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From Omaha to Georgia: Inside the Farm Machinery Reshoring Boom

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 19:38:03 GMT

After releasing our “Where Farm Equipment Is Made” 2025 update in February , we circled back with farm equipment manufacturers to get a read on how tariffs will affect where machines are made.

Many companies across a wide range of industries are considering or even moving forward with plans to reshore production from overseas back into the United States. We’ve learned this process involves long-term, strategic investments in new facilities and/or expanding factories already established here in the States.

Although each manufacturer shared differing visions for how, when and where it plans to build out additional manufacturing capabilities in the years ahead, a common theme did emerge: farm equipment builders are investing big dollars into reshoring, and many have been for quite some time now.

Let’s hear what the machinery companies are planning:

AGCO Corp.

(AGCO Corp.)

The Duluth, Ga.-based equipment manufacturer says its dedication to American farmers and its own strategic investment plans are “key drivers of our overall growth strategy,” according to an AGCO spokesperson.

The rest of the statement from AGCO, which builds the Fendt and Massey Ferguson equipment brands along with its own AGCO machines, regarding U.S. expansion plans can be found below:

Since 2020, we have invested just under $3 billion in the U.S. across new and expanded manufacturing facilities, product innovations and the largest ag tech deal in the history of the industry. Our commitment has extended across our various brands, locations and Research & Development (R&D) efforts, including the notable 2024 joint venture establishing Colorado-based PTx Trimble, the inauguration of Fendt Lodge – the North American headquarters of Fendt – in Minnesota, a new precision ag production facility in Illinois, modernization of systems and technologies in one of our Kansas plants, and U.S.-based R&D for new sprayer and planter technology.

These investments, AGCO says, will not only enhance production at its U.S. facilities for years to come, but also ensure AGCO remains at the forefront of ag innovation around the world.

Claas

(Matthew J. Grassi)

Claas is still a somewhat fresh face to the North American farm equipment market, but the company has deep roots in Europe. It was founded over 100 years ago in a small German farming town, and today the company has global headquarters in Harsewinkel, Germany.

But you may not be aware that Claas has also built a significant manufacturing operation in America’s heartland. The company opened its Lexion combine production campus, located just south of downtown Omaha, Neb., in 1997. This year marks 10,000 Lexion combines rolling off the main production line inside the 120,000 sq. ft. facility.

(Photos: John Deere, Matthew J. Grassi, AGCO, Kubota)

Claas has significant expansion plans in place for its Omaha campus, including doubling its overall production footprint for the main manufacturing building as well as adding a new training and apprenticeship building.

Here is the statement Matthias Ristow, president & managing director of business administration – Claas Omaha, shared regarding the company’s expansion plans:

Claas is investing significantly in its production hub in the United States, and not only recently. Over the last five years, we have added to our production facility to provide a better location for our rework and reconfiguration areas, as well as a dedicated work area for our quality control department for the pre-delivery inspections each machine must go through before being shipped. This is part of our comprehensive quality assurance program.

We also have built a new service academy where we train all the technicians from our U.S. dealer network (we have a similar location in Canada) so we can keep their skills up to date and make sure they have the proper certifications to work on our machines. Technology updates and changes are trained there as well.

Furthermore, our new service academy houses our apprenticeship program where we train the future assembly technicians in a three-year rigorous training program, managed by the German Chamber of Commerce. The program has several advantages. Technicians receive a regular paycheck (“earn while you learn”), receive an associate’s degree from a community college we partner with, receive a certificate from the German Chamber and have a job when they graduate from the program debt free.

Farm Journal recently had the opportunity to tour Claas’ Omaha operation, where we learned the manufacturer is also expanding its partnerships with domestic material and component manufacturers. For example, it recently began working with a finished parts supplier local to Nebraska to fabricate the grain spout for each Lexion combine.

CNH Industrial (Case IH and New Holland)

(CNH Industrial)

Although short on specifics, CNH Industrial (Racine, Wisc.) confirms it plans to “continue to expand our footprint through capital investments in our U.S. facilities, partnerships with local suppliers and programs that strengthen the communities where we live and work.”

CNH adds it currently employs more than 9,000 people across 17 U.S. states, with 14 manufacturing facilities and 22 R&D centers active throughout North America.

