Proud to be a Farmer: Jim Waters

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A fourth generation farmer in Pierce County says his family’s adapted over the years to stay in business. Jim Waters criss-crosses Blackshear to get to all of the fields on the farms. This time of year means one thing for farmers and another for everyone else.

“Everybody’s pulling a boat. We’re pulling a trailer, with seed, chemicals, or fertilizer,” says Waters.

His family’s farm goes back close to 100 years. He remembers when they shifted from tobacco to a rotation heavy on peanuts.

Waters says, “It’s lot more stable crop to grow, a lot less market volatility. Stuff like that makes the bank feel better about doing business with you.”

He says technology has changed the way they farm, from seed varieties to even the number of times they run a tractor through each acre. A generation ago, Jim and other farmers would have plowed all of this under to start planting. Now they keep the old plant stems, and even weeds, to help conserve soil as well as moisture.

He credits Georgia Peanut Commission with research that helps farmers work more efficiently despite all the challenges, including supply chain issues so far this year.

“I don’t really know what the true reward is. I do think there’s a lot of faith involved,” says Waters.

He combines that faith with the independence of working the land. They’re just a few of the reasons he’s Proud to Be a Farmer.

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