Farming in Georgia

When you think of farming in Georgia, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? If you said peaches, that’s a good guess. If you said candle hammer, you have bigger things to worry about. Either way, you probably weren’t thinking of blueberries or olives. These two crops aren’t exactly household names here in the peach state, but they’re getting more and more popular every year.

It’s no secret that the farming industry is full of jobs. So Fast Forward headed south to learn a little something about farming in Georgia.

The first place we visited was Cogdell Berry Farm . You may have guessed by the name, but these people have a pretty sweet job. They’ve been growing blueberries and blackberries since 2000. Cogdell itself has been around since 1913, and it really is a family farm. We met three generations of growers, all of whom were eager to help teach us about blueberries.

It’s a good time to be in the berry business too. Georgia is the second largest producer of blueberries in the US, which means lots of farming jobs in our favorite state. Around 200 people work at Cogdell during the height of the season. From berry pickers to tractor operators, everyone is essential in getting the berries off the plant and into the grocery stores.

Of course, there’s another reason this episode is so special: it was written by yours truly. That’s right. Just think of it as a moving blog. Hopefully the people in Homerville think I did their berries justice. Then again, it’s hard to mess up something that delicious.

The next stop in Fast Forward’s farming adventure was Georgia Olive Farms . You probably think this place makes one mean salad, but actually they grow their olives for the oil. (You know, the stuff that makes everything taste better.) It’s not something Georgia’s well known for yet, but the employees here are working to fix that.

People have been making olive oil for more than 500 years. Luckily, they do it a little differently nowadays. Jason, one of the head honchos around here, showed us their operation. It won’t be there for long though. They’re in the process of upgrading to keep up with the olive 40,000 trees they manage.

Besides making extra virgin olive oil, Georgia Olive Farms is also helping to create jobs through agritourism. That’s where visitors come from all around to see the farms in Georgia and learn what they do. Sounds exactly like what Fast Forward does. So I guess they must be doing something right.

At the end of the day, our trip to two of Georgia’s most unique farms taught us a lot about what’s on our plates. I know I’ll never take a blueberry pie for granted again. Make sure to keep an eye out for our episodes on Cogdell Berry Farm and Georgia Olive Farms, both of which are headed your way soon.