Tag Archives: Farm Monitor

UGA Researcher Warns Georgia Farmers: The Pasture Mealybug Is Moving Fast and Treatments Are Limited

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Tifton, GA |

Most Georgia farmers have never heard of the pasture mealybug — but researchers say it has the potential to cause serious damage across the state’s forage industry. Lisa Baxter, State Forage Extension Specialist with the University of Georgia, says while the pest isn’t new to the world, it’s a newcomer to the United States — and it’s moving fast.

“It’s been in Texas for probably two or three years. It was officially confirmed there last year, but this season it’s really started moving through the Southeast. It’s been decimating sugarcane in Louisiana, moved up through Florida, and luckily we’ve been able to head it off so far and keep it to just a handful of counties,” Baxter said. “But it’s so different than any other pest I’m normally talking about.”

NOT YOUR TYPICAL PEST

Baxter says many producers want to compare the pasture mealybug to the fall armyworm — but the two operate very differently. Rather than moving quickly and visibly destroying a field, the mealybug works slowly, draining the plant of nutrients and leaving it vulnerable to secondary diseases.

“They both cause desiccated grass at the end, but where the fall armyworm happens quickly and moves on, this pest is slower acting. It literally pulls all the good juices out of the plant. That itself won’t kill the grass, but it makes it more vulnerable to all these other stressors,” Baxter said. “As we’re heading into a pretty soggy fall and winter, the likelihood of Fusarium and other diseases showing up is very likely — and that’s what could come in and take out our grass.”

LIMITED TREATMENT OPTIONS — EARLY DETECTION IS KEY

So far, treatment options are limited. Standard insecticides won’t work on this pest, and researchers are still working to develop reliable suppression strategies.

“This type of pest isn’t going to respond to any of the normal insecticides. We’re having to look at temporary and emergency labeling for other products — but even then, they’re suppression only in any case I’ve seen from other states,” Baxter said. “If you see something that just looks a little off, take a picture of it, send it to your agent, and get somebody out there to look at it.”

GEORGIA IS ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE

What makes Georgia’s situation particularly concerning is the sheer diversity and breadth of its forage systems — far more complex than most states where this pest has been reported.

“Warm season grasses extend far beyond pasture and hay fields. We also have a lot of grass crops — corn, sugarcane, sorghum, millet — and a big turfgrass industry, a big sod industry, a big seed industry, not counting home lawns. And all of that is connected by warm season roadsides,” Baxter said. “Our agricultural landscape looks a lot different than other states where this has been reported, and especially other countries.”

For producers looking for the latest guidance on identification and management, Baxter points to the Georgia Forages website as the go-to resource — and urges anyone who suspects they may have seen the pest to report it to their local extension agent immediately.

By: John Holcomb

Atlanta Startup Good Agriculture Is Automating Farm Finances — and Georgia Farmers Are Taking Notice

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Atlanta, GA |

Out of a small office in downtown Atlanta, big ideas are taking shape that could change the way farmers handle their finances. What started as a manual bookkeeping service, Good Agriculture has evolved into an automated financial management platform designed to tackle one of the most persistent pain points in production agriculture.

“Everything is hard for a small farmer. They’re doing the finances, the logistics, the marketing, the legal compliance, the hiring, and the farming — all by themselves. When we asked them which thing they’d most like to get off their plate, the number one thing that came up was finances,” said Alex Locklear, Founder and CEO of Good Agriculture.

AFBF AG INNOVATION CHALLENGE FINALIST

Good Agriculture was recently named one of four finalists for this year’s American Farm Bureau Federation Ag Innovation Challenge — recognition that reflects both the need the company is addressing and the efficiency gains it delivers for producers.

“The two biggest value propositions we’ve seen for our farmers are: one, we’ve been able to point out specific insights like, ‘Hey, this thing you’re growing is actually losing you money,’ or ‘You’re spending way more on diesel fuel than other farmers your size,'” Locklear said. “Then they can make those changes and see more profit. For the other half of our customers, it’s purely time savings — we’re just taking that off their plate so they can reinvest into the farm.”