And approximately 70% of the components used in CNH Industrial’s U.S. plants are sourced from domestic suppliers while 95% its steel is purchased from U.S.-based mills. It says this approach to domestic material sourcing supports thousands of suppliers’ jobs and reinforces its investment in American-made quality.

John Deere

(John Deere)

The farm equipment manufacturer with global headquarters in Moline, Ill., was first to share its future investment plans with Farm Journal. Back in May, the company announced a 10-year, $20 billion outlay plan for its U.S. production base. This year alone, Deere says it will pour $100 million into its U.S. operations.

John Deere says this initiative includes:

A 120,000 sq. ft. expansion of the company’s remanufacturing facility in Missouri.
Construction of a new excavator factory in Kernersville, N.C.
Expansion of its Greeneville, Tenn., turf equipment factory.
New assembly lines for 9RX high-horsepower tractor production in Waterloo, Iowa.

John Deere plans to invest a total of $22.5 billion into its U.S. manufacturing network once the 10-year project is complete.

Kubota North America

(Kubota North America)

Kubota Tractor Corporation (KTC) established its North America headquarters in Grapevine, TX., in 2017. The Japanese equipment manufacturer shared the following statement regarding U.S. expansion plans.

North America is critical for Kubota, and the U.S. is our largest market. We firmly believe in local production for local consumption and have made more than $1 billion in U.S. infrastructure investments in the last couple years to meet the growing needs of our dealers and customers. For example, we recently announced the opening of a new loader facility in Gainesville, Ga., (invested $190 million), a new Western Distribution Center in California (invested $72 million), and an R&D facility (invested $100 million) that’s also in Georgia. We have other network investment announcements in the works, and we plan to continue to invest over the next five to 10 years as we respond to market demands. Today, we are more than 7,000 American workers strong who market and sell, and fabricate, weld and assemble equipment with domestic and global parts.

Want to learn more about where your favorite farm machines are made? Check out “From the Factory to Your Fields: Where Farm Equipment Is Made”.

Your Next Read: The 20 Embarrassing Problems that Make Your Farm Truck Unique

Specialty Crop Organizations Push for AEWR Transparency

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 13:19:21 GMT

Specialty crop groups in five states have come together to file a freedom of information request with the USDA to better understand how the agency calculates the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) that determines the minimum wages in each state for the H-2A guestworker program.

The effort is led by the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission (NCSC) and the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA), whose members have faced sharp increases in AEWR in the last few years.

Chris Butts, executive vice president of GFVGA, says Georgia growers have seen a total of 31% in increases in AEWR during the last three years. And Michelle Grainger, executive director of NCSC, says growers in her state have seen an 18% rise in AEWR in the last three years.

“Any way you look at it and slice it, this has been a very challenging situation, and as our growers are continually faced with economic pressures for all their other input costs, to have over 40% of their balance sheets tied up in labor and not be able to know what that labor cost is going to be until mid-November, it’s hard to run a business that way as their first workers typically arrive in early February to the farm,” she says. “To not have transparency of how the [AEWR] algorithm is utilized to create a budget on what feels like very arbitrary rates that are sprinkled across the nation at different regions that don’t even make sense. Enough is enough.”

Butts says changes to Georgia’s immigration policy in the 2010s means specialty crop growers in the state utilize the H-2A program exclusively to meet labor needs.

“In the southeast, there is no fruit and vegetable production without the H-2A program because there is no other labor pool there,” he says. “A Vidalia onion is touched by hand six times during the planting through the harvest — the same for blueberry production, citrus production. Our growing industries are reliant on [H-2A labor], and until we develop technology for mechanization and automation to help our workers become efficient, we’re relying on this program.”

Granger agrees, noting sweetpotatoes are a labor-intensive crop, so mechanization is not a possibility for her growers.

“Any sweetpotato grower cannot have fresh sweetpotatoes on the market without hand-harvesting,” she says. “We also utilize labor to transplant. The crop that we have is labor-intensive from the moment we start growing seed, whether that be in the greenhouse or in a bedding field, to the moment it almost hits the truck on a case that’s going retail, food service, a consumer’s plate, etc.”

