s really never a mad like you’re gonna quit,” added Weston. “It’s just a mad like, ‘Man, let me hit him real quick and then we’ll be done with it.’ And I think that’s kind of the special part of our relationship that you don’t always get to see.”

SIXTH GENERATION ON THE SAME DIRT

Long before these three were making decisions, they were watching — watching their dad, their uncle, and the generations before them — learning not only how to farm, but how to farm as a family. That foundation goes deeper than any of them can fully trace.

“We’re the sixth generation on this same dirt. There’s a lot of sweat from a lot of people we’ve never even known that’s been here fighting for this,” Wilson said. “It’s just something you can’t let go when you’ve been given it — because not everybody gets this opportunity. But along with this opportunity comes a lot of work, sweat, and it’s a lot to take on, especially in today’s world.”

For Waylon, that opportunity is something he doesn’t take lightly — even on the hard days.

“It’s just a really cool lifestyle that we get to live. Not a lot of people get to do it. We get to wake up and go outside. You never do the same thing twice — every day I wake up, I’m going to do something different,” he said. “It’s just a pretty neat life to live.”

A LEGACY STILL BEING WRITTEN

Now, Wilson, Waylon, and Weston are writing their own chapter of that story. The equipment is different. The technology is different. The challenges are different. But the reason for doing it together hasn’t changed at all.

“The generation before us — we have tripled in size since they started farming. For us, it’s about keeping our name going here on the farm, because it really is special,” Weston said. “It’s important that we work hard and try our best to make it for us and for the generations coming also.”

“I just hope people say that they were good people and that they helped someone through the years,” Wilson added. “If we were successful, to be able to go back on that success and say, ‘He helped me get here, and I’m going to help the next generation get to this stage.’ That’s kind of what I would like to do.”

Out here, the question of who’s in charge matters a lot less than the answer to a better one: what keeps these three brothers coming back to the same farm, day after day? For Wilson, Waylon, and Weston Boyd, the answer has always been the same thing that brought them here in the first place — family.

By: Ray D’Alessio

Lynn Smith Named 2026 GFB Commodity Award Winner for Decades of Water Policy and Agriculture Advocacy

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Tifton |

Long before she became one of the Georgia legislature’s most respected voices on agriculture and natural resources, Lynn Smith was a kid growing up in Florida with a love for the outdoors — and a habit of going out to dig and grow things whenever life got hard. That instinct, it turns out, was a preview of a career defined by a deep belief in the balance between people, the land, and the resources that sustain both.

This year, that career earned her Georgia Farm Bureau’s 2026 Commodity Award — recognition for decades of advocacy and stewardship that left a mark on Georgia’s water policy, agricultural legislation, and the communities that depend on both.

A BALANCED APPROACH TO TOUGH ISSUES

“She’s very protective of our natural resources — our water, our coastline, and all the things that make Georgia great. But she also wants to take private property rights into consideration. It’s a real balance to how Chairman Smith has approached every issue that has come across her committee,” said Robert Dickey, Chairman of the Georgia House Agriculture Committee.

Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns echoed that sentiment, describing Smith as someone who could always be counted on when conversations got difficult.

“Lynn has always been one of those people you could count on when the chips were down and the conversation got very difficult — she was willing to stand her ground and ensure she still took the opportunity to protect what she knew was important,” Burns said. “That was people, their livelihoods, but with a main focus on balancing the interests of people — how we make a living and how we provide for others — while also protecting this great Earth and these resources that we have been given.”

FIGHTING THROUGH THE WATER WARS

Much of Smith’s legacy is rooted in Georgia’s long-running water policy battles — a contentious multi-decade fight that pit regions of the state against each other over one of the state’s most essential and contested resources.

“We were the four people who were steady throughout the water wars — Tom McCall, Bob Hanner, Richard Royal, and myself,” Smith said. “Water doesn’t know its boundaries. And the piece of legislation I am most relieved passed — it didn’t happen until 2008 — was the resolution that meant we could go forward with all the decisions we had been working up to. It was the bridge that gave our state agencies the tools they needed.”

