Tag Archives: farming 2026

Warner Robins Middle School Brings Hydroponic Tower Garden Into the Ag Classroom

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Warner Robins, GA |

Inside James Judson’s agriculture classroom at Feagin Mill Middle School, the sound of water trickling through a hydroponic tower garden is now a familiar backdrop. Thanks to a Bright Ideas Grant from Flint Energies, Judson — an ag teacher and FFA advisor — was able to bring the technology into his classroom and give students in Warner Robins a hands-on look at the future of agriculture.

“It funded the purchase of the tower garden and the first materials to get it started — the rockwool, nutrients, fertilizer,” Judson said. “It’s not difficult at all. It’s really easier than traditional gardens because it’s using more technology.”

BRINGING AGRICULTURE TO WHERE STUDENTS ARE

For Judson, the tower garden is more than a classroom tool — it’s a bridge. In a city like Warner Robins, where many students live in apartments and subdivisions, traditional row crop agriculture can feel distant. Hydroponics offers a different entry point.

“Agriculture is a little different here than in more rural Georgia, where agronomy and row crops may not relate as much to these students. But they can see technology being used, and gardens — that’s something they can relate to,” Judson said. “Agriculture is Georgia’s biggest industry, and one in seven Georgians work in agriculture. It’s important for all of our young students to realize that in each class I teach, about four of them will end up working in agriculture someday.”

A FIELD TRIP THAT CHANGED PERSPECTIVES

To take the learning even further, Judson’s class toured a large commercial hydroponic facility in Houston County — and for eighth grader Kinley Harter, the visit left a lasting impression.

“Seeing the plants, the machinery, the outside, the process, the packaging — it was really impactful because it got me thinking, like, I could do this someday,” Harter said.

HOW THE TOWER WORKS

Back in the classroom, the hydroponic tower runs almost entirely on its own. A reservoir at the base pumps water to the top, where it trickles down over the roots before cycling back and repeating — all on an automated timer, including the grow lights.

“It’ll cut on every few minutes, supply water to the roots, then sit and turn on again,” Judson explained. “The lights are all on a timer so we can adjust how much sunlight they get. It’s just all automated.”

The process starts small — seeds placed in rockwool cubes and covered with vermiculite — before moving into the tower after about six days. From there, it takes roughly a month for lettuce to reach harvest size. For Harter, watching that growth cycle from start to finish is one of the best parts of the class.

“You walk in and you see the growth of it — it grows on its own,” she said.

A FULL AG PROGRAM IN THE MAKING

The tower garden is just one part of a broader agricultural education program at Feagin Mill. The school also maintains a greenhouse and raised garden beds, with students starting plants from seed as early as sixth grade. Each year, they hold a plant sale to showcase everything they’ve learned.

“You have to really learn the balance. Sometimes when you grow plants you can tell — the leaves are getting brown, so there’s too much sunlight, or it’s not growing because there’s too much water,” Harter said.

Before taking Judson’s class, Harter says her gardening experience didn’t go much beyond holding the watering can for her mom. Now, she’s got a message for students who might be hesitant to try something new.

“Don’t be afraid to do something you’ve never done before just because you don’t have the experience. Go in and learn — go in and say, ‘I can do this.’ If you have the mindset, you have the mobility, you have everything. You can do it.”

By: Jennifer Parson

Bulloch County Farmer Will Anderson’s Story Is One of Endurance, Faith, and Family

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Register, GA |

At first glance, Will Anderson’s farming operation looks like a lot of South Georgia farms. There’s cotton, peanuts, poultry houses, and long hours trying to keep everything moving. But spend a day with him here in Register, and it becomes clear there’s a lot more riding on this farm than just this year’s crop.

“We farm mainly cotton and peanuts, a little bit of corn. We’ve got eight broiler houses with Claxton Poultry. I’m also a quarter owner in Candler Peanut — we buy for Golden Peanut, do processing for them, and sell CPI peanut seed,” said Anderson, a Bulloch County row crop farmer.