KNOWING THE NUMBERS THAT MATTER

With margins tighter than ever, Locklear says the ability to break down the true cost of every operation on the farm has become critically important — and the results often surprise producers.

“It’s so important to know: every time I do a tractor pass, what is that going to cost me? What is my cost per acre? Am I selling at a price point that actually makes sense, or the more I grow, the more am I losing money?” Locklear said. “Every time we’ve broken down the numbers for a farmer, there’s always something that surprises them — some thing they’re doing that’s actually not worth it at all.”

BUILT FOR EVERY SIZE FARM

With three service tiers, Good Agriculture is designed to serve farms across the spectrum — from new operations just getting started to established family businesses doing eight figures in annual revenue.

“We’ve gotten to work with such a fun diversity of farm businesses — row crops, livestock, value-added products, agritourism, you name it. From brand-new farmers who don’t have any revenue yet and just want to get started on the right foot, to family businesses doing ten-plus million dollars a year who need a little more support,” Locklear said. “We just love supporting farmers through that journey.”

MORE SERVICES ON THE WAY

Good Agriculture is continuing to expand its offerings based on what producers are asking for. This year the company added tax filing, and payroll and bill pay are both in development.

“Farmers always ask us for additional things we can do with their financial management. This year we added filing their taxes for them — and that’s been huge,” Locklear said. “The next thing we’re implementing is payroll, because everybody is asking for it. After that, bill pay — handling the invoices, paying the bills, managing the money coming in and out.”

For Georgia’s farmers who have long handled their books the hard way, Good Agriculture is offering something simple but powerful: one less thing to do — and a clearer picture of what’s actually working on the farm.

By: Damon Jones

Georgia SAF Coalition Aims to Turn Farm and Forestry Resources Into a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Industry

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Atlanta, GA |

Sustainable aviation fuel — known as SAF — is an alternative jet fuel made from renewable materials, including products that come directly from farms and forests. And for Georgia, a state rich in both, the opportunity to become a national leader in SAF production could be one of the most significant developments in the state’s agricultural and forestry sectors in a generation.

“What I like about it is that there are new crops suitable to Georgia’s climate — drought and heat tolerant — that can be grown. I’ve never heard of some of them, but I like it because those new crops will give our future generations something to grow and farm profitably,” said Tom McCall, President of Georgia Farm Bureau. “And the crops we already grow in Georgia can be used to make sustainable aviation fuel, along with timber.”

A TIMELY MARKET FOR FORESTRY

The opportunity couldn’t come at a more critical time for Georgia’s forestry industry. Recent pulp mill closures have sharply reduced demand for certain types of wood, while sawmills continue to generate residual material with nowhere to go.

“The practical application for this SAF coalition is to develop a market that can utilize resources that are available today — resources that really weren’t available a year and a half or two years ago in our state,” said Tim Lowrimore of the Georgia Forestry Association.

THE RIGHT PARTNERS IN THE ROOM

The Georgia SAF Coalition brings together Georgia Farm Bureau, the Georgia Forestry Association, Delta Air Lines, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber, among others — connecting the state’s raw materials with the research, investment, and demand needed to build an entirely new industry.

“This is a perfect public-private partnership where we’re bringing government, private industry, and expertise to the table to solve a problem that addresses an issue the industry wants to see addressed. But it also supports our forestry industry and agricultural sector in a way that can be game changing and life changing for generations to come,” said Commissioner Tyler Harper.

Lowrimore says the foundation for moving forward is already in place — and that with the right momentum, Georgia could emerge as a national model within five years.

“This is what has to happen — what we’re doing today. The right partners in the room, talking about the pathway forward. Having a major brand like Delta representing the off-take for SAF, leading the way and wanting to partner with the Georgia Forestry Association and Georgia Farm Bureau,” Lowrimore said. “I think within five years, we have the opportunity in Georgia to be a leader for the country in SAF production.”

THE LEGISLATURE IS ON BOARD

Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns made clear that state government intends to be a full partner in making that vision a reality.

“I can assure you that the Georgia House and the General Assembly is dedicated to going down this journey with all of you to make sure we are successful — and it’s going to be good for us, good for Georgia, good for America, and good for all of our partners in the years to come,” Burns said.

