Southeast Alabama Agriculture Statistics

Trends
   The district has a valuable resource in its high quality prime farmland, which could be a tool to attract more agricultural industries for economic development and job growth. This asset has not been marketed to its maximum potential and its appears the district's prime farmland has not been put to its highest and best use.

   Improvements in agricultural methods are needed and have been changing over the past few years. There has been more emphasis placed on diversification of field crops through our extension service offices due to the imminent decline of the peanut program, which has supported local farmers for decades.

   More cotton and poultry operations have sprung up over the past six years and these operations have contributed to the stabilization of farm income for many of the district's producers. Alabama and regional farm operators have begun to diversify their operations in order to make a profit and are utilizing more modern management practices and techniques such as have been followed in Mississippi and Georgia for many years.

   Agriculture continues to be of vital important to the regional economy. Total cash receipts are increasing for some commodities such as cotton and broilers as diversification becomes more common. This growth is most evident in Coffee and Geneva Counties, where poultry production leads the district.

   The peanut program, which has been the economic lifeblood of the region for decades, is declining due to lower prices and increased cost of production. The future of the peanut program is uncertain at this time. Many agricultural experts predict that the government price support program for peanuts will eventually be phased out of existence, which will create severe financial hardships for many regional farmers.

   Diversification is the key element to survival in our regional agricultural economy, and growth in poultry and cotton production is vital to the ultimate survival of agricultural operations in our region.