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the state vegetable is the Vidalia onion and the pregrowers, and telling the story of one of Georgia’s
pared food is grits). Georgia’s peanuts make up
most important crops.”
about 50 percent of the United States peanut
Arnold grew up on a farm in Calhoun
County, where his family produced peanuts,
farm, more than 1.6 million tons. Peanut farms
cotton and corn. “I was surrounded by a
make up nearly 850,000 acres and peanuts
strong agricultural community— neighbors,
are planted in 78 counties. For those who may
friends, and families all working together and
have visited the Georgia Capitol, the little red
supporting one another,” said Arnold. “From a
bags of Georgia peanuts are ubiquitous— a
young age, I started helping my parents on the
reminder of their important place in the state as
a $2.2 billion industry. The Georgia Peanut ComTAYLOR ARNOLD farm, and those early experiences taught me the
value of hard work, responsibility, and resilience.”
mission (GPC), like other commodities promotions
“So stepping into this role feels like a full-cirorganizations, helps to promote, research and educate on
cle moment. I’m able to take what I’ve learned— both
the eponymous goober.
growing up on the farm and working for FSA— and use
Similar to the Department of Agriculture, for thirit to advocate for farm families and communities like the
ty years the GPC was led by one man, Don Koehler.
one that raised me and help ensure the future of Georgia
Koehler announced he would be stepping down as exagriculture and the peanut industry stays strong.”
ecutive director last year and Taylor Arnold, an experiThere are certainly a number of challenges facing
enced leader from the USDA Farm Service Agency, has
the peanut industry right now. Input costs have risen
taken over. Arnold worked every day with producers on
across the board— from seed and fertilizer to fuel and
administering a multitude of programs.
equipment— and commodity prices have remained
“That experience gave me a much deeper underdepressed. That creates extreme pressure on producers’
standing of the needs of farmers and the challenges
margins and makes it more difficult to plan for the future.
they face day in and day out,” said Arnold. “Moving
Weather continues to be one of the biggest uncerinto this role with the Georgia Peanut Commission
tainties. In recent years, hurricanes and other weather
has been a shift to being more proactive and helping
events have had a significant impact on key peashape the direction of the industry, advocating for our
nut-growing areas, and as we head into this season,
much of the region is dealing with exceptional drought
conditions. That kind of unpredictability adds another
layer of risk to an already challenging environment.
“Even with those challenges, one thing I’ve seen
firsthand is just how resilient the farmers and agriculture community can be. Time and time again, they find
ways to push through tough conditions and keep moving forward,” said Arnold. “And often, it’s these difficult
periods that lead to innovation and improvements that
ultimately make the industry stronger and better positioned for the future.”
One of the biggest opportunities for the peanut industry is the growing shift toward health-conscious consumers. People are paying more attention to what they
eat and looking for foods that are both nutritious and
affordable— and peanuts fit that need extremely well.
Peanuts offer about seven grams of protein per serving at a very affordable price point, which makes them
accessible to a wide range of consumers. They also
provide important benefits for heart and brain health,
which is something more and more people are prioritizing in their diets.
In a time of tremendous opportunity, Arnold’s background and experience make him uniquely qualified to
lead the way into the future for a critical part of Georgia’s most important industry.
Baker Owens is a staff writer for James and James Magazine Online.
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