LOWNDES COUNTY, GA — South Georgia farmers have spent the past year navigating hurricanes, drought, and historic weather. Now the state wants to hear directly from them.
The Georgia Farm Profitability Survey is asking farmers to share what has helped —and what has hurt — their operations over the past year. The goal is to collect Georgia-specific data that can help shape future agricultural policy, funding, and advocacy.
Buck Paulk of Shiloh Farms described the toll Hurricane Helene took on his operation earlier this year.
"It hurts. It feels like a gut punch. You lose so much of the immediate crop, then you've lost the production on those trees for years and years. Then you have the cost of cleaning it up."
Recovery efforts have continued across South Georgia in the months since, and many farms are beginning to see progress.
At Fifth Day Farm, Owner Steve Hendley said this year began with drought conditions that made supplies difficult to find — but recent rainfall has helped.
"We started this year off in a drought... I had a hard time finding hay. Now locally it's started raining, the farmers are being able to cut the hay, and I've got a good supply now. The heat's hard on livestock, but we make sure they have plenty of fresh water and plenty of shade."
Georgia Farm Bureau leaders said those kinds of real-world experiences — both the setbacks and the recovery — are exactly what they hope farmers will share through the survey.
The anonymous questionnaire is open through July 31st.
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