Lewis Taylor Farms co-owner William L. Brim checks on the health of long-leaf pine seedlings and the irrigation system, in Fort Valley, GA, on May 7, 2019.
Located near his the greenhouses are two circular crops of long-leaf pines seedlings under a pivot irrigation system equipped with micro-sprinklers. Long-leaf pines are an indigenous tree in the Southeast. Growers are working to increase the number of this slower growing hearty hardwood tree in this region.
The farm’s operation includes bell peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, strawberries, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon and a variety of specialty peppers on 6,500 acres; and cotton and peanuts on 1,000 acres.
Mr. Brim talks about the immigration and disaster relief challenges following Hurricane Michael. USDA helped this farm with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) for structural damage cleanup. He also mentions the importance of having Secretary Sonny Perdue, a person with agricultural background, come visit and listen to 75 producers six months ago, in southwest Georgia.
USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.
FSA www.fsa.usda.gov/index
ECP www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/conservation-progr...
. Original public domain image from Flickr