For Georgia’s farmers and forest landowners, sustainable aviation fuel represents something that has been in short supply lately: a new market, a new crop opportunity, and a reason to look at the land beneath their feet and see the future.

By: Ray D’Alessio

UGA Climatologist Says a Powerful El Niño Is Coming — and Georgia Farmers Should Prepare for a Wet Winter

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Watkinsville, GA |

The past twelve months of weather in Georgia can no doubt be described as extreme — too dry, then too wet, then not enough of anything. And with tropical activity virtually absent this season, forecasters are pointing to a major shift on the horizon: a powerful El Niño that could dramatically reshape conditions heading into winter and the 2027 growing season.

“Last spring we were in a pretty bad drought, and we did get quite a bit of rain right at the beginning of summer that alleviated a lot of the short-term drought. But rainfall has been really spotty — we’re not getting any tropical activity this year, partly because of the El Niño,” said Pam Knox, Agricultural Climatologist with the University of Georgia. “The only rain we’re really getting is pop-up thunderstorm rain where it hits one field and doesn’t even hit the one right next to it. You can have drought and floods in the same county.”

WHAT ‘SUPER EL NIÑO’ ACTUALLY MEANS

Forecasters have been using the phrase “super El Niño” to describe what’s developing — but Knox says that term needs some unpacking before producers start planning around it.

“There’s no official term as a ‘super El Niño.’ El Niño is basically rated by how hot temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean get. Depending on how strong they get, you can have a weak, moderate, or strong El Niño,” Knox said. “Right now I think we’re in a strong El Niño, and there’s about a seventy-five percent chance we’re going to get into an extra-strong one. When we have an El Niño in the winter — usually strongest right around Christmas — we’re more likely in Georgia to see wetter and cooler conditions than normal.”

WHEN WILL IT KICK IN?

Knox says the strongest El Niño effects are typically felt in southern Georgia, but in a year this powerful, the influence could stretch across the entire state. The timing, however, is still uncertain.

“El Niño takes a while to build up — it’s a global weather pattern, so things don’t happen immediately. But when it really gets organized and kicks in, we could see a pretty rapid transition to fairly wet and cool conditions,” Knox said. “Usually you might say November or December, but because it’s so strong this time, we think it might actually kick in a little bit early.”

GOOD NEWS FOR SOIL MOISTURE — AND NEXT SPRING

For Georgia’s farmers, a cooler and wetter winter carries a significant upside: the chance to rebuild soil moisture depleted by the drought conditions that complicated much of the 2026 growing season.

“One of the nice things about El Niño — if you can call it a nice thing — is that usually we get a lot of recharge of soil moisture over the winter months, and we go into the next growing season with plenty of moisture,” Knox said. “Last year we had a La Niña — it was very dry for most of the winter, and when we got into spring, a lot of areas were too dry to plant. I don’t think that’s going to be a problem this year. More likely, the fields are going to be so wet that it might be hard to get into some of the low-lying ones that are already kind of damp.”

For Georgia producers who spent much of 2026 chasing rainfall, a wet winter may feel like welcome relief — though as Knox makes clear, the weather always has one more surprise waiting just around the corner.

By: John Holcomb

Stanford Farm Has Been in the Same Coweta County Family Since 1883 — and It’s Still Going

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Sharpsburg, GA |

The sun has been rising over this piece of Coweta County for a long time. And on most mornings, like so many before it, there’s work to be done. For David Stanford, that’s just life on the farm — but look past the cows, the barns, and the daily routine, and there’s a story here that began long before David.

“Back when the farm was started, they purchased a place in 1883 from my great-grandfather. It was 202 and a half acres given out in the land lottery — they didn’t receive it in the lottery, but they bought it from somebody who did,” Stanford said. “It was just a farm they were struggling to make a living on, growing cotton and corn and raising whatever it took to feed the family.”

BRINGING IT BACK

More than 140 years later, the farm has certainly changed. Some of the original land left the family along the way. But David has spent part of his lifetime working to bring some of it back — and when you walk the property today, there are still plenty of reminders of where it all began.