So far, the organizations that have signed on to the coalition include:

Alabama Farmers Federation
Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association
Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association
Blue Ridge Apple Growers Association
Georgia Agribusiness Council
Georgia Berry Exchange
Georgia Farm Bureau
Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association
Georgia Green Industry Association
Georgia Peach Council
Georgia Pecan Growers Association
Georgia Watermelon Association
International Fresh Produce Association
National Council of Agricultural Employers
North Carolina Apple Growers Association
North Carolina Chamber
North Carolina Christmas Tree Association
North Carolina Farm Bureau
North Carolina Growers Association
North Carolina Nursery & Landscape Association
North Carolina Strawberry Association
North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission
North Carolina Tomato Growers Association
North Carolina Vegetable Growers Association
North Carolina Watermelon Association
Michigan Asparagus Association
South Carolina Farm Bureau
South Carolina Peach Council
South Carolina Small Fruit Growers Association
Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina

Granger and Butts say the coalition has communicated with representatives in Washington, D.C., to voice concerns about the rising AEWR rate and possibilities for ag labor reform. Granger says the diversity of the specialty crops helps drive home the need for changes.

“Our elected officials, regardless of what side of the aisle they may sit on, appreciate the value of agriculture and they appreciate that North Carolina is a state that has a lot of specialty crops,” she says. “Our coalition, when we filed — it has since grown — it was 30 organizations representing five states and 13 unique different crops, as well as eight different state and national member advocacy groups. That diversity really excited our representatives in Congress, because it gave them something more to talk about.”

Granger says a great way for those in the fresh produce industry to help communicate the coalition’s concerns is quite simple. Communicate with elected officials and community members about the vital role that agriculture has in this country.

“There’s a lot of people that we interact with, who don’t quite grasp how reliant we are on labor,” she says. “Not all of these people are not that terribly far removed from agriculture. I’m constantly amazed, but I patiently provide information and education on how uneducated the American consumer is today about what it takes to have fresh food, quality food, safe food and affordable food on their plate. It doesn’t magically just show up at the grocery store.”

Butts says another way for those in the fresh produce industry can help elevate this cause is to get involved.

“If they’re not a member of that state or local organization that signs on the support coalition, join your organization and support them,” he says. “Then ask your regional organization, ‘What are you doing for these efforts, and how can we participate?’”

Crop Protection Lawsuits Refocused: What This New State Law Means

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 19:43:51 GMT

Earlier this month, Bayer officials said progress on controlling its Roundup liability litigation was a top priority, and in the next six months something had to develop to mark progress otherwise they’d stop being the only domestic manufacturer of glyphosate.

Today, North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong became the first to sign into law a bill reasserting federally approved pesticide labels are the law, and companies can not be subject to litigation when those laws are followed.

“This new law is crucial for providing the tools North Dakota’s farmers rely on to produce America’s food supply,” says Brian Naber, president, crop science North America and Australia/ New Zealand region. “Without crop protection tools, America’s consumers could face higher costs to provide for their families and put food on the table. By signing HB 1318, Governor Armstrong is supporting North Dakota’s farmers, America’s consumers and the decades of innovation that underpin the state’s proud agricultural history and vibrant economy.”

Read more: Roundup at a Crossroads: Bayer Lays Out Short-Term Window for Finding a Way Forward with Glyphosate

Starting last year, Bayer has worked at the state level with legislators to introduce legislation to put a focus around pesticide labels and liability. In 2024, Bayer focused the policy efforts in three states: Idaho, Iowa and Missouri. This legislative cycle, they’ve expanded to 10, which includes: Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and others.

In North Dakota, HB 1318 details any pesticide registered with EPA and sold under a label consistent with EPA’s own determinations is sufficient to satisfy state label warning requirements for health and safety.

The bill had strong support in the North Dakota house and senate. Groups supporting the legislation included Modern Ag Alliance, North Dakota Corn Growers Association, North Dakota Department of Agriculture, North Dakota Farm Bureau, North Dakota Farmers Union, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, North Dakota Soybean Growers Association, Northern Canola Growers Association, Northern Pulse Growers Association.

Another state-level bill has passed in the Georgia house and senate and is awaiting action by Governor Brian Kemp.

In its statement, Bayer said: “The enactment of HB 1318 makes North Dakota the first state to reinforce the authority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) science-based rulings that crop protection products are safe when used as directed.