That legislation — helping create the framework for the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District — represented years of patient, often contentious work. For Smith, it was the payoff for refusing to treat a shared problem as a territorial battle.

“Think of cowboys and Indians — nobody was going to let go of what they had,” she said. “My point is, we needed to start solving problems. I put my heart into what I did, and I was a problem solver as opposed to a problem creator.”

A CHAMPION FOR AGRICULTURE WHO UNDERSTOOD BOTH WORLDS

For GFB President Tom McCall, what made Smith so effective as an agriculture advocate was precisely that she came from outside the farming world — yet chose to go to bat for it anyway.

“Lynn understands that you eat three times a day, you wear clothes, and you live in a house made out of two-by-fours. That’s the importance of agriculture and forestry in this state,” McCall said. “Anybody that maybe has a different perspective or was raised differently than all of us — and will still go to bat like Lynn did for agriculture — is going to be missed.”

For Smith, the award is a reflection of the people she served alongside as much as the work itself — legislators, advocates, and farmers who believed, like she did, that the right people at the right time could find a way to move forward together.

By: Damon Jones

GFB Commodity Conference Tackles Farm Data Privacy and Georgia’s Forestry Market Crisis

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Tifton, GA |

Georgia Farm Bureau’s policy priorities took shape in Tifton recently at the organization’s annual commodity conference — a crucial step in the policy development process that gives commodity leaders a direct line to GFB’s advocacy work at the state and federal level.

“The policy development process we do here with our commodity advisory committees is important for our organization because it allows leaders from various commodity industries and growers from around the state to get together and talk through some of the more complex issues around their commodities,” said Raynor Churwell, Agricultural Programs Manager for GFB. “Our committees here today will develop and amend policy to set the roadmap for the organization and allow our advocacy specialists and legislative staff to go forth and work on those issues with our elected officials.”

WHO OWNS YOUR FARM DATA?

Beyond policy development, producers also heard from outside experts on pressing issues facing the agricultural industry. One of the most timely: agricultural data — specifically who owns it, who can access it, and how farmers can protect themselves as technology becomes more deeply embedded in everyday farm operations.

“The main issues farmers need to be aware of relate to the privacy and security of their data. They need to make sure they understand how the data is going to be used and who would have access to it, to ensure that any privacy concerns they have are going to be protected,” said Ross Pifer, Professor of Law at Penn State.

Pifer says the stakes will only grow as precision agriculture tools become more widespread — and warns that the legal landscape hasn’t kept pace.

“In order for farmers to take advantage of all of the technological advances available, they’re generating and providing data to others. You want to take advantage of the technology, but you need to be aware that there are potential risks. And at this point, there aren’t a lot of legal frameworks that have been established to provide that protection,” Pifer said.

FORESTRY FACING A MARKET ACCESS CRISIS

Attendees also received an update on one of the hardest-hit sectors in Georgia agriculture in recent years: forestry. Between hurricanes, mill closures, wildfires, and pine beetle pressure, the industry has been under sustained stress — and the root cause, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission, comes down to market access for small-diameter wood.

“The biggest issue we’re having right now in forestry is markets for small-diameter wood and what we call residual — like sawmill shavings from sawmills,” said Johnny Sabo, Director of the Georgia Forestry Commission. “We know about 8.2 million tons of wood came off the market between the early county mill closures and then the mills in Savannah and Riceborough. Of that 8.2 million, about 4.2 million tons were wood in Georgia. So we lost about 4.2 million tons of capacity going into mills.”

Sabo says finding replacement markets for that lost volume is now the central challenge for the entire forestry sector.

“If we can’t move small-diameter wood, we start having southern pine beetle issues. We lose the ability to grow saw timber. It’s really the center of the wheel that makes everything go around for forestry,” he said.

For GFB and its commodity partners, the Tifton conference was a reminder that the policy work happening in meeting rooms often has direct consequences in the field — and that the connections built here are what make that advocacy possible.