RECOGNITION, AND A LITTLE DISCOMFORT

It’s the kind of operation that takes years to build — and recently it’s earned Anderson recognition, including stewardship honors and awards within the peanut industry. But for him, the attention still feels a little uncomfortable.

“We try to take care of the land like we’re supposed to — do soil samples, do a good job raising chickens,” Anderson said. “There have been a lot of good growers, a lot better than me, who’ve gotten that award over the years. It was an honor to get it.”

A FAMILY FARM TESTED EARLY

The humility makes more sense once you understand the road it took to get here. Anderson comes from a multi-generational farm family built through years of hard work — and eventually, hard times. His father returned home after college to farm, but was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at a young age. As his health declined, Will found himself stepping into a much bigger role far sooner than expected.

“He started getting sick physically pretty bad when I was probably 18 or 19. You could tell he physically couldn’t do what he needed to do on the farm,” Anderson said. “And during that time — that was in the late nineties — it was a really bad time to farm. Three or four years of consecutive drought and low prices.”

For many operations, that kind of combination is devastating. Low commodity prices, bad weather, and a family health crisis all hitting at once. But somehow, the farm kept going.

“I reckon it goes back to your relationship with the Lord. If he wants you to keep doing it, you’ll keep doing it,” Anderson said. “I’m old enough now to look back and see where times were pretty rough and you came out of it — whether through commodity prices changing or just good yields. Things can change pretty quickly in farming. Cotton was 64 cents three months ago and now it’s 85 cents. That’s how fast it moves. It honestly needs to be about 95 cents, but I think you can look back and see that things can change. Right now though, it’s pretty bad. Our inputs are just too high.”

THE NEXT GENERATION

Even as technology continues to change the way farmers operate, Anderson says the mission really hasn’t changed much at all — keep the farm moving forward, and hopefully create an opportunity for the next generation to do the same.

“My son graduated from high school a couple years ago, and that’s all he’d ever wanted to do. He’s back here now, so hopefully that gives you a little pump — we can keep going and make it work,” Anderson said.

Which may be why, after all the years, all the pressure, and all the uncertainty that comes with farming, the thing Anderson sounds most proud of isn’t an award. It’s endurance.

“There are a lot of good farmers that are not still in business. I’m proud that we’re still moving in the right direction, and I’m proud that my son has been able to come back,” he said. “Whenever you can keep going, it’s a blessing.”

GIVING BACK TO THE INDUSTRY

Beyond his own operation, Anderson serves in a number of agricultural leadership roles across the state, including the Georgia Conservation Tillage Alliance, where he continues to advocate for conservation and research-based farming practices — carrying the same commitment to stewardship that has defined his farm for generations.

By: Ray D’Alessio

Georgia Mobile Dairy Classroom Coordinator Brings Dairy Farming to Life Across the State

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Perry, GA |

For more than seventeen years, Nicole Duvall has traveled across Georgia helping connect consumers with the dairy industry as Program Coordinator for the Georgia Mobile Dairy Classroom. But long before stepping into that role, her love for dairy farming began much closer to home — on her family’s small farm.

“I actually grew up on a dairy farm, a small farm with my family, and we were very involved in our day-to-day operations,” Duvall said. “That’s where I began my interest in dairy. My family sold out of the dairy business in the early two thousands — along with a lot of dairies in our area — and I was, quite honestly, devastated. I was hoping to continue working with my dad on our family farm at some point, but that didn’t pan out.”

A NEW WAY TO STAY CONNECTED

Though that chapter closed, Duvall’s passion for the industry never faded. She found a new way to stay connected — and to bring others along with her — through hands-on education that brings the milking process to life for students and consumers of all ages.

“I believe in this industry even more today than I did seventeen years ago — in what dairy farmers do on a day-to-day basis just to care for their animals and produce a quality product for consumers to enjoy,” Duvall said. “But I also really enjoy bringing the whole milking process to life for people. Watching kids learn — they interact a lot differently outside the classroom. It’s a lot more fun for them to come outside and see a live cow than to sit in a classroom watching a video of it.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS THAT STICK

Through that educational outreach, Duvall is helping bridge the widening gap between consumers and agriculture — giving people a firsthand look at where their dairy products come from and the care that goes into producing them.