“Crop protection products have transformed modern farming by enabling effective and safe weed management. Glyphosate has undergone rigorous testing and oversight, with the EPA and leading regulatory authorities worldwide consistently affirming its safety when used as directed. When the EPA makes its science-based conclusions around a product label, this new law ensures that stands.

“Bayer hopes the courts will begin applying this legislation to provide the legal certainty regarding claims about the health and safety warning labels on crop protection products.”

Cotton Farmers Describe Somber Situation: 'We've Gone Beyond Losing Money to Now Losing the Farm'

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 17:49:05 GMT

In many areas of the South, cotton is king. It’s a dependable crop, and in turn, it’s made farmers loyal to what they grow. But with cotton prices falling below farmers’ breakeven, that crop is causing financial pain to even grow.

“I’ve been farming for 48 years, and I can’t remember anything in a year that’s been as challenging as the way it’s been the last couple of years,” says Franz Rowland, who grows cotton in Boston, Ga.

The south Georgia farmer says cheap cotton prices are one problem, and skyrocketing input costs are another.

“We’re going to plant cotton and don’t even have a clue if we’re going to get our money back,” he says. “There’s no farm bill to support us, and the reference price is so low that it’s not anything that we can depend on. So, we’re going to put several million dollars in the ground and don’t even know if we’re going to get it back.”

Cotton is a high input crop that requires a heavy dose of fertilizer and intensive pest and weed management. But in addition to that, today’s cotton farmers are dealing with the rising cost of equipment.

“It used to be a cost, but it wasn’t a terribly high cost. And today, one of the highest costs we have is machinery,” Rowland says. “Cotton pickers are over $1 million. And nobody makes a cotton picker but John Deere. So, we don’t have a choice.”

The Death of Agriculture in West Texas?
It’s a situation that’s not unique to just south Georgia, though. Cotton farmers across the entire U.S. are grappling with the same uneasiness of growing cotton in 2025. In West Texas, it’s especially hard.

The West Texas area is critical for cotton production. USDA shows Texas growers produce 42% of the country’s cotton . The area surrounding Lubbock, Texas, is known as the largest cotton patch in the U.S. And right now, nearly 68% of Texas is dealing with some level of drought.

The current U.S. Drought Monitor shows nearly 68% of Texas is experiencing drought. 29% of the state is in the “extreme drought” category.

(U.S. Drought Monitor )

“It feels like the death of agriculture somewhat in our area. Dryland farms really don’t pencil out on hardly anything,” says Heath Heinrich, a cotton and sorghum farmer located south of Lubbock in Slaton, Tex.

Heinrich grows cotton, sorghum and wheat just south of Lubbock, Texas, and he says it feels like a losing battle for farming in his area this year.

“We’re surrounded by political movements. We’re surrounded by tariffs, by markets, and then Mother Nature and business on top of it,” Heinrich says. “And it’s like we are trying to battle so many fronts right now that it’s hard to tell if we’re gaining any ground, you know, or if it’s leading to our demise.”

Drought has gripped Heinrich’s area for multiple years. It’s so dry they’ve struggled to even get the wheat that was planted in the fall to grow this past winter.

“We’re still waiting on the seed to sprout on two-thirds of our stuff,” Heinrich says.

Beyond Losing Money
As president and CEO of National Cotton Council (NCC), Gary Adams sees and hears the somber situation for U.S. cotton farmers from coast to coast. Adams says the outlook for 2025 is even worse than 2024.

“We’ve gone beyond just losing money now that we’re to the point of losing the farm. Unfortunately, where the industry is, that’s what it looks like as we’re going into 2025,” Adams says.

Adams says there’s a lot to unpack in explaining why cotton prices are so low, but the biggest reason is dwindling demand.

“If we look at world mill-use for cotton, it’s estimated right now around 117 to 118 million bales. Well, you don’t have to go too far back to see when we were consuming 123 million bales,” Adams says.

China Moves Away From U.S. Cotton
The biggest reason for the drop in world demand, according to National Cotton Council, is more competition from man-made fibers.

“You look at polyester production in China right now, they produce probably somewhere on the order of about 225 to 230 million bale equivalents. They’re almost twice the size of global cotton demand,” Adams says.