By: John Holcomb

Marietta Square Farmers Market Has Grown From 8 Vendors to a Georgia Institution in Twenty Years

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Marietta, GA |

Every Saturday morning, Marietta Square becomes a melting pot of local farmers, chefs, and small business owners — and hundreds of visitors who come to shop, sample, and connect with the people behind their food. What started more than two decades ago as a vision inspired by a trip to the Green Market in New York City has grown into one of Georgia’s most celebrated farmers markets.

“On the way home from New York, my wife Suzy said, ‘Let’s see if we can do something like this on Saturday mornings in Marietta.’ We already had a business on the square, but we thought this would be a real community enhancement,” said Johnny Fulmer, Marketing Director for the Marietta Square Farmers Market. “We started out with eight vendors and it grew from there. Now we have approximately sixty-five to seventy vendors every Saturday with local products.”

YOU KNOW THE FARMER, YOU KNOW THE FOOD

The market has earned the title of Best Farmers Market in Georgia from multiple publications — and the reason comes down to more than just the produce. It’s the relationships built across a folding table that keep people coming back week after week.

“You’re building a relationship with a local farmer. Hopefully you’ll know his practices, how he’s growing the product. And at the end of the day, on the consumer side, it’s the freshness,” said John Gerald of Mama J’s Produce. “Picked Friday, brought here Saturday — versus the grocery store, where it might be three days old, a week old. You just never know.”

That freshness is something Lynn Teddlie of Straight from the Backyard Farm takes seriously. For her crops, even a day makes a difference.

“Okra, cucumbers, and squash — you have to pick every other day or they’re going to be too big. We never refrigerate anything or put it in a cooler. We always pick the day before,” Teddlie said. “Not only does it taste better and have more nutrients, it’s going to last a month or longer in your fridge.”

“You can talk to the farmers, understand the seasonality of your produce, how it was harvested, understand the herbs and their seasons,” added Brittany Woodard of Planet Wellness Co. “You can support local in your community instead of the big box retailers — and it’s often much fresher.”

A HEALTH BENEFIT FOR THE WHOLE COMMUNITY

Beyond the freshness and the relationships, access to this kind of variety has real implications for public health. Registered Dietician Sherry Coleman Collins says markets like this one play an important role in closing a significant nutritional gap.

“Fruits and vegetables are so important for health, of course. We know that eighty percent of Americans don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables — and that’s true across the country,” Collins said. “In an area like Marietta, having easy access to a variety of fruits and vegetables ensures that our population has a healthy diet.”

A WEEK OF WORK, ONE MORNING TO SHARE IT

For the farmers who set up their tables each Saturday, the market represents far more than a sales opportunity. It’s the payoff for a full week of early mornings, long days, and physical labor — and the gratitude of customers who understand what went into it makes it worth every bit of that effort.

“I think a lot of folks are aware of where we’re coming from and how it’s not that easy — and they appreciate it,” said Jody Kaufman of Jody’s Farms. “I just want to say thank you to everybody that is now understanding it.”

For the Marietta Square Farmers Market, Saturday morning isn’t just a shopping trip. It’s where community and agriculture meet — and after more than twenty years, the line to get in is still just as long as it’s ever been.

By: Damon Jones

Midville Field Day 2026: Cotton and Peanut Experts Break Down a Season of Wild Swings

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Midville, GA |

There was plenty for producers to hear and see at this year’s Midville Field Day — a valuable opportunity for growers across Southeast Georgia to hear directly from experts on everything related to crop production. And with one of the most unpredictable growing seasons in recent memory still unfolding, the timing couldn’t have been better.

“The things going on here are applicable to this area and our growers in this area. This gives them a chance to access whatever work is being done here and see it in real time,” said Anthony Black, Superintendent of the UGA Southeast Research and Education Center. “Everyone knows the kind of economic times we’re in with production agriculture, and I hope there’s something here today that helps them maintain and be sustainable.”

A TALE OF THREE SEASONS FOR COTTON

That economic backdrop has made getting the 2026 season right more critical than ever. For cotton producers, the year has been anything but straightforward — swinging from one extreme to the other before most fields even reached full canopy.

