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Family farms still going (and growing) in Moultrie

By Lori Glenn

MOULTRIE — Although some say the family farm is steadily being uprooted by larger and larger farming operations, in Colquitt County at least, the largest operations are still owned and operated by families.
According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency, there are 3,605 farm tracts in the county with less than 600 active producers.

Colquitt County is the most diversified agricultural county in the state and according to University of Georgia County Extension Service agents, the county is one of the state’s three largest producers. And though one can find farmers growing everything from arugula to zucchini squash, cotton is still king in Colquitt with 60,903 acres dedicated to the fiber crop.

Peanuts are second at 13,561 acres, and produce is third with 5,480 acres reported.

To justify land, equipment and capital costs and achieve economies of scale, family farms have to grow to survive. Today some 50 Colquitt County growers have land in other counties. UGA extension economist Nathan Smith estimates the average full-time family farm at between 1,000 to 1,200 acres, and most active farmers also rent cropland.

Established Colquitt County grower Rick Moss agrees. Family farms in Colquitt County would have to be at least 1,000 acres to make it, Moss surmised. A half million dollars is an easy minimum for a family wanting to farm — and that’s with no employees.

Farming operations are not only getting larger but also are diversifying into a variety of crops, agribusiness and nonagribusiness to hedge risk. Rural Georgia is losing more and more farmland, but Colquitt County appears to be immune to that trend, Moss said.

In the past 15 years, the implementation of irrigation has most impacted productivity, with the biggest changes in increasing field size with farmers using irrigation pivots.
Larger farming operations are resulting in more food produced at a lower cost, ultimately benefiting the consumer— and the farm families who are still going (and growing) strong.

Sunbelt Expo Farming’s Tomorrowland

Each October, a bounty of innovation and imagination is on display in Colquitt County farmers’ backyards.

The Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition, North America’s premier farm show, is a Tomorrowland for agriculture. The expo, which annually attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors, showcases cutting edge technology that typically is five to eight years ahead of the mainstream.

“The one big advantage to the Expo is that companies can come in and show technology before it’s the norm — like seed technology and precision ag technology,” Sunbelt Expo Director Chip Blalock said.

Local farmers also are embracing Global Positioning System technology for more precise planting and harvesting.

“Somewhere down the road, there will be a tractor without a cab, without a steering wheel, without a seat. But it will be driven by a satellite with remote control,” Blalock said.