The dwindling picture of U.S cotton exports.

(National Cotton Council)

At the same time, big cotton producers, such as Brazil and Australia, are staring at big crops, which is helping global competition for the smaller market that’s left.

“We are an export-dependent industry,” Adams says. “About 85% of our cotton production is going to the export market. A strong dollar doesn’t help that competitiveness either.”

China is still a larger buyer of U.S. cotton, but there are two reasons they are buying less than they used to:

The switch to synthetic, man-made fibers
The last trade war

“If we go back to 2018, China was buying about 3 to 4 million bales. All of a sudden, we immediately saw the market share the U.S. had go from about 42% to 17%, and prices went from the mid-80s down into the mid-60s. We’re already starting in a depressed situation in terms of where market prices are compared to where they were.”

Cotton has lost market share relative to man-made fibers (MMF).

(National Cotton Council )

With so much focus on trade in Washington this week, NCC wants the Trump administration to enforce trade agreements already in place.

“A big concern we have is that you have non-qualifying product that comes in from third countries that should not be reaping the benefits of the trade agreement,” Adams says.

Some of the biggest offenders, according to NCC, are India, Pakistan and China.

“When you look at the trade date of the imported product coming in, there’s probably some Chinese, Indian and Pakistan yarn and fabric coming into those countries and then likely making its way into the U.S. in a finished good as a duty-free product,” Adams says. “That’s really where you’ve got to crack down because it ought to be either U.S. fiber or yarns produced in the region that allow you to gain the duty-free access into the U.S. market.”

Drumming Up New Domestic Demand
The cotton industry hopes to also capitalize on the momentum from the president’s America First Agenda , as one of the big domestic issues is not as much American-grown cotton is being milled here, either.

Textile/Apparel production has moved out of the U.S.

(National Cotton Council (NCC) )

In 2004, 6.7 million bales were used by U.S. cotton mills
In 2024, that dropped to 1.7 million
That equals a nearly 75% decline in the past 20 years.

One way NCC hopes to help revive the U.S. cotton industry longer term is by boosting domestic demand.

“As an industry, we are looking at some opportunities to perhaps use tax credits to reward the use of U.S. cotton in the supply chain by a brand and retailer. In other words, add some additional value to pull U.S. cotton through to the end product,” Adams says.

Farm Bill is No. 1 Priority
In the short-term, the NCC is pushing Congress to complete a new farm bill - one that applies to the 2025 crop.

“I just can’t state this strongly enough: We have to have a farm bill done by Congress this year that applies to the 2025 crop,” Adams says. “The economic assistance that was approved in the end-of-year package last year was a critical lifeline that’s allowing a number of producers to continue to get financing, but it was simply a short-term fix. It doesn’t address the 2025 crop. That’s why we’ve got to have something that helps meet some of the financial needs that producers are under right now.”

That dire plea for a farm bill is being echoed by cotton farmers, as well.

“We have to have a farm bill. Farmers can’t survive without a farm bill,” Rowland says. “The government came up with disaster and emergency relief programs, and that’s fine. But to hang your hat on something, so to speak, we’ve got to have a farm bill with reference prices that are current to the input costs.”

Rowland says the cotton industry is to a point that they are already seeing younger producers get forced out due to the lack of financing.

“What I hear from the younger guys is they’re having a really hard time getting financed. They can’t pay back the 2024 operating loan, so the banks are not wanting to go with them again in 2025,” Rowland says. “The money we got here lately from the government helped a lot, but it didn’t solve the problem.”

Rowland says the current farm bill is irrelevant, even calling it “worthless” for cotton.

“Without a farm bill, sooner or later, we’re going to be doomed,” he says.

Excitement for 2025 is Gone
Typically, planting season is one of the most exciting times of the year for Rowland, and one that signals hope and new beginnings. But this year, that excitement is gone.

“Typically my adrenaline starts going. I get all excited about making a crop and putting in a crop, and this year is completely different,” he says. “It’s just hard to get motivated to spend this money. I just spent $50,000 today on fertilizer and chemicals. Am I going to get that back? So, I’m not excited about it at all.”

Rowland says if prices don’t improve this year, it’s not just the fact he won’t be able to cover the high input costs he’s already paid, he says he could be staring at losses in the millions.