“I love making that connection for them, just seeing the awe on their face. Everything a cow does is kind of funny to a kid,” she said. “But even yesterday at the fair, I had a forty-year-old woman come up and tell me she had never seen a cow get milked and how much she enjoyed it. It’s making those connections. It never gets old.”

A SHRINKING INDUSTRY, A GROWING COMMITMENT

For Duvall, those moments of curiosity and excitement are what make the long days worthwhile. They also underscore a broader challenge: as the number of family dairy farms continues to decline, the distance between consumers and their food keeps growing.

“We’re even more removed from family farms than we used to be. Before, someone might say, ‘oh, my grandfather was a dairy farmer.’ You rarely hear that now because our industry has gotten so much smaller,” Duvall said. “But we have expanded in herd size, and our producers have made huge efforts to stay in business — building freestall barns, focusing on cow comfort. I believe in the industry even more today because I see what farms are investing in their cows and their future.”

For Duvall, each visit — whether to a school, a fair, or a community event — is one more chance to ensure that connection doesn’t disappear entirely.

By: John Holcomb

UGA Hosts Inaugural Southeastern Specialty Crop Technology Conference in Tifton

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Tifton, GA |

From drones spraying crops to robots scouting fields, technology has become a constant presence in Georgia’s number one industry. To help growers make sense of what’s available — and what actually works — the University of Georgia recently hosted the inaugural Southeastern Specialty Crop Technology Conference, giving attendees a firsthand look at the latest research and development shaping the future of agriculture.

“The reason behind the conference is to bring growers, academia, students, and the industry together and see how we can bring these technologies to the Southeast — and how they can actually help growers be more efficient, more sustainable, and more economically successful,” said Luan Oliveira, Precision Agriculture Specialist with UGA.

A CROSSROADS FOR AGRICULTURE

The timing of the conference couldn’t be more relevant. Producers across the region are navigating record-high input costs while working with an ever-shrinking amount of available farmland — a combination that makes efficiency not just beneficial, but essential.

“Agriculture is at a real crossroads across the country, but particularly here in the southern United States. We have got to come up with ways to more effectively produce the food and fiber to feed a growing world,” said Dr. Michael Toews, Associate Dean for Extension at UGA. “This is the opportunity for us to introduce some of those technologies to our growers that will adopt them and allow us to get over that hurdle — and mind you, that’s on less and less land each year. So we have to get more and more efficient, as well as meet that growing population. It’s critically important that we continue this march forward.”

DATA BEFORE THE DECISION

That march forward does come with a higher startup cost — which is exactly why events like this one matter. Producers can evaluate the latest data before committing to new technology, weighing both performance and return on investment.

“Agriculture is a highly scientific field, and it is critically important that we look at all these new technologies — not just from the perspective of how well they work, but the scalability, so that we can use them to feed a growing country,” Toews said.

Oliveira echoed that sentiment, noting that ROI remains one of the most pressing questions for growers considering adoption. “How reliable is it? What is the return on investment? When is the ROI? Is there an ROI? How much is the return on a machine like that?” he said.

EFFICIENCY THAT ADDS UP

For at least one technology on display, the numbers are starting to make a compelling case. Field robots like the Leaf Deck may move slowly — topping out at one to two miles per hour — but the savings they generate in chemicals, labor, and fertilizer tell a different story.

“What we’re talking about here is truly efficient — on chemical savings, on labor savings, on fertilizer savings. That’s the efficiency we’re talking about,” Oliveira said.

THE FUTURE IS ALREADY HERE

For UGA’s agricultural leaders, the conference also served as a reminder of just how far the industry has come — and how central technology has become to staying competitive.

“Agriculture and technology are almost synonymous. You have to be invested in technology in order to stay in business,” Toews said. “First and foremost, farmers are businessmen. In order to stay productive, you have to constantly be looking at what the next attribute is going to be that will allow your farm to continue to produce food and fiber for a growing world. Agriculture today is about sensors, controls, and satellites — we have some of the most cutting-edge approaches going on right now.”

