REINVENTING FARMING IN SOUTHWEST GEORGIA

Casey Cox, a six-generation farmer in Camilla, Georgia @virginie kippelen 2021

This series of images were commissioned by the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium of universities, colleges and academic partners working to improve understanding of climate impacts and solutions in Georgia. As part of their initiative to highlight the personal stories of Georgians whose lives and livelihoods are impacted by climate change, I photographed Casey Cox, a sixth-generation farmer in Camilla, in southwest Georgia, 27 miles south of Albany. Ms. Cox is taking the lead in the family business of growing peanuts, sweet corn, field corn and soybeans and managing acres of timber and natural woodlands. She has made headlines by her determination to adapt the farming methods to the new reality of the land. Notably, she collaborated with the UGA Crop and Soil Sciences department and the USDA’s National Peanut Research Laboratory to modernize the farm’s systems, especially irrigation.

Optimizing the irrigation system of her farm in Camilla, Georgia, is one of Cox’s priorities.

Cornfield and irrigation system

Casey Cox uses a mobile app technology to control the flow and recurrence of the farm’ irrigation system.

Casey Cox and her dad, Glen Cox, often find flint stones in their fiels, which sit next to the low Flint river basin in Georgia.

Casey Cox controlling the water irrigation system in her farm.