“It’s been a tale of three seasons so far, which is crazy. We started off this spring extremely, extremely dry — we were starting to get concerned we’d struggle to get the crop planted and get a good stand,” said Camp Hand, UGA Extension Cotton Specialist. “Then in May it started raining and really didn’t stop. So we were scared on the front end we wouldn’t get planted because it was so dry — and then it started raining so much that people didn’t really finish planting because it was so wet. It’s been a weird year so far, but overall the cotton looks good. USDA has us at ninety-two percent fair or better right now — but I do think the crop is average.”

PEANUTS IN BETTER SHAPE THAN RECENT YEARS

The story is similar for peanuts — a season of ups and downs — though according to UGA Extension Peanut Agronomist Scott Monfort, 2026 is shaping up better than either of the last two years.

“The last two years we had a severe drought between June and July — four to five weeks without any rain all over the state, plus ninety-four-plus degree temperatures,” Monfort said. “This year we’ve had a couple of dry spells, but for the most part we’ve had rain all over the state. It’s just been spotty. I can take you anywhere in any county in the state and we can probably find very dry peanuts and very good-looking peanuts right next to each other. In situations where we’re a little dry but not overly dry and we’ve got irrigation, a lot of times that’s when we make some of our best yields.”

FOUR WEEKS TO THE FINISH LINE

Still, Monfort says the finish line is in sight — but there’s still significant work ahead to get the peanut crop through to harvest.

“I think we’ll make a good crop. When I say we look pretty good, I mean we’re looking good for a solid average crop — good quality, and I think our state average should come in above the four thousand-pound range,” Monfort said. “We’re still going to have some problems — we always do. But we’ve got a long road in the next four weeks to get to the finish line.”

For Southeast Georgia’s producers, the Midville Field Day served as a timely reminder that even in a challenging year, knowledge and preparation are still among the most powerful tools available — and often the difference between an average crop and a good one.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Apple Season Underway as North Georgia Orchards Welcome a Strong Crop

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Ellijay, GA |

Ellijay calls itself the apple capital of Georgia — and right now, it’s earning that title. Fresh apples are being harvested across North Georgia, and at R&A Orchards in Gilmer County, owner Andy Futch says this year’s crop has come in strong and harvest is already well underway — a fact that might surprise anyone still planning to wait for fall to make the drive up.

“This year has been a good season for apples. We’ve got a bumper crop, plenty of apples on the trees, and everything looks good. We’ve had adequate rainfall and a good growing season,” Futch said. “It’s a little hotter than I like it, but other than that, it’s been a good season.”

HEAT AFFECTS COLOR, NOT QUALITY

The warm temperatures have had one noticeable effect — color. Futch says hot weather can work against an apple’s signature redness, though this year’s quality and quantity have more than made up for it.

“When we have hotter-than-normal weather, it affects the coloring of the apples — they don’t get as much color. Apples like cool weather, and that’s what brings on their redness. Sunshine tends to bleed that color out of the fruit,” Futch said.

APPLE SEASON IS LONGER THAN YOU THINK

For many visitors, apple picking in North Georgia is an October tradition. But Futch says the season runs far longer than most people realize — and some of the best picking happens well before the fall crowds arrive.

“The harvest season is going great. We’re already into our sixth variety of apples this year. Apples are normally harvested starting in July through November — we’ll pick the last apple off the tree sometime around Thanksgiving,” Futch said.

MORE THAN JUST APPLES

It’s not only the harvest drawing visitors to the mountains this time of year. Futch says most orchards in the area offer more than just produce, making it a full day out for families looking for a mountain getaway.

“Most apple houses in North Georgia offer some aspect of agritourism — from you-pick apples to wagon rides to you-cut flowers, corn mazes. September is a good month for agritourism. Most all the operations are open and ready for business,” Futch said.

A TWELVE-MONTH OPERATION

While harvest season gets all the attention, Futch says what most visitors never see is the year-round work that makes it all possible. Getting an apple from the tree to the shelf is anything but simple.