For Georgia’s growers, the message from Tifton was clear: the technology is here, the data is growing, and the farms that embrace it will be the ones best positioned to thrive in the years ahead.

By: Damon Jones

Rome’s Artisan Milling Company is Keeping the Southern Grits Tradition Alive

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Rome, GA |

Walk into any pantry around the state and you’re more than likely going to find grits on the shelf. The Southeast is responsible for more than three quarters of the grits consumed in the United States — and operations like the Artisan Milling Company in Rome are a big part of why. Owner Brad Swancy has spent the better part of two decades perfecting his craft.

“It got started about twenty-two years ago when I first started milling from our farm — it was Riverview Farms Milling for the past twenty years,” Swancy said. “Once you do that so long, you learn a lot about being a miller and the ins and outs of doing it. We grew all the corn that we milled initially, and we still do most of that. We try to grow all the white corn and yellow corn that we need.”

A NEW CHAPTER, A NEW NAME

Always looking for a new challenge, Swancy recently expanded his operation into a larger warehouse space, partnering with local business owner Josh Baker and branching out into new milling territory.

“When I moved the mill shed off the farm and partnered with Josh Baker, who owns the warehouse, the Artisan Milling Company was born out of twenty years of milling and just wanting to make it a company that could also produce other things,” Swancy said. “We’re gluten free, so we experiment with some millet and buckwheat. But predominately what we do is grits and cornmeal anyway — that’s the song of the South.”

THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY

Unlike the brands lining grocery store shelves, Artisan Milling Company produces its grits the traditional way — ground between two stones, with the germ and hull left intact. That difference in process makes a significant difference in both flavor and nutrition.

“Fresh is best — that’s one thing we really stand by. We mill every week, mill to order, and we don’t sit on product,” Swancy said. “A lot of the commercialized grits, like Quaker, are degermed before they’re even milled. But if you’re doing stone ground, some of the germ and nutrient value of the grain ends up in the product.”

GROWING DEMAND, GROWING REACH

That commitment to quality hasn’t gone unnoticed. The Artisan Milling Company’s grits have found their way onto menus at well-known restaurants in Atlanta and Chattanooga, and demand has grown enough that Swancy recently launched the company’s first-ever online storefront.

“We ship a lot to the Chattanooga and Atlanta markets — those are our closest neighboring cities — and we sell to restaurants, farmers markets, and individuals through mail order,” Swancy said. “One of our new things is our online presence. I’ve never really had that in the past twenty years.”

For Swancy, what started as a farm-based operation has grown into something much bigger — a testament to what can happen when craftsmanship, patience, and a love for a southern staple come together.

By: Damon Jones

Rep. Angie O’Steen Brings a Farmer’s Perspective to Georgia’s State Capitol

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Ambrose, GA |

Agriculture wasn’t always part of Representative Angie O’Steen’s plan. But after marrying into a farming family in South Georgia, she quickly gained a firsthand appreciation for the industry — and the vital role it plays in rural communities across the state.

“I grew up in Jeff Davis County. I’m an only child, and I had never been on a farm before I married Danny,” O’Steen said. “I married Danny, went to nursing school, and started working on our farm — what I considered working, which was hauling tobacco for his daddy. His dad grew vegetables, peanuts, some corn, and tobacco.”

FINDING HER VOICE UNDER THE GOLD DOME

Now serving in the Georgia House of Representatives for District 169, O’Steen says those early experiences on the farm have shaped her perspective as a lawmaker and driven her to be a stronger voice for agriculture in Atlanta.

“I realized really quickly that there were a whole lot of relationships I was not a part of yet. Thankfully, I got placed on the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee, Public Health and Rural Development — all of those. I’m a nurse by trade, so I speak those languages,” O’Steen said. “But I realized that agriculture really didn’t have very many advocates in Atlanta.”

RELATIONSHIPS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE

For O’Steen, effective advocacy means building relationships across the board — with colleagues from both parties, and even with the lobbyists who help inform legislation on complex issues.