“Part of the farm was divided between two brothers and some of it got away. But I’ve bought some of it back — we’ve got about 110 acres of the original 202,” Stanford said. “I own the spot where the original home place sat. I still have my great-great-grandfather’s house. I still have my great-grandfather’s house. It has stayed the same, but it has changed a little bit too.”

THE QUESTION HE’S NEVER HAD TO THINK ABOUT

Keeping a farm in the family is one thing. Keeping it a working farm, generation after generation, in a county where open land continues to compete with growth and development, is something else entirely. But ask David if selling ever crossed his mind, and the answer comes without hesitation.

“It’s never crossed my mind. I always look at it as my granddaddy gave it to me, and it was my job to pass it along to somebody else. I’m just looking after it for him,” Stanford said. “It’s something that’s been in the family so long. I grew up on it, my mother grew up on it, my grandfather and great-grandfather. I just don’t want to be the first one to sell it.”

THE NEXT GENERATION IS ALREADY HERE

David isn’t working alone. Sons Thomas and Tyler have been part of this farm almost as long as they’ve been able to walk — and the generation after them has already arrived. David’s first grandchild, Lucas, is now in the picture, and the look on David’s face when he talks about him says more than words can.

“There’s no words to describe it. No words to describe it,” Stanford said.

A CENTENNIAL FARM, OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED

In 2025, that generational commitment earned the Stanford family official recognition. Stanford Farm at the Martin Home Place was named one of Georgia’s Centennial Family Farms — an honor reserved for working farms that have remained in the same family for at least one hundred years. David is quick to give credit where it’s due.

“My wife done all this hard work — she got all the pictures together, looked up the paperwork, whatever it took to sign up for this. She done all the footwork,” he said.

Over the course of more than a century, just about everything around a family farm can change. The roads, the neighbors, the equipment, the way farmers do business. But for the Stanfords, the goal has stayed simple: keep the land working and keep it in the family. And if the generations who started all of this could come back and see it today, David has a pretty good idea what they’d think.

“I think they’d be most proud that it’s still here. They can look back and see the house they lived in is still here, some of the barns. The older home place isn’t there anymore, but there’s a modern house in its place,” Stanford said. “I think they’d be really proud that it’s still here — and it’s still a farm.”

By: Ray D’Alessio

Fausett Farms Is Growing 700,000 Sunflowers in North Georgia — and People Are Flying In to See Them

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Dawsonville, GA |

It’s rows of gold here in North Georgia, where fields of sunflowers stretch across thirty acres on a historic family-owned farm in Dawson County. What started as a poultry operation in the 1850s is now one of the state’s largest growers of this beloved seasonal flower — and the numbers this season are impressive.

“Right now we’ve got about a few hundred thousand sunflowers that are blooming or have been bloomed. This second field behind me is just starting. The cooler weather is slowing down the progress a little, but they’re going to get there,” said Brett Fausett of Fausett Farms. “And after these, about two weeks later, we’ve got fields across the creek that are going to start blooming too. In total, we’ve probably got about seven hundred thousand flowers.”

A YEAR-ROUND COMMITMENT

Even though sunflowers may only be in bloom for a short window, the work behind them is anything but brief — it’s a year-round process that starts long before the first seed goes in the ground.

“You’ve got to start with subsoiling, soil samples — we get those back from the University of Georgia and decide on our fertilizer. Then come the final preparations, the plowing, the planting, and then taking care of pesticides, herbicides, all of that,” Fausett said. “It’s always a battle with deer and bugs, but we make it happen.”

BUILT FOR THIS GROUND

Growing conditions in this part of North Georgia are well suited for sunflowers — rich bottomland soil and plenty of sunshine give the crop the foundation it needs. And for those curious about whether sunflowers really do follow the sun, Fausett can confirm it.

“The ground here in these bottoms is really rich. If you’ve got clay, it’s going to be more difficult,” he said. “They need as much sun as they can get, and they do follow the sun. When they’re just a bulb, they will track it across the sky — I get asked that all the time. Once they bloom, most of them are facing east.”

HEAT CUT THE FIRST BLOOM SHORT

This summer’s relentless heat did present some challenges, cutting the early bloom shorter than expected and giving Fausett a firsthand reminder that weather is never fully on your side in farming.