“The apple business is a twelve-month business. January through May, every tree on this farm has to be pruned — done by hand with a pair of pruners. Then in the spring we start spraying to keep the trees healthy and the fruit quality up,” Futch said. “After bloom, once we assess what kind of crop we’ve got, we do hand thinning. Then around July, it’s back into harvest mode — and we’re harvesting apples from July through November.”

For North Georgia’s apple country, this season is shaping up to be one worth the drive — whether you come in August, September, or all the way through Thanksgiving. The trees are loaded, the orchards are open, and the apples are ready.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Cantaloupe Growers Turn to Technology to Protect Food Safety

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Tifton, GA |

While watermelon tends to steal most of the summer spotlight, it isn’t the only beloved warm-weather fruit coming out of Georgia’s fields. The state ranks third in the country for cantaloupe production — and Lewis Taylor Farms in Tifton is leading the way. But getting those melons from the field to the grocery shelf safely is anything but simple. Cantaloupes are considered a high-risk fruit, their netted rinds capable of trapping both dirt and bacteria, which means food safety has to be built into every step of the process.

At Lewis Taylor Farms, that process starts the moment the melon comes in from the field. Using a hydrocooler, the operation rapidly drops fruit temperature to protect both safety and shelf life.

“It takes that melon from field temperature to around forty-two to forty-four degrees in about thirteen minutes. It goes through what I can best describe as a silver box, being drenched with twelve thousand gallons a minute of freezing water,” said Jessica Kirk, VP of Operations. “The quicker we can bring that temperature down, the safer the product is — it gives it a better shelf life and makes it more food safety ready. Cantaloupes are considered a high-risk fruit, so we treat that water and make sure those cantaloupes are handled accordingly.”

EVERY MELON, MULTIPLE INSPECTIONS

The hydrocooler is far from the only food safety measure in place. Each fruit goes through a rigorous inspection in the field, on the conveyor belts, and again right before packing — a painstaking process designed to ensure quality in every single box that leaves the facility.

“Before they go through the hydrocooler, they go through a quality line where we check to make sure there’s no damage, no blemishes or defects. Those get separated out. The others go on through the hydrocooler and then get inspected again as they’re packed,” Kirk said.

FRESH, FAST, AND MOVING

For this family-run business, timing is everything. The fresher the produce, the higher the quality — and that means paying close attention to how long each box sits at the facility before heading out to retail distribution centers.

“Our cooler always runs first in, first out. We want to keep that produce moving,” Kirk said. “When products leave us heading to a Publix or Harris Teeter, they go to a distribution center and then get shipped out. You want to make sure that food is close — you don’t want food that’s been tracked all the way from very far south of us across the entire country.”

BUY LOCAL, SUPPORT AMERICAN FARMERS

For Kirk, buying locally isn’t just a benefit for the consumer — it’s a matter of national importance. With Georgia farmers navigating high input costs and low commodity prices, domestic support has become essential to keeping operations like this one viable.

“If you can’t buy Georgia Grown, buy U.S. grown. Support our American farmers,” Kirk said. “Having a food source that we can supply to our own country — that is in our national interest. If we do not continue to support farmers, we’ve seen the drops in the numbers of farmers. It definitely is an issue.”

At Lewis Taylor Farms, every cantaloupe that leaves the packing shed represents far more than a piece of fruit — it’s the result of a carefully managed system built around safety, freshness, and a deep commitment to keeping Georgia agriculture strong.

By: Damon Jones

Tunnel Hill Farm Camp Is Teaching Kids Where Their Food Really Comes From

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Tunnel Hill, GA |

It started simply enough — a few friends visiting the farm, playing with the cows, and asking if they could come back and do it again. For Lyla Beckler, that was all the inspiration she needed. What grew out of those visits is a summer farm camp in Tunnel Hill built around one core idea: showing kids what agriculture really looks like up close.

“We wanted to show kids what it’s like to live on a farm and why agriculture is so important. We have a couple of farm animals on our farm, so we talk about each type of animal — plus a few others we may not have — and we do a lot of garden activities, just trying to get the majority of agriculture in its entirety,” Beckler said.