“You have to make relationships on both sides of the aisle, whether Republican or Democrat. But you also have to make relationships with the lobbyists that are there,” she said. “In my experience, the lobbyists are our best friends, because you can’t be an expert in everything — even in agriculture. There are things going on in the state that I’m not aware of. When bills come up, they are great resources to help educate me and my colleagues on legislation that’s coming up, or even on concerns that may not be a bill yet.”

PROTECTING THE FAMILY FARM

At the heart of O’Steen’s work in the legislature is a clear priority: protecting the family farm. With economic pressures continuing to mount for farmers and producers across the state, she knows the stakes firsthand.

“We’re not growing very much cotton this year because you can’t afford to lose several hundred dollars an acre before you ever even start growing it — you’re losing money before you even get it out of the ground,” O’Steen said. “My priority would be taking care of agriculture and working with my colleagues in the House who speak my language, and figuring out what kind of policy we can create to ensure the future of the farm.”

For a lawmaker who came to farming by way of marriage and a nursing career, Representative O’Steen has become one of agriculture’s most committed voices in the state capitol — and for Georgia’s rural communities, that advocacy couldn’t come at a more critical time.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Blueberry Growers See Bumper Crop as Drought Boosts Quality

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Manor, GA |

Georgia’s blueberry growers are having a season worth celebrating. Both the quantity and quality of this year’s harvest have exceeded expectations — and surprisingly, the historically dry conditions that have plagued much of the state’s agriculture this year deserve much of the credit.

“This year’s berries look really good. Honestly, this is some of the best quality we’ve had in years,” said Alex Cornelius of Cornelius Farms. “Mother Nature has been good to us. It’s been a drought, and during a drought, the quality is always better. When it’s wet — particularly in South Georgia where it’s humid — fungus, disease pressure, pest pressure, everything is just worse. And blueberries, if you get too much rain, they’ll split and cause problems.”

DODGING THE FREEZE

Growers also caught a break on the weather front when a damaging February freeze that hit Florida farms hard largely spared operations further north in Georgia.

“The February first freeze hit Florida so hard, and it did affect some farms with early varieties that were sticking out pretty bad,” Cornelius said. “But we were blessed that it did not affect our farm. The later freeze that came along was minimal.”

A MUCH-NEEDED BOOST AFTER HELENE

The timing of this bumper crop couldn’t be better. Many growers in the region are still working to recover financially from the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene — and for Cornelius Farms, that recovery has been a years-long process.

“Helene took out a hundred and twenty acres of our production. We first planted those plants, and then in 2022 they got wiped out with Helene and we went back and replanted them again,” Cornelius said. “So we’re four or five years into no return on that hundred and twenty acres. That’s been pretty devastating to us and all the farmers in this area.”

A REGION BUILT ON BLUEBERRIES

The stakes are high for this part of the state, which dedicates more than eighteen hundred acres to blueberry production this season alone. For operations like Cornelius Farms — which has been growing blueberries for more than thirty-five years — keeping the entire process in house has proven to be a key competitive advantage.

“When you have your own packing facility, if the quality is poor, you can focus on it more. You can respond to what the market needs — different sized packs, different deadlines. It’s a constant change,” Cornelius said. “But when you have your own facility, you can react.”

DEMAND KEEPS GROWING

That adaptability is increasingly important as consumer demand for blueberries continues to rise, driven by a decade of positive press around the fruit’s health benefits.

“The positive health benefits have really grown our business,” Cornelius said. “We continue planting new varieties and new breeder programs everywhere to improve what we put in the ground — to make a better berry, better taste, and a better result for the consumer.”

For Georgia’s blueberry growers, this season offers more than just a strong harvest. It’s a much-needed sign that after years of setbacks, the industry is resilient and moving forward.

By: Damon Jones

Montgomery County Forester Matthew O’Connor Named Georgia Forester of the Year

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Ailey, GA |

For Matthew O’Connor, becoming a forester was never simply a career choice — it was a lifelong passion rooted in family, community, and stewardship. That dedication has now earned him one of the highest honors in his field: Georgia Forester of the Year from the Georgia Forestry Commission.

