A Black farmer in Virginia wrestles with tradition and the changing needs of the economy.

Cash Crop REEL SOUTH

Premiered May 13, 2024
Cash Crop: asset-mezzanine-16x9
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Cash Crop

In Southern Virginia, Black farmers like Cecil Shell balance their interests in honoring their tradition of tobacco farming against the onset of solar energy farms exploding across the region. Through Cecil, the film explores one rural county’s shifting economic interests and his own efforts to steward the community, including Black landowners, through changing times.

About the Program

REEL SOUTH

REEL SOUTH is a PBS documentary series that showcases authentic stories which unearth the spirit of the South today. The series explores layers of Southern life across themes of social justice, cultural experience, environmental challenges, and more. REEL SOUTH aims to leverage our region’s rich storytelling tradition as a catalyst for positive change — in the American South and beyond.

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