Your Next Read:

New Warning Signs Agriculture Is In A Recession
Will There Be A New Farm Bill This Year?

Walmart Announces Plans to Build $350 Million Milk Processing Plant in Southern Georgia

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 14:15:20 GMT

America’s largest retail store has announced its plans to build a $350 million milk processing plant in Valdosta, Ga. With more than 4,600 stores located throughout the U.S., the Arkansas-based company says the new plant will provide milk to more than 750 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Georgia along with neighboring states.

Bruce Heckman, Walmart’s vice president of manufacturing, said in a statement that the company wants to do more to ensure its milk supply, saying the company wants to provide “high-quality milk for our customers that we can offer at the everyday low prices they rely on.”

In the past, Walmart has purchased its great-value branded milk from other dairy cooperatives. However, over the last decade, the retail giant has built a series of milk processing plants to control production of one of the most price-sensitive grocery commodities. Walmart opened its first fluid milk processing facility in 2018 in Fort Wayne, Ind.

According to the Associated Press, the retail giant is following the lead of other large grocers such as Kroger, which has long run its own dairy processing facilities. But some critics have warned Walmart buys milk from only a handful of large farms, putting smaller farms under further pressure.

Georgia Milk Producers, a dairy farmer trade group, reports Georgia currently has 89 dairy farms, with 92,000 dairy cows, more than 1,000 cows per farm. Georgia produced 235 million gallons of milk in 2022, the largest of any southern state. Currently, the peach state only has two commercial milk processing plants located in Atlanta and Lawrenceville.

The new fluid milk processing facility is scheduled to begin operations in Valdosta in late 2025 and could employ up to 400 people. In a statement made by the retailer, the facility will create milk products using ingredients sourced from local farmers throughout the Southeast region under Walmart’s Great Value and Members Mark brands.

For more industry news, read:

Leaders in Ag: R.G. Lamar, Pecan Farmer and CEO

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 14:49:04 GMT

A third-generation pecan farmer, R.G. Lamar also serves as the CEO of Stuckey’s Corporation and chairman of the Georgia Pecan Commission. He’s working with Stephanie Stuckey to rebuild the company from a roadside stop to a premier pecan snack and candy business. His experience in pecan production and private label sales has helped him scale Stuckey’s output, processes, people and distribution.

Define your leadership style?
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. I’m definitely not the command and control type. I enjoy creating a context where people feel comfortable offering their contributions. I really try to synthesize other people’s talents and ideas.”

What’s the best advice you ever received?
“The best advice I ever received was from my dad. He told me while scouting the pecan crop when I was a teenager: “Son, if you look up there and don’t see them — they just aren’t there.”

Do you have any advice for others looking to take over a family business?
“Read a finance book. If you’ve grown up in a family business, like mine at least, you don’t worry a lot about finance. You probably have some debt and you know you need to make your payments. I didn’t know much about modeling time value of money, investors or that whole world. If you want to take your business to the next level, you’re going to need money you don’t have sitting around. If you understand finance, it opens up so many opportunities.”

What’s the most challenging thing about running a legacy brand?
“The biggest challenge is being pigeonholed. Everyone expects us to recreate the past, but the future doesn’t look like what we were. We were brick and mortar stores across the country, including more than 360 at the height. The most difficult thing is being what you are going forward without losing what you were in the past.”

Name two of your favorite business tools.
“I’m probably a latecomer to basic team-type software such as Slack. That has been such a great tool for us. We’re learning how to get off of email and onto some of those platforms. Another tool we use on the farm is GPS tracking software for our fleet. Our farm is spread out; we’re in six counties and we have over 50 orchards. I like being able to pull out my phone and see, ‘Okay, this guy is working here, and I need a part picked up at a store in that town.’”

Would you rather watch a movie, read a book or check your email?
“I prefer to read a book. Right now, it’s the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season and everybody’s getting together and having big feasts. Robert Farrar Capon wrote ‘The Supper of the Lamb.’ It’s a cookbook, but it’s more than that. I recommend it.”

Farmer Welcomes Sesame Street to Promote Agriculture

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 17:04:46 GMT

When Sesame Street knocked, Casey Cox threw open the door on her Georgia farm and charged toward an opportunity to take American agriculture to a new audience. The classic children’s television series, with viewership reaching dizzying heights, was asking, and Cox was readily answering. “Yes. Absolutely. We’ll make it work and get it done—no matter what.”