“I grew up around forestry. I grew up on a tree farm working with my dad, so I’ve been in forestry pretty much all my life,” O’Connor said. “When I went to the University of Georgia, I learned they had a really good forestry program. I got into the school, graduated with a forestry degree, and then had the privilege of coming to work with the Georgia Forestry Commission straight out of college. I’ve been here since, and I’ve just worked my way up to the position I’m in now.”

MORE THAN MANAGING TREES

As O’Connor explains, the role of a forester extends well beyond simply managing timber. It’s about building lasting relationships with landowners, promoting responsible stewardship, and ensuring Georgia’s forests remain healthy and productive for generations to come.

“As a forester with the Georgia Forestry Commission, we work with private landowners across the state — and that could be anywhere from getting trees planted back all the way to that final harvest,” O’Connor said. “We get to spend a lot of time with our private landowners, with federal partners, through various programs, and just trying to continue to foster good stewardship of our forests and help them be productive and healthy throughout the state.”

A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY AFTER HELENE

While that work is important year-round, it has taken on added urgency in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, as foresters across Georgia continue helping landowners navigate the long recovery from the storm’s devastation.

“There’s still a long road to recovery. There are a lot of sites that still have a lot of debris on them that have not been reforested yet — this is a many-year recovery effort,” O’Connor said. “While a lot of sites have been salvaged, cleaned up, and are getting planted back right now, there’s still a lot of acreage that still needs to be cleaned up and reforested and get back into productive forestry. That’s where the Georgia Forestry Commission is continuing to serve our landowners, trying to help all those in the path of the hurricane get back on their feet and hopefully back in the right direction.”

SERVING THE COMMUNITY HE GREW UP IN

For O’Connor, the most rewarding part of the job isn’t the recognition — it’s the opportunity to serve the people and places he’s known his entire life.

“My favorite part of the job is just getting out and meeting private landowners and being able to serve them. I get to work in an area I grew up in — with people I grew up going to church with, or saw at the local store,” he said. “Being able to serve my community and continue to foster good forest management throughout this area is really rewarding. Trying to help others, serve others, be a blessing unto others — that’s what I really get the most out of, and trying to help continue this legacy of good forestry throughout this area.”

For the Georgia Forestry Commission, O’Connor represents exactly the kind of forester the state’s landowners depend on — someone who brings not just expertise, but genuine care for the land and the people who call it home.

By: John Holcomb

Feral Hogs Cost Georgia Farmers $150 Million a Year — and Populations Are Still Growing

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Social Circle, GA |

They cause an estimated $150 million in damage to Georgia agriculture every year — destroying crops, tearing up land, and wrecking equipment. And despite ongoing control efforts, feral hogs aren’t going anywhere. If anything, their populations are growing.

“Feral hogs cause a tremendous amount of damage, especially for agricultural producers. They destroy row crops, root up the ground, and can cause damage to equipment — it’s an ongoing, perpetual problem that we’ve had for really centuries,” said Charlie Killmaster, Wildlife Biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. “They reproduce especially well. They can drop multiple litters a year with a lot of young in each litter, and those young have a really high survival rate. That reproduction outpaces the harvest in a lot of cases.”

PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES

Because of that, feral hogs remain a top priority for agricultural and wildlife departments across the state — and collaborative efforts are expanding to give growers more tools to fight back.

“For years, we’ve been actively working on removing regulations and restrictions on hunting and controlling feral hogs,” Killmaster said. “We’re also running the Hogs Down Awards program, where we’re giving away highly efficient hog traps to people who are actively out there controlling hogs on a quarterly basis. And we’re offering technical guidance through various workshops to teach people how to effectively trap and remove feral hogs.”

NEW LEGISLATION CUTS RED TAPE

State legislators have also taken notice, with recently passed legislation making it easier to control feral hog populations on private lands.

“House Bill 946 legalizes the use of drones for searching for feral hogs to aid control efforts, which will help us gain some efficiency there,” Killmaster said. “It also legalizes hunting from a vehicle on private property and on private roads — not from a public road. That was previously allowed through a permit, but this removes that permit requirement. It also clarifies the licensing requirements, making clear that you do not need a hunting or trapping license in order to trap feral hogs.”

