Tag Archives: Georgia farming challenges

Georgia’s Cotton & Peanut Crops: What Growers Are Seeing This Season | Midville Field Day 2025

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Midville, GA |

Despite a rocky start to the growing season, Georgia’s cotton and peanut crops are showing promise as the state’s farmers gear up for harvest. At this year’s Midville Field Day, growers gathered to get the latest updates from experts across the University of Georgia’s Extension system—including insight into crop conditions, production challenges, and what lies ahead for 2025.

According to Camp Hand, UGA Extension Cotton Specialist, recent rainfall across the state was a timely blessing for cotton fields that were beginning to show signs of stress.

“Today’s August sixth. The last two days, we’ve gotten rain across the state, which was much needed,” said Hand. “We were kind of getting to a point where it was getting a little iffy in terms of what the crop was doing. It was getting really dry out there.”

Hand said the precipitation will help dryland crops bounce back and assist with irrigation recovery, putting growers in a stronger position heading into late summer.

“Of course, there’s going to be a little bit of fruit shed and things like that associated with overcast weather,” he added. “But overall, I think we’ve still got really good potential in our crop.”

However, good crop potential doesn’t always translate into good profits. With cotton prices currently sitting under seventy cents per pound, many Georgia farmers have backed away from planting it—opting instead for peanuts. But Hand warns that a shift away from cotton could disrupt the delicate infrastructure balance the state’s ag economy depends on.

“The reduction in cotton acres affects infrastructure. It affects gins, it affects warehouses, it affects people that have equipment,” Hand said. “The reason Georgia agriculture has been so successful—especially with our major row crops—is because cotton and peanuts just work. We can’t have one without the other.”

Fortunately, this year’s peanut crop appears to be holding strong. Scott Monfort, UGA Extension Peanut Agronomist, said producers enjoyed a relatively smooth planting season, with favorable soil moisture and temperatures through much of April and May.

“The crop is looking very well across most of the state,” said Monfort. “We had a little dry spell in May that caused some delays, but overall, we got the majority of our crop planted on time.”

Still, Georgia’s peanuts weren’t entirely spared from Mother Nature’s extremes. A heat wave that rolled through late July into early August placed significant stress on irrigated crops during peak bloom—a critical growth stage that demands consistent moisture.

“We were in ninety-five-plus degree temps with no rainfall, and in some of these pivots, you just can’t keep up at that point,” Monfort explained. “We did go through a stress period, but I think it was early enough that I don’t think it’s going to hurt us.”

Both Hand and Monfort stressed that resilience and adaptability remain the keys to success as producers navigate rising costs, shifting acreage, and unpredictable weather.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Farmers Face Another Tough Year in 2025

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Tifton, GA |

It’s officially time to ring in the new year and hopefully time to turn the page on a tumultuous 2024 for agriculture as well. With higher-than-expected production and lower than expected demand for some of Georgia’s staple crops, a number of farmers here in the state struggled staying out of the red.

“Unfortunately, throughout the growing season, commodity prices kept going down and down and down. And so, we kept hearing more about financial stress and concern about how are growers going to make it work this year in 2024, just because margins that were tight already, they were getting smaller to potentially negative,” says Amanda Smith, UGA Economist.

However, those looking for a big bounce back in 2025 should temper their expectations, as signs are pointing to another depressed market for a number of row crops.

“Really, the outlook for 2025 is for commodity prices to stay low again. Unfortunately for those growing the commodities. It’s good news for those that are using the commodities to feed like the livestock industry and the poultry industry because they’re going to see low feed prices there. So, good news on that side of the spectrum, but for those that are growing the commodities, the outlook is for continued low prices,” says Smith.

The news isn’t all bad, as the cost of production appears to have stabilized after seeing a nearly thirty percent jump in the past four years.

“On the input side of things, we’re really not seeing too much change from 2024. Interest rates are going to be relatively the same, maybe down just a little bit from 2024. Fertilizer prices, the prices that we are looking at right now, they’re really consistent to what we saw last year in 2024 and the same with fuels,” says Smith.

So, with margins once again expected to be tight, producers are encouraged to set a budget and plan ahead.

“If they did the calculations last year, we’re looking to see similar numbers as we saw for 2024 as far as cost of production.Just making sure that they’re watching the markets, if they can do any risk management tools like forward pricing, some of what they plan to produce to help reduce price risk, especially if they can forward price above their cost of production,” says Smith.

There is also growing optimism for a new Farm Bill in 2025, which could help mitigate some of the financial issues agriculture currently faces.

“In order for rural areas and farmers to survive, it’s important to have government policies that support agriculture and provide a safety net so we can continue to see a sustainable ag industry,” says Smith.

By: Damon Jones