In early 2019, Sesame Street began preparing a segment partially focused on an iconic food with a hallowed place in every American pantry: peanut butter. Cox, always on the alert for a chance to champion agriculture and educate the public—particularly kids—didn’t blink at a shot to take the farm-to-table message directly from her rows to 150 million children across the planet: “There was no way I was going to miss out on telling millions of kids about where food truly comes from.”

“Make it Happen”

Cox, 29, a sixth-generation farmer at Longleaf Ridge Farms in Camilla, Ga., grows sweet corn (spring and fall) and peanuts on sandy ground, along with field corn and soybeans on the level land of Mitchell County. Outpacing row crops, Cox has more acreage in timber production and timber preservation, adding to the timeless, pristine appearance of a property that rubs against the stunning beauty of the Flint River. It’s a unique ecological environment dictated by the Flint, a flow Cox considers part of the lifeblood of her farm, and in many ways, the winding river knows her name: “It’s a special part of our family and it’s a part of our lives,” Cox explains. “I’ve grown up on the Flint River, and whether I’m in it or walking beside it, it’s the way I recharge.”

Prior to full-time devotion at Longleaf, Cox led the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District for six years, and learned the media ropes, going from local television spots to RFD-TV’s FarmHer series to a season one appearance on Netflix’s Rotten . Each interaction was an opportunity, Cox emphasizes: “I never imagined being in the spotlight, especially on camera, but I am grateful for every opportunity to cast the agriculture industry in a positive light.”

In 2019, Sesame Street , as part of its Foodie Truck segment—helmed by the classic presence of Cookie Monster—began planning a feature on peanut butter. A hired crew ( Film Captive Productions ) out of Atlanta contacted the Georgia Peanut Commission , in search of a spotlight farmer. Since returning home to south Georgia, Cox had become very involved in advocating for the peanut industry, including participating in the Peanut Leadership Academy . Due to her past experience, Cox was tapped for the Sesame Street role, and after the production team watched a bit of GoPro footage of Cox at Longleaf, the questions were over: Sesame Street had found its farmer. “It was certainly different, and out of my comfort zone,” Cox explains, “but I was all in right from the start.”

However, there was a slight problem, or more accurately, a sizable problem: There wasn’t a peanut plant in sight. Filming was set for February—a month when fields are bare and far removed from May planting. Cox began a tristate, all-hands-on-deck hunt at USDA research facilities, University of Georgia, University of Florida, and Auburn University, in search of a token peanut plant. “It was Sesame Street,” Cox recalls with a grin. “We were going to make it happen no matter what.” (A single potted peanut plant was obtained, but never made it on camera.)

Fortunately, a few months prior during the fall, the National Peanut Board had filmed three farm families at harvest for a promotional video, including the Cox operation . Translation: Sesame Street had access to Cox’s B-roll footage.

The film crew shot Cox on a tractor, and then spliced the video with B-roll to make up for the disparities. The crew then filmed processing in a peanut butter factory with Cox performing the voiceover. All told, despite the hurdle of February production, the finished product was seamless and included in episode 12 of season 49 .

“Best Opportunities”

Cox maintains the highest praise for the Sesame Street crew: “I commend Sesame Street because they were a total pleasure to work with, and the Foodie Truck series is a brilliant concept and great way to reach children with where their food comes from. As an agriculture industry, we need to seize every opportunity to broaden our platform and reach more people. Working with an iconic partner like Sesame Street was an invaluable opportunity.”

As media windows open for other farmers, what is Cox’s advice? “Never be afraid to get uncomfortable because one door may open another. As a farmer, you know more about your subject than you realize because it is your life, and people want to hear from you.”

“You never know where your efforts might lead to next,” Cox concludes. “I never imagined I’d be on Sesame Street, but how can I top it? That experience has been one of the best opportunities of my life to promote agriculture.”

For more, see:

Grizzly Hell: USDA Worker Survives Epic Bear Attack

Rat Hunting with the Dogs of War, Farming’s Greatest Show on Legs

Misfit Tractors a Money Saver for Arkansas Farmer

Predator Tractor Unleashed on Farmland by Ag’s True Maverick

Government Cameras Hidden on Private Property? Welcome to Open Fields

Farmland Detective Finds Youngest Civil War Soldier’s Grave?