“The first field didn’t last as long as it should have because it was so hot — they usually last about two weeks, but that field lasted about a week or ten days,” Fausett said. “If it stays this cool when the next fields bloom, that field will probably last three weeks. It’s a fight with weather. Sometimes it’s your friend and sometimes it’s not.”

PEOPLE COME FROM EVERYWHERE

All the hard work is worth it, Fausett says, when he sees the thousands of visitors who come through the farm gates each week during bloom season — some of them from well beyond the Georgia state line.

“There’s a lot of work — a lot people don’t see. But it’s what we do. We’ve farmed our whole life,” he said. “We started with agritourism around 2013 or 2014, and I just like seeing people come and enjoy what we do. It makes us proud. We have people who come back every year. We have people come from out of state. A family flew in from Detroit just for this. People come from all over.”

For Fausett Farms, the sunflower season is short — but the impact it leaves on visitors, and the pride it gives the family behind it, lasts all year long.

By: Damon Jones

UGA Economist Explains Why Beef Prices Are High — and Why New Imports Are Worrying Georgia Cattle Producers

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Athens, GA |

The price of beef at the grocery store has been a headline for months — and while consumers are feeling it in their wallets, the story behind those prices runs much deeper than simple supply and demand. It starts with the cattle cycle, and a combination of economic and environmental pressures that have been building for years.

“Usually, we follow the cattle cycle about every ten to fourteen years. We hit periods where we have low profitability, and in that situation, producers look to try to increase their revenues — and by doing so, they’re liquidating some of their herd,” said Will Secor, Extension Livestock Economist with the University of Georgia. “We’ve also seen significant drought throughout much of the U.S., particularly in the Central Plains, and the Southeast has certainly had its own drought over the past number of years. As we don’t have those forage resources available, we reduce the number of cattle. Those different combinations are creating a situation where we have fewer head of cattle.”

HIGH PRICES, LONG OVERDUE

Fewer cattle means tighter supply — and tighter supply has pushed beef prices higher. But Secor says it isn’t just a supply story. Consumer demand has been equally powerful in driving what people pay at the meat counter. For cattle producers, those higher prices have been a long-awaited reward — the payoff after years of drought, low margins, and difficult herd decisions. Many were beginning to reinvest and rebuild.

Then came the announcement of new beef imports — and with it, uncertainty at exactly the wrong point in the cycle.

“If a producer is thinking about where they were last year versus where they are today, they’re probably thinking: the supply fundamentals in the U.S. haven’t changed, but we’ve certainly seen prices start to slide. What’s going on?” Secor said. “Part of it is macroeconomic and policy uncertainty — and that uncertainty plays into the decision process of retention. Uncertainty hurts not necessarily as much today, but when you’re thinking about making plans for the future. That’s going to impact their expansion decisions.”

IMPORTS AREN’T NEW — BUT THE TIMING IS A CONCERN

Beef imports are nothing new to the U.S. market, but Secor says the downstream impact on cattle prices is a legitimate concern for producers who were just beginning to see the rewards of a tightened market.

“We’ve been importing beef for a long time. A lot of times it’s lean beef or beef trimmings, so that’s going to go to things like ground beef — and a lot of times, that ground beef isn’t going directly to U.S. consumers at retail. It might be going through fast food restaurants and other food service locations,” Secor said. “So it isn’t necessarily going to have a huge impact at the retail level, but it could overall from a price-of-beef standpoint.”

For Georgia’s cattle producers, the question now is whether the current moment of uncertainty slows the expansion cycle before it ever really gets started — a familiar frustration for an industry that has grown accustomed to being tested just when things start to look up.

By: John Holcomb

2026 Georgia Peanut Tour Takes Attendees Behind the Scenes From Field to Market

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Sylvania, GA |

It’s officially harvest season for peanut growers in Georgia — but pulling them out of the ground is only the first of many steps in getting them to market. The 2026 Georgia Peanut Tour took attendees through the entire process, giving them an appreciation for just how much work goes into a crop farmers take for granted far too often.