CHANGING THE WAY KIDS THINK

The lessons Beckler and her family put together are intentionally hands-on. The goal isn’t just to teach kids facts about farming — it’s to shift the way they think about the everyday things they may never have questioned before.

“We like to really focus on how much work farmers put into stuff that we use every day. We ask kids, ‘Where do we get our fruits and vegetables from?’ — and they’ll say the grocery store or Walmart. And we do, but there’s a lot behind that,” Beckler said. “We want to make sure kids understand what the people are doing behind the scenes when we’re using everyday things.”

YOU CAN SEE IT HAPPENING

Based on what Beckler has seen so far, the message is getting through. By the end of each camp session, she can already see a shift in how the kids talk — and think — about the world around them.

“This morning we were talking about what animals provide for us, and they were able to answer without us even bringing it up,” she said. “Seeing kids at the beginning of the week not really knowing anything about agriculture, to the end loving it and wanting to tell me everything they’ve learned — it’s really cool to see the kids excited about farming.”

WHAT THE KIDS DON’T SEE

What campers experience during their week, however, is only a fraction of what it takes to make it all happen. While camp runs for a short stretch, the farm itself never takes a day off. Long before any camper arrives — and long after they leave — the animals still need feeding, the garden still needs tending, and the work continues just the same.

“We start out planning everything — we try to do things that kids will remember, make snacks that incorporate the animals we’re learning about, and get our gardens ready. We even have to get certain animals sometimes because we like them small for the kids,” Beckler said. “It really takes a lot all year long. Feeding animals in the cold every morning and every night — the kids don’t see that, but we do it. It takes a lot.”

For Beckler, that invisible effort is part of the point. The farm camp isn’t just about one week of fun — it’s about planting something that lasts. And for the kids who leave knowing a little more about where their food comes from, it clearly does.

By: John Holcomb

Flint Energies Safety Expert Urges Georgia Farmers to Stay Alert Around Power Lines

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Marshallville, GA |

Farmers deal with enough pressure every season — rising costs, unpredictable weather, the constant push to get the job done and stay profitable. But amid all of that, one important hazard can easily be overlooked. Brad Knowles, Manager of Safety and Loss Control for Flint Energies, is urging farmers not to let familiarity breed complacency — because on a farm, that’s often when accidents happen.

“When you’ve got a harvest going on or a bunch of sod that needs to be picked up, you’ve got a lot of things on your mind. Overhead power lines might not be one of them — especially if it’s a line that was just built a month ago and isn’t something you’re used to,” Knowles said.

WHEN FAMILIARITY BECOMES A RISK

Knowles has seen firsthand how quickly a routine task can turn dangerous. One case he returns to often involves a truck driver who had worked the same stretch of road for years — until the lines shifted slightly.

“He had dealt with that road for years, but the lines had shifted just a little too far toward the road. When he raised the bed of the truck, it hit our three-phase power line — it caused damage to the truck, blew out the tires, broke some of the trailer mounts, and did damage to the electronics,” Knowles said. “Luckily, our protective devices opened up, the line was knocked off, and everything was okay.” The farmer walked away unharmed — but it didn’t have to end that way.

Not every incident has that outcome. Knowles references one especially sobering case in his safety presentations.

“A little girl climbed on top of a pivot and came into contact with an overhead power line. It ended up being a fatality — and it’s awful,” he said.

WATCH WHAT’S OVERHEAD — AND UNDERFOOT

Overhead power lines aren’t the only concern. Flint Energies recently finished installing more than 2,000 miles of fiber across their system — lines that hang lower than traditional power lines and weren’t there before.

“We’ve had tractors get into wires, and we’ve also had irrigation systems where the stop didn’t work. By the time we got called out, the irrigation system had almost flipped — it was caught on our wire,” Knowles said.

Underground utilities present their own risks, especially after erosion or washouts alter the depth of buried lines.

“You really don’t think about underground safety much, but if we have wires underground that used to be four feet deep and a washout brings them to two feet deep, whenever someone goes to plow, they can get into our wire,” Knowles said.

