MARKET BULLETIN – 404-656-3722 – Agr.Georgia.Gov WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021
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EstablishEd 1917 a CEntury of sErviCE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE • GARY W. BLACK, COMMISSIONER • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 • VOL. 104, NO. 4 • © COPYRIGHT 2021 Georgia EMCs partner with fiber broadband provider to expand service to 80,000 in 18 counties By Amy Carter cused on rural electric cooperatives. Under terms of the reliability through smart grid capabilities, and provide high- [email protected] agreement, the EMCs will work with Conexon to design and speed internet access to every member of the two EMCs build a 6,890 mile fiber network that will serve two strategic within the next four years. Service will begin early as June ATLANTA – Central Georgia EMC in Jackson and South- purposes: provide improved electricrs 7serviceary and increased 2021, according to a press release issued by the Governor’s ern Rivers Energy in Barnesville have teamed up with iv2e01 Office. broadband provider Conexon to provide high-speed internet n– The two EMCs will own the fiber and lease excess ca- to 80,000 homes and businesses in 18 Middle Georgia coun- Did you know?A17n pacity to Conexon, which has agreed to serve every EMC ties over the next four years. 1Collectively,0 0 t 1h9 Georgia’s customer-owned member with fiber-to-the-home internet speeds up to 1 giga- Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and House co-ops provide electricity and related bit per second. The internet service will be powered by EMC Speaker David Ralston announced the partnership at the services to 4.4 million people, nearly half fiber, but Conexon will provide the retail service to homes State Capitol Feb. 8. The three entities will make a capital in- of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent and businesses, managing account set-up, customer service vestment of more than $210 million overall to deliver broad- of the state’s land area. Georgia EMC is the and billing. band to EMC customers in Bibb, Butts, Clayton, Coweta, statewide trade association representing “The announcement we are making today will have a real Crawford, Fayette, Henry, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Meriweth- the state’s 41 electric cooperatives, impact on the lives of countless hardworking Georgians,” er, Monroe, Morgan, Newton, Pike, Putnam, Spalding and Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Kemp said in a press release announcing the partnership. Upson counties. Monroe County has also committed $1.3 Transmission Corp. and Georgia System “With expanded broadband access comes new job opportu- million in local funds to incentivize the EMCs to start their Operations Corp. To learn more, follow nities, improved education tools, and access to telemedicine. projects there. Georgia EMC on Facebook and Twitter. This partnership is why I signed Senate Bill 2 in 2019 to Conexon is a full-service fiber broadband provider fo- See BROADBAND, page 14 One year into the pandemic Farm stands, agritourism operators prepare to stage a comeback from COVID-19 By Jay Jones have to start new.” Some operators closed their farms com- [email protected] Spring brings hope to many Georgia ag- pletely. Others reduced hours or cut back ritourism operators eager to get back to as on activities like hayrides and had to find Expect the unexpected. close to normal operations as possible. Road- replacement activities that met state social That’s the best advice Delena Heard of side markets and farms will continue with distancing requirements. Warbington Farms in Cumming can give to health protocols and social distancing this Thompson noted that the guidelines made fellow U-pick and roadside farm stand op- year. the markets and farms do things differently. erators looking forward to the opportunities Kelly Thompson, certified farm market Many U-pick farms closed and began curb- possible in 2021. coordinator for the Georgia Farm Bureau, side service where customers drove by to The uncertainty caused by COVID-19 said she saw people helping each other purchase produce. last year helped Heard and her family plan through a difficult time last spring when The extra guidelines also meant farmers the upcoming spring season and the prospect many roadside farms were faced with the turned to new ways to use technology, such of welcoming visitors back to their farm. loss of business. as utilizing their web sites for customers “You can have a plan, but you better know “There were just lots of questions on what to place reservations or purchase products. that plan is written in sand because you’re to do, so everybody was looking to their See AGRITOURISM, page 13 probably going to have to redo it and come neighbors,” Thompson said “What a bless- up with something else,” Heard said. “You ing that the agriculture community is like a Chloe Echols worked at the peaches table at know, the key is to be absolutely flexible and big