ACT NOW, BEFORE THE SEASON TURNS

With seeds already in the ground for some of the most vulnerable crops — including peanuts and corn — growers should be on high alert for feral hog activity. But according to Killmaster, the best time to address the problem has already passed, which means getting ahead of it before next winter is critical.

“It’s best to do it in the dead of winter when there’s not a lot of natural food out there. They respond really well to bait in the trap, and that’s the time to get to them,” Killmaster said. “Once there’s spring green up and crops growing, they are really hard to bait and get coming into a trap.”

For Georgia’s agricultural producers, staying proactive — through trapping, reporting, and taking advantage of new programs and legal tools — remains the most effective defense against one of the state’s most persistent and costly invasive species.

By: Damon Jones

Late Frost and Rising Costs Put Pike County Peach Crop on Shorter Season

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Concord, GA |

At Gregg Farms in Pike County, this year’s peach crop is shaping up to look a little different. A warmer-than-normal winter followed by a late frost has left producers adjusting expectations, with a shorter crop translating into a shorter season for customers.

“This year is going to be a little shorter. It got warm earlier, and we had a late frost about a week before Easter — and since all the peaches were bloomed, it got a lot of them,” said Stuart Gregg of Gregg Farms. “We’ll still have a crop this year. It’ll just be a little bit shorter. We might not be open every day or have you-pick every day, but we’ll have something throughout the summer. It just won’t be like other seasons when you have a bumper crop.”

NOT ALL VARIETIES WERE HIT

While the late frost caused significant damage, Gregg says the timing spared some later-blooming varieties, softening what could have been a total loss for certain parts of the orchard.

“I’d say about fifty percent of the peaches got damaged. A lot of the early peaches are at a loss, but the others just kind of got thinned out — so we’re not having to do as much thinning this year due to that frost,” Gregg said. “We’ll just be a little bit later opening, because most of the early peaches were in full bloom while some of the others weren’t all the way bloomed yet.”

COLD WEATHER: A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

According to Gregg, timing is everything when it comes to cold weather and peach trees. The trees require a certain number of chill hours while dormant — but once they bloom, even a brief freeze can quickly turn a promising crop into a challenging season.

“Cold weather is good and bad for peach trees. After the trees go dormant, they have to have over a thousand chill hours — anything below forty degrees,” Gregg explained. “This year was a little different because it was a warmer winter, so we didn’t get our chill hours until way later. Since we were still able to get them, it really didn’t affect the trees. But then it finally got warm, everything started blooming, and we had that late frost. Once the peaches are open, they’re real susceptible to cold — and that’s what happened.”

DROUGHT A CONCERN, BUT NOT YET CRITICAL

Beyond the frost, dry conditions across the state have added another layer of uncertainty for peach growers. For now, Gregg says their trees haven’t been significantly impacted — but he’s watching the forecast closely.

“It’s still early. The peaches are still growing, and there’s still a little bit of water in the ground. We just had a rain, so that’s really helped,” Gregg said. “But if we were to keep getting this drought, it would just be a bad year overall — peaches wouldn’t be that big. We don’t have irrigation on the peaches. We irrigate our flowers and our blueberries, but the peaches are just at the mercy of Mother Nature, like with the frost.”

RISING COSTS ADD TO THE PRESSURE

As if weather challenges weren’t enough, rising input costs are adding financial stress to an already difficult start to the season. Fuel, fertilizer, and other operating expenses have climbed sharply in recent months, squeezing margins for producers like Gregg.

“Everything costs more — fuel, fertilizer, all inputs have just increased the cost of everything,” Gregg said. “It’s going to affect the end consumer just like it affects us. Everything’s more expensive. It takes more to get things done, and you can’t skip out on stuff just because it’s a little more expensive. It’s just making it tougher and making you stretch the dollar a little bit further, trying to get everything ready for everyone to come out.”

Despite the challenges, Gregg Farms is pressing forward — and Georgia peach fans can still look forward to a season, even if it looks a little different than years past.

By: John Holcomb