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ROW CROPS IN OUR REGION
In our region of the country agriculture is a huge part of the economy. In fact, it is one of the driving income factors for large portions of the state. Georgia produced approximately 6.25 billion dollar in revenues for the year 2000 from agricultural and farm incomes. Six and one quarter billion dollars is a massive sum to contemplate isn't it? This is just to emphasize how important agriculture is to the economy of these rural areas.
There are several main row crops predominately in production in our region. It is important that if one is to develop some understanding of farms, one must have at least a rudimentary understanding of their most common cash crops. The information provided here is a very simple and basic crash course for those who may have a curiosity about what you may be seeing as you travel through the area. It is intended to give you some idea about each crop with emphasis on its appearance, planting dates, harvesting dates, uses, varieties, characteristics and general information. The main row crops for this region are cotton, peanuts, tobacco, hay, corn, wheat, soybeans, and finally other grains (i.e. rye, oats, sorghum).
The two largest row crops in our area, by far, in both lbs harvested and in dollar values produced are cotton and peanuts. In 2003, over 1.9 million acres in Georgia are planted in these two cash crops alone. Of that total, 1.4 million are in planted cotton. By contrast, the other remaining crops combined, account for only approximately 1 million acres planted in Georgia. If you spend any time riding around in the rural areas of our region, these numbers may or may not surprise you. It depends drastically on your geographical location what types of crops you may see and how frequently you may see them.
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