“I think that farmers in particular are proud of the job that we do. And it’s kind of cool to highlight that and show what functional infrastructure for raising peanuts here in Georgia looks like,” said Donald Chase, Chairman of the Georgia Peanut Commission.

FROM THE FIELD TO THE BUYING POINT

Among the stops on the tour was Sylvania Peanut Company — a local buying point that plays a key role in preparing the crop for shipping after harvest. It’s here that peanuts coming in from surrounding farms are graded, dried, and stored before heading to processing facilities and eventually the grocery shelf.

“The peanuts come in from the field. We haul most of them in here. Years ago it was primarily a farm operation, but now we’re primarily a semi facility. We still have a few small growers that grow and bring their peanuts here,” said Joe Bodiford of Sylvania Peanut Company. “When they come on this yard, we find out what the moisture is. If it’s not at the moisture we need, we go ahead and get a grade on it, determine the value for the customer, and get them where they need to be. If they don’t meet those thresholds, we’ll go ahead and either ship them out or put them in our warehouses.”

WHAT MOST PEOPLE NEVER SEE

Getting an up-close look at the grading, drying, and storing process gave tour attendees a chance to experience just how much work goes on before the crop ever reaches a store shelf.

“To help you understand all the things that go into getting a good, quality peanut to market — the ultimate market is in the grocery store — we want to do our part here in doing a good job, and a better job as time goes on,” Bodiford said. “I hope they get a little sense of the amount of work it takes to get a good, quality peanut to market. Most people won’t see the peanut butter jar or the peanut snack bar or something like that and think about where it starts. But this is where it all starts.”

RESEARCH, MARKETING, AND A GLOBAL INDUSTRY

Along the way, attendees also heard about research, marketing, and even the international side of why peanuts remain such a significant commodity for the state of Georgia.

“We do a lot out in the field — digging and then waiting on harvest, and then the logistics of getting that to a buying point and then the buying point shipping some off,” Chase said. “It’s a yearlong process, really.”

A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT

As the three-day tour wrapped up, the key takeaway was a deeper appreciation for what it takes to produce a quality, safe food supply — and the role Georgia’s peanut industry plays in feeding the country.

“For me, it’s about understanding the integral part that agriculture and specifically peanut agriculture plays in rural Georgia,” Chase said. “When you think about the products that come from this — how delicious they are — hopefully it will bring that full circle to everyone who attended.”

For Georgia’s peanut growers, harvest season is the payoff for a year’s worth of work — and tours like this one are a reminder that the journey from field to shelf is far longer and more complex than the jar on any grocery store shelf would suggest.

By: Damon Jones

Ison’s Nursery and Vineyard Has Been Growing Muscadines in Georgia Since 1934 — and Business Is Booming

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Brooks, GA |

Among the rows of vines stretching across forty acres in Brooks lies a family story that spans generations. Founded in 1934 when the first plant went into the ground, Ison’s Nursery and Vineyard is now the largest and oldest grower of muscadine vines in the country — a distinction owner Greg Ison takes quiet pride in carrying forward.

“My grandfather started growing a few muscadine plants on the side for family and friends. Then in the 1960s, my father thought there was an opportunity to commercially grow muscadine vines and sell them all over the country — so he started growing them, and we began shipping them all over the Southeast,” Ison said. “We’re proud to continue that tradition today.”

EIGHTEEN MONTHS BEFORE A VINE LEAVES THE FARM

A lot of time and careful work goes into cultivating the more than thirty different varieties of muscadine vines offered by Ison’s — long before a single plant is ready to ship.

“It’s an eighteen-month process on the plants. We take cuttings in the summer months, propagate them, place them in a one-gallon container, and grow them out for an additional year,” Ison said. “Most planting is done during October through April, but depending on where you are — South Georgia, Alabama, Florida — you can plant any month of the year.”

A FRUIT BUILT FOR THE SOUTH

As for the fruit itself, muscadines have a natural advantage in the Georgia climate — one that makes them remarkably forgiving for growers of any experience level.

“Muscadine fruiting plants are one of the easiest plants to grow. They’re very forgiving,” Ison said. “And one of the great things about muscadines is they bloom so late — mid to late May, early June — that we never run the risk of catching a late frost on the blooms. So they will always have a crop on them.”

