Peanuts

Hurricane Helene: One Year Later

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:41:24 GMT

Chris White is 46 years old. For more than half of that time, he’s been a blueberry farmer in his hometown of Baxley, Ga. He’s seen a lot, both as a farmer and also as a resident in southeast Georgia, an area of the country that’s not quite hurricane ground zero but that can certainly find itself adjacent to the many tropical storms and hurricanes that make landfall each year.

But he’d never seen anything like what happened to his community the night of Sept. 26, 2024.

Located in the southeastern part of the state, Baxley was one of the many towns that took a direct hit from Hurricane Helene. Overnight, the hurricane pummeled the area with 100-plus mph wind gusts and rainfall that triggered flooding, resulting in 37 deaths in the state.

When White and his fellow farmers awoke the next morning, they were unprepared for what they saw.

One of the farms that makes up Appling Blueberry Farms had sat ripe with mature blueberry bushes just the day before. Now, it was decimated – the entire blueberry canopy flattened to the ground. Surrounded by debris, he recalls having to walk 3 miles on foot to get to his equipment shed.

“I drove the tractor back here to the field and when I pulled to the road and saw it, I just turned around and didn’t come back for six days,” White says.

“Just imagine the entire thing on the ground. “It was devastating,” he adds.

Down the road in the neighboring city of Alma, Randy Miller spent the morning with the same ache in his gut. Looking out on his family’s timber operation, Miller saw his 1,400 acres of timberland in shambles.

“We lost 300 acres of timber in the 30 to 40-year range,” he says.

Miller thought of his timber acres largely as his 401k — a savings he could grow to maturity and then harvest as a security blanket for retirement.

“I’m 64 years old, and that was basically my lifetime’s marketable timber that was gone,” he says.

Randy Miller had invested time and energy in growing a pinewood plantation that he hoped to market at maturity. Hurricane Helene’s 100-plus mph winds decimated 300 acres of his trees.

(Randy Miller)

The Clean-Up

While White remained in denial about his crop’s demise, Miller didn’t have the time. Even felled timber has a window where harvest remains possible, but time is critical. He started calling his timber cutting contacts, but he was already behind. Other landowners had called before him.

“It took months before they could get to us,” Miller says.

“Before the Hurricane, we sold 60 acres of timber worth roughly $4,000 per acre,” he says. “After it, we picked up 150 acres and got a check for $47,000.

“Some people got nothing, so we were lucky that we’d gotten $4 a ton for ours, which is basically nothing,” he adds.

In Baxley, White finally started ripping out his destroyed blueberry bushes. In order to plant more, he had to start from scratch and rebuild the field infrastructure, such as bark mounds and drip lines.

But then he couldn’t find plants.

“We called all over the U.S. to find plants,” he recalls. “We had plants come from Oregon and Florida. We really had to struggle to get them.”

Appling Blueberry Farms planted the last of its replacement bushes in February, which means that the new crop could not yield fruit this year. Grower Chris White will be able to harvest berries from the farm in the 2026 growing year.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement)

White’s last new plant went into the ground in February. He says he’s not sure that any of that quick rebuild would have been possible without emergency assistance from USDA.

“The FSA Tree Assistance Program (TAP) was a very big blessing to put them back,” he says. “They paid an amount for the soil preparation and then so much per plant for the replant.

“It definitely wasn’t something that would bring you debt-free on it, but it was something that wouldn’t put you in a real financial bind,” he adds.

Planning for the Future

The devastation left in Helene’s wake wasn’t just plant loss for many farmers. The rushing water from torrential rain combined with the hurricane-force winds blew critical topsoil, sending it into nearby fields, ditches and roadways.

Part of the recovery for growers like White was moving and replacing dirt.

“We hauled in about 60 dump truck loads of dirt and put the soil back where it had eroded,” he recalls.

He wasn’t the only one. Neal Boatright, a fourth-generation farmer who grows more than 6,000 acres of cotton, peanuts and blueberries at scale, also had to get to work relocating soil on his farm. He noticed a difference in erosion in his no-till acreage and the areas where he harvest-tills crops such as peanuts.

“We brought it back from the lower side of the fields and put back and leveled and tried to fix it,” he says. “We have conventional tillage areas that wash worse.”

Growers such as White, Miller and Boatright have seen the weather changing around them. While they say they’d never seen a hurricane or tropical storm hit their region with such devastation as Helene did, they aren’t sure it is going to be the last one.

Their rebuilding plans are a combination of put-back and pre-planning for mitigation of future potential weather catastrophes.

In his rebuild, White worked to secure grants that would allow him to experiment with cover crops in between his blueberry rows. The farm that was lost totally last year now has a diverse cover crop mixture locking his soil in place.

Appling Blueberry Farms uses a diverse mixture of cover crops in between blueberry rows to protect soil from erosion. After the first year, grower Chris White says he sees a reduction in nematode and weed pressure due to the cover crop.

(America’s Conservation Ag Movement)

At one point in the growing season, his cover crop mixture stood 6 feet tall, towering above his blueberry bushes. In addition to protecting the soil, White says the cover crop is yielding other benefits as well.