family. They talked with each other and Jaemor Farms last summer with masks required not to get discouraged or stressed when your helped one another. There was a lot of idea for all staff due to COVID-19. (Special Photo/Jaemor well thought out plan goes to waste, and you sharing going on.” Farms) Forgotten fruit Old apple varieties find new appreciation in North Georgia By Amy Carter of North Georgia were ideal for commercial ap- [email protected] ple production. “An enormous amount of capital actually BLAIRSVILLE – The Georgia Heritage Apple got invested in setting up commercial orchards Orchard, like any good piece of real estate, de- in many of the northern counties – Habersham, rives its value from location, location, location. Rabun and others. These were massive opera- If Joshua Fuder had purchased a different home tions,” said Mihm, a professor of history at the for his family, and Wyatt Wood had bulldozed all University of Georgia in Athens. the trees on his homestead, and Stephen Mihm Back then, the apples on everyone’s lips wasn’t bound by a conservation covenant to en- weren’t Granny Smith or Red Delicious but gage in agriculture of some form on his own Floyd’s Prize and Huntsman’s Favorite. dream parcel, the orchard likely wouldn’t exist “These varieties became very prominent, but today. several things conspired to destroy the apple in- It was a series of happy accidents that intro- dustry starting in the 1920s. One was over de- duced these men to one another and led to the velopment. Second was Prohibition,” Mihm said. recent cultivation of 101 endangered varieties of After Congress passed the Volstead Act of apple trees that form the roots of Georgia’s mul- 1919 to enforce the Eighteenth Amendment’s timillion-dollar apple industry. prohibition on the manufacture and sale of alco- Once upon a time holic beverages, demand dried up for apples to make hard cider, Applejack and apple brandy. Apples were once common on farms and Joshua Fuder, UGA Extension Agent for plantations throughout the South, but in the late Then came The Great Depression. Cherokee County, prepares to plant an heirloom Please deliver this paid subscription to: Agriculture Published by the Ga. Department of Black, Commissioner W. Gary 19th Century, people realized that the mountains See FORGOTTEN FRUIT, page 16 variety apple tree in Blairsville. (Amy Carter/GDA) PAGE 2 FARMERS AND CONSUMERS MARKET BULLETIN – 404-656-3722 – agr.georgia.gov WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021 2019 MX5200, 40 hrs, like HX15 John Deere Batwing, FARM new, no loader, Shutlle Shift, new hoses, new blade, new cv ROPS, sheltered, R4 tires. Bo shaft, new gear box, 540 pto: MACHINERY Smith Crawford 706-340- $11,000 Emily Kenney Vidalia Advertise in the Market Bulletin 6572 912-537-2890 Classified advertisements in the Market Bulletin are free to subscribers and limited Please specify if machinery is 3pt hitch, 48in Tractor Supply JD MX8 rotary mower, 8ft cut, to one ad per issue per subscriber number. Ads run a maximum of two consecutive in running condition. mower. Like new. Ed Bowles pull type, good condition: issues unless requested otherwise. Advertisements from businesses, corporations, Henry County 678-787-8072 $4000. Lloyd Leach Martin TRACTORS 706-356-2236 dealerships, real estate agents or other commercial entities are not permitted. All 6065 Mahindra, 18hrs, 70hp, items advertised must be farm-related. (2) 9N tractors - one runs, one 4wd, quick attach front end Land Pride 5ft finishing good for parts, both have loader, cab, many extras, ex- mower, fair condition w/stump good tires. Pete Cobb Fair- cellent condition: $39,500 jumper gear box, leaks oil, use Advertisers and buyers are advised to be aware of state and federal laws governing grease instead of oil: $350. the sale and transfer of live animals. GDA rules also require the submission of burn 770-964-5644 James Sullivan Vidalia 912- 537-4944 David Mitchell Juliette 478- certain documents attesting to the health and/or viability of livestock, plants and 135 MF w/Perkins diesel, 986-9759 885 Case Int., low hours on seed submitted for sale before ads for those items can be published. Those rules are King Kutter rotary mower & fin- Land Pride Grooming Mower rebuilt engine, tires etc. good ishing mower: $5500. Brooks 5 ft., FDR1660, used less than posted online at http://agr.georgia.gov/advertising-information.aspx. They are also 770-480-2056 condition: $8500. Wade Hardin summarized beneath the headers of all affected Classified categories in every issue of 20 hours; kept under shelter, 165 Massey Ferguson: runs Tiffin 229-392-3833 like new condition. Asking the Market Bulletin. good, good rubber: $3000. $1800. Text/msg Claudia Danny Lovering Thomaston Allis-Chalmers 5020, diesel Alexander Augusta 706-836- The Georgia Department of Agriculture does not assume responsibility for transactions 706-445-4914 engine 5126, 3pt hitch, PTO, 3755 turf tires, needs new seat & initiated through the Market Bulletin but will use every effort to prevent fraud.