HEAT AND HARVEST DON’T MIX WELL

Harvest, however, has brought its own set of challenges this season — particularly during the prolonged heat and drought that have defined much of the summer.

“Our guys will go from picking twenty pounds an hour to as much as a hundred pounds an hour depending on the season, but it is very labor intensive. When you’re doing fresh market sales like we do, you have to pick by hand,” Ison said. “The challenge has been that we’ve been extremely hot and extremely dry — we have not turned off our drip irrigation systems in the vineyards for over a month. We’ve been pulling the guys out of the fields sometimes at two-thirty or three o’clock in the afternoon just to keep them out of that heat.”

SHIPPED STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOOR

Once the muscadines are off the vine, they don’t stay on the shelf for long. Ison’s sells their fruit four different ways — including a popular roadside stand and nationwide shipping for former Southerners who miss the taste of home.

“We actually ship fruit all over the United States to a lot of people who lived in the South and no longer do, but want to enjoy muscadines. We’ll ship them second-day air — and we ship a lot of muscadines to people who have never had them before,” Ison said.

For Ison’s Nursery and Vineyard, ninety-plus years of growth have been built on something simple: a belief that the muscadine, Georgia’s own southern delicacy, is worth sharing with the rest of the country — one vine and one shipment at a time.

By: Damon Jones

Georgia Pecan Growers Face Relentless Scab Pressure and Helene Recovery at 2026 Fall Field Day

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Leesburg, GA |

The Georgia Pecan Growers Association’s Fall Field Day brought producers and researchers together in Leesburg recently for an up-close look at the challenges and management strategies shaping this year’s crop. For growers who can see the research in person — and then take it home to apply in their own orchards — events like this one carry real weight.

“Field days like this are very important because they separate how you process information from what you may read in a book or see on a screen to being able to see it visually,” said Andrew Sawyer, Southeast Area Pecan Agent with UGA Extension. “When people get out here in the orchard, they’re able to put their eyes on it — and it allows them to process that information differently. For the most part, they always respond positively.”

SCAB PRESSURE HAS BEEN RELENTLESS

There was plenty to see this season. Lenny Wells, Extension Pecan Specialist for the University of Georgia, says heavy summer rainfall has made disease management one of the defining battles of 2026 — particularly in southwest Georgia, where scab pressure has been relentless.

“We’ve had a lot of scab pressure, especially in southwest Georgia. As you get over into East Georgia, it’s been a little drier, so they haven’t had as many of the scab issues we’ve had here,” Wells said. “But anytime we get a lot of rain like we have this summer, it makes controlling scab — which is of course our biggest problem — an even bigger challenge. Frequent rains make it hard to get out in the field to spray, and when you do get out there, a lot of times it may get washed off that afternoon. So it just keeps the scab continuously going.”

MORE RAIN MEANS MORE COST

That disease pressure doesn’t just threaten yield — it hits the bottom line directly, driving up one of the most significant costs pecan growers already face.

“The cost of fungicide and applying those fungicides is one of the biggest costs we have in growing pecans. When it’s raining more often, you have to spray more often — and that drives costs way up,” Wells said. “That’s one reason we recommend trying to plant varieties that have a decent level of scab resistance, so that you don’t have to spray as often.”

HELENE RECOVERY ON TRACK

On top of the scab challenge, many Georgia pecan growers are still working through the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. But Wells says the good news is that the recovery cycle is playing out about as expected — and for growers in East Georgia, this year is bringing some much-needed relief.

“Normally what we see after a hurricane or a storm like Helene is that the year after the storm, the trees have been under a great deal of stress and aren’t really going to put on much of a crop. Then the following year, they’ll put that crop on again — and it’s a pretty decent crop,” Wells said. “That’s kind of where we are in the cycle. This year, the crop in East Georgia and throughout the state looks pretty good. That’s a blessing, certainly for those guys in East Georgia who have lost so much.”

For Georgia’s pecan producers, the field day served as a timely reminder that research, variety selection, and staying connected to the work happening in the orchard are often the difference between a manageable season and a costly one.

By: John Holcomb