Tag Archives: food production

Southwest Georgia Sweet Corn Harvest in Full Swing Despite Frost and Rising Costs

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Brinson, GA |

Southwest Georgia is home to more than eighty percent of the state’s sweet corn production — and right now, those fields are turning gold. Despite a late freeze putting a small dent in early yields, harvest is in full swing and growers say the crop has largely recovered.

“So far, it’s a really good crop. We had a little bit of frost damage at the beginning, but it’s straightened out and is really yielding well,” said Glenn Heard, a Decatur County sweet corn grower. “We have a good climate for sweet corn, and we can ship it all over the country.”

INSECTS DRIVE UP THE COST

While the warm climate and fertile soil make Southwest Georgia ideal for sweet corn production, disease pressure and pests are a constant concern — and one that makes this crop considerably more expensive to produce than field corn.

“By virtue mostly of insects, it is hard. We have to control them the best we can, and we put a lot more inputs into sweet corn because of the insect side compared to field corn,” Heard said.

Those costs have climbed even higher this year, with energy prices jumping nearly twenty percent since February. For growers in South Georgia’s sandy soils, fertilizer is already a significant expense — and the recent price increases have made a tough situation tougher.

“With our sandy land in South Georgia, we use a lot of fertilizer — probably more than anywhere else. So the fertilizer was certainly a shock, and so was the fuel. We’re just trying to muddle through it the best we can,” Heard said.

SOME RELIEF ON LABOR COSTS

Not all the news on the cost front has been bad, however. Recent changes to the H-2A worker visa program have provided some relief on one of the farm’s biggest line items — labor.

“We use a lot of H-2A in harvesting, some in the shed, and now some on our tractors and equipment. We were getting strangled by increases every year in the prevailing wage rate — and that has stopped. That has helped a lot,” Heard said.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Unlike field corn, which primarily goes into livestock feed, sweet corn is grown specifically for people to eat — and that distinction makes timing absolutely critical. The window between peak flavor and spoilage is narrow, and every step of the harvest process has to move quickly.

“We hand harvest — pretty much all the sweet corn in our area is hand harvested. We have to keep it really cool and ship it real soon because it has a certain shelf life. We have to get it to the consumer on time,” Heard said.

For Southwest Georgia’s sweet corn growers, this season is shaping up to be a solid one — even if getting there has required navigating higher costs, pest pressure, and an early frost that tested their resilience before the first ear was ever picked.

By: Damon Jones

Labor Shortages & Rising Costs: Can the H-2A Program Save U.S. Farmers?

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Atlanta, GA |

Over the next few months some of Georgia’s signature fruits and vegetables like peaches, onions and blueberries, will all be ready to come out of the field. And in order to maximize both quality and quantity, it’s essential to have a reliable workforce.

“You have to have enough labor there on the busiest day to get them harvested, get them packed. This is timely work. It’s so timely to have harvest at the right days. So, we’re always very conscious. That’s our number one issue behind probably weather is labor availability,” says Robert Dickey, Chairman of the Georgia House Agriculture Committee.

That’s where the H2A program comes in, as it helps supplement a small number of domestic workers, while also complying with stronger immigration policies.

“If we’re going to continue to feed America with American grown crops, vegetables, and fruits, we got to have a labor force. Unfortunately, we don’t have a domestic force to do that. And that is why we have transitioned to this H2A program. You see other industries desperately wanting that, with our shortage of labor in this country. And so, this has been a good program for us. It has kept us all one hundred percent legal,” says Dickey.

Despite their workers being documented, many Georgia farmers are hoping there can still be some compromise on the recent immigration crackdown.

“I hope the administration can look at the history of some of our workers from whatever industry they’re in, in this state who have been here for many, many years and contributed to the economy and have families here, maybe even homes and things. Maybe give them some pathway to citizenship, some legal status so they can continue working and helping our industries,” says Dickey.

Labor shortages aren’t the only concern, as growers have seen wages increase exponentially over the past few years, which has opened the door for more foreign competition.

“So far, we haven’t had any real issues, a few little hiccups but, that program has worked well. I hope it’s no changes to it other than trying to get some costs back in line. Those costs for us have gone up over thirty or forty percent in the last two or three years and just raising our grower cost to not be competitive with foreign imports. So, that’s one of our big concerns,” says Dickey.

And it’s a concern that will likely continue into the future, unless some changes are made to the program.

“We don’t have that labor and don’t have it at a competitive rate, it’s just going to make foreign imports from Mexico, Chile, and South America much more available to domestic grocery stores. There’s going to be less costs and our industry will just really go away if we don’t do something to stem it,” says Dickey.

By: Damon Jones