NEW EQUIPMENT, NEW CLEARANCE ISSUES

Another often-overlooked hazard: new farm equipment is frequently taller than what a farmer previously operated — meaning lines that were never a problem before suddenly are.

“You buy new equipment and it’s taller. Those lines that you might have always made it under, you might not make it under this time,” Knowles said.

He also cautions against piling dirt beneath power lines, which gradually reduces clearance over time. As grass grows over the mounds, the reduced clearance becomes invisible — but the danger doesn’t go away.

COMMUNICATION IS THE BEST TOOL

Knowles says the farmers in his service area generally do a good job of communicating with the co-op when they’re working near lines — and he points to a recent example where a farm needed to move a grain bin that didn’t have clearance beneath an existing power line.

“They called us, and we came out and lifted the power lines probably fifteen feet or more so they could get underneath with the excavator that was holding part of the silo,” he said. “That’s exactly what we want.”

What Knowles doesn’t want is the alternative: someone hitting a guy wire, a pole, or a line and not reporting it — leaving a compromised structure in the field until something worse happens.

“People will hit our guy wires that hold back our poles and won’t tell us. Without that guide wire holding back the strain, if it breaks, the pole’s going to lean — and when it leans, that wire sags. People have run into lines exactly like that,” he said.

His message to farmers is simple: if something doesn’t look right, make the call.

“We’re here for them. If something doesn’t look right, call us. We’ll come out and check it out,” Knowles said.

By: Jennifer Parson

Franklin County’s Garren Hall Wins GFB Hay Contest and a Year With a New Vermeer Rake

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Carnesville, GA |

In Franklin County recently, hard work and dedication were getting their due reward. Garren Hall, winner of the Georgia Farm Bureau Hay Contest, was being shown the ropes of his new Vermeer rake — the grand prize for a competition that has long encouraged friendly rivalry and high-quality forage production across the state.

“The Georgia Farm Bureau Hay Contest really helps farmers lean on each other and develop the best management practices for forage production in Georgia. Farmers submit samples and get back the nutritional value of their hay — that way they can see what management practices are working well for them and what they can do to improve quality. Better hay leads to better animals,” said Eliza Jane Glover, Agricultural Programs Specialist with Georgia Farm Bureau.

A LONG TIME COMING

Hall has been entering the contest for years, coming close multiple times without taking the top prize. But through it all, quality has remained at the center of every decision made on his operation — and this year, that commitment finally paid off.

“We’ve had a lot of second and third place finishes. I think we’ve got three of the Farm Bureau coolers, but this is the first year we’ve actually topped out and got the grand prize,” Hall said. “High quality hay is really important to us. We’ll even cut our hay a little bit earlier before a rain rather than waiting until after — even though we get a little more quantity by waiting, we don’t have quite the quality. We prefer to cut every twenty-eight days, and it takes two inches of rain to make a cutting every twenty-eight days.”

A PRIZE BUILT TO MAKE FARMING EASIER

Along with the title, Hall took home the use of a Vermeer high-capacity rake for one year — a piece of equipment that reflects everything the Vermeer brand has stood for since its founding.

“Vermeer was started to make things easier for the farmer. In the late seventies, Gary Vermeer invented the round bale after hearing a farmer talk about how hard it was getting their hay up. His iconic saying was that ‘we’ve got to make this easier’ — and that is one of our driving pillars: making things simpler for the farmer,” said Daniel Elliott, Territory Manager for Vermeer.

That philosophy is built into the design of this rake, which stretches to a twenty-eight-foot working width — allowing operators to cover more ground with fewer passes through the field.

“That wide width means traveling through the field fewer times, which is better for fuel costs and better for your grass — less tracking means it recovers a lot faster after the cut,” Elliott said. “And the hydraulic suspension adjusts to the terrain as it goes, so it really doesn’t miss any spaces even at that width.”

For Hall, the win is validation of years of consistent management and a commitment to doing things right — even when cutting a little early costs a little yield. For Georgia’s hay producers, it’s a reminder that in forage, quality and consistency almost always win in the end.

By: John Holcomb