Descent Into Hell: Farmer Escapes Corn Tomb Death

Evil Grain: The Wild Tale of History’s Biggest Crop Insurance Scam

A Skeptical Farmer’s Monster Message on Profitability

Farmer Refuses to Roll, Rips Lid Off IRS Behavior

Killing Hogzilla: Hunting a Monster Wild Pig

Shattered Taboo: Death of a Farm and Resurrection of a Farmer

Frozen Dinosaur: Farmer Finds Huge Alligator Snapping Turtle Under Ice

Breaking Bad: Chasing the Wildest Con Artist in Farming History

In the Blood: Hunting Deer Antlers with a Legendary Shed Whisperer

Corn Maverick: Cracking the Mystery of 60-Inch Rows

Blood And Dirt: A Farmer’s 30-Year Fight With The Feds

Against All Odds: Farmer Survives Epic Ordeal

Agriculture’s Darkest Fraud Hidden Under Dirt and Lies

Georgia Farmers Say Hurricane Helene is Most Catastrophic, Costly Storm Ever

Farmers in southeast Georgia are still trying to recover from Hurricane Helene, the most catastrophic and costly hurricane they’ve ever seen, superseding even Hurricane Katrina.

Cleanup is underway, but it might take years to put the pieces back together. Farmers say with lower commodity prices, many were already on the financial brink before the storm.

Catastrophic Damage from Hurricane Helene

The loss from Hurricane Helene was devastating for farmers in southeast Georgia. A foot of rain and hurricane winds of 125 mph ripped through Coffey County, the epicenter.

“We were considered one of the hotspots for it because that was the highest-recorded wind. We had 30 tornadoes also come through this county at the same time during the hurricane,” says Van Grantham, a farmer in Coffee County, Ga.

He says the biggest loss was to timber as tree stands they’ve been growing for 35 to 40 years are completely gone and will cost $1,000 per acre to cleanup and restore.

“There was probably 75% to as high as 100% damage on timber stands,” he adds.

Damage from Hurricane Helene to the timber trees in southeast Georgia.

(Andrew Lyon )

Severe Impact on Agriculture in Coffey County

The Granthams also have 215 acres of peanuts to harvest and 1,400 acres of cotton. The latter has been nearly wiped out.

“We’ve lost all of our cotton acres and peanuts,” Grantham says. “We should have been midway through harvest, if not three-quarters. We can’t get into the fields, and they’re saying everything is down [power] for another three to four weeks.”

Damage from Hurricane Helene to the cotton crop in southeast Georgia.

(Andrew Lyon)

Livestock Losses

In addition to row crops, the Granthams also lost livestock. They lost several cattle and over 100,000 chickens on their operation.

It’s a story of dramatic losses and damage when you talk to any farmer in southeast Georgia right now.

“It’s about a four-county area that was hit. It’s counties like Kulfi County, Jeff Davis and Atkinson County,” he adds. “I know there’s 598 chicken houses total, but there’s 298 on the ground.”

The Financial Hit From the Storm

Thousands of farms and homes are still out of electricity and water. Farmers in southeast Georgia have met with state and federal officials with the message they need disaster assistance immediately.

“It was already struggling before, and then this just kind of added way more on us physically, mentally and financially. I mean, this is a financial burden with the devastation,” adds Chase Grantham, Van’s son.

The damage caused by Hurricane Helene to infrastructure in southeast Georgia is monumental. Not only did the hurricane pack a punch of high winds, but it also brought more than 30 tornadoes to the area.

(Andrew Lyon)

While the immediate needs are clear, Chase says it could take farmers several years to rebuild and they may never be whole.

Seeing the Devastation First-Hand

Farm Journal’s Trust in Food team traveled to southeast Georgia last week and saw the devastation first-hand. The team spoke to growers, walked cotton fields torn to shreds by the storm and saw infrastructure crushed by the storm. Trust in Food’s Andrew Lyon spoke to AgriTalk’s Chip Flory about what the team saw last week and the impact it could have on growers for years to come. You can listen to that conversation here.