“It dries the middle out a lot quicker because you have so much sucking the rain and that helps a bunch,” he says. “Because we planted several different plants, our nematode pressure has been way down and the weed pressure too.

“We’ll keep a cover crop here twice a year now, one in the summer and one in the winter,” he adds.

Boatright has been cover cropping his land and sees the benefits in preventing erosion as well as building organic matter in the soil.

“It not only saves erosion by that cover crop growing, it helps retain some nutrients for the next year, builds up organic matter and helps with suppressing weed pressure,” he says. “All that added together makes a good cover crop worthwhile.”

Lasting Impact

While growers and landowners have spent this past year cleaning up and putting their land and assets back together, many worry that the devastation of Hurricane Helen may have generational impact.

Kevin Eason didn’t have to destroy many of his blueberry plants, but even though they survived, the yields this year seem to be suffering.

“What we’ve come to realize is some fields that we didn’t think were damaged, production was down significantly,” he says. “What’s going to happen a year from now, two years from now, three years from now?

“What are going to be the lingering effects of what happened with the Hurricane?”

As he drives down the road on his land and in his community, Boatright can still see areas that harken back to the immediate aftermath of the storm a year ago.

“There was probably more wind damage from that one storm than all the wind damage I’ve ever seen in my whole life added together in this area,” he says. “This was devastating to the timber industry and will have years of effects.”

Miller is keenly aware of the generational impact that his timber losses will have for his family.

“It’s just a sickening feeling because you have totally lost your hearts, not just in the pocketbook,” he says. “I have a kid, and he has two kids that are coming up, and we want to turn it over to them in good shape.

“It’s not a one-year quick fix.

“This is going to take years,” he says. “Probably five years from now, we’ll still be able to ride through and see where this Hurricane hit us.”

Peanut power: How the little legume plays a big role for sustainability

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 14:12:35 GMT

The humble peanut evokes images of ballpark snacks, lunchbox sandwiches and spreads — but it’s much more.

In fact, the tiny legume is an underrated sustainable plant powerhouse. Not only does growing, harvesting and processing peanuts use minimal resources compared to other nuts, but peanuts also promote soil fertility while producing a flavorful, protein-rich crop.

Unlike walnuts, pecans and other true nuts, peanuts are a legume crop grown directly in the soil like soybeans and lentils. As peanuts grow and mature in the soil, they also enrich the earth with nitrogen — a key nutrient for growing fruits, vegetables and other nutrient-intensive crops.

The connection between soil health and peanuts

According to The Peanut Institute , many farmers rotate their cotton and corn crops with peanuts to replenish the soil because of peanuts’ nitrogen-fixing ability.

“We need very sustainable rotational systems in agriculture to keep weeds, insects and disease pests in a controllable state,” Severn Peanut Co. agronomist Wayne Nixon said in a news release. “The nitrogen benefit of the legume, and the fact that the residue lasts in the soil for years, makes peanuts an over-achiever by putting in the soil what other crops take away.”

While most crops deplete the soil of nitrogen, peanuts replenish nitrogen, fostering nutrient-rich loam. Peanuts naturally require less fertilizer to grow an abundant crop, which helps reduce agricultural inputs and greenhouse gas emissions from production.

What’s more, peanuts add up to 250 pounds of nitrogen to soil per acre and are naturally resistant to diseases and pests like nematodes, according to the release.

“Less dependency on chemicals and fertilizers saves the farmer money and enhances sustainability for all,” Nixon said in the release.

For growers incorporating climate-smart or regenerative agriculture into their operation, rotating peanuts as a cover crop can support reduced tillage, increase diversity, keep soil covered and carbon in the ground.

A resource-conserving crop

Every part of the peanut plant — from roots to shells — is used in the growing process, consumer products or is composted, according to the National Peanut Board ’s sustainability report.

The American Peanut Council cites uses for the peanut beyond consumption in its most recent sustainability report:

Pelletized peanuts made from peanut hulls are used for animal feed and fuel.
Peanut “hay” from discarded plant vines can be incorporated back into the soil as green manure or given to livestock as feed.
Biodiesel to power vehicles is produced from used or discarded peanut oil.
Peanut skins have uses for their antioxidant and polyphenol-rich properties.

Related news: Is climate-smart agriculture poised for a breakout year?

Peanuts are truly “zero-waste” crop, according to Severn, N.C.-based peanut grower Hampton Farms .

The water needed to produce peanuts is another sustainability win for the little legume. In a comparison with the water footprint of other major nuts grown in the U.S., the National Peanut Board’s shows that the peanut leads the category as a water-conserving nut crop.

To produce 1 ounce of shelled nuts, it takes the following gallons of water:

3.2 gallons for shelled peanuts.
23.6 gallons for shelled pistachios.
26.7 gallons for shelled walnuts.
28.7 gallons for shelled almonds.

Bolstering this water conservation claim, the American Peanut Council estimates that most U.S.-grown peanuts do not even require irrigation.

“Because they are grown in the southeast regions of the U.S. and have the benefit of plentiful rain,” the peanut has the lightest water footprint of any nut, the council reports.

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.)

(Farm Journal)

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

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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

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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