Sandy soil and cool nights have made a sweet crop even
sweeter. University of Georgia
scientists say Georgia farmers have
more than doubled carrot production since just last year.

“Georgia farmers in 13 counties are growing about 2,600
acres of carrots this
year,” said Terry
Kelley, an Extension
Service horticulturist with the UGA College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.

Increasing
acreage

Harvesting carrots in a field in Wayne County. The small wheel in the front provides a visual guide for the tractor driver. The harvester pulls up the carrots, carries them up an incline by the tops, then cuts off the top.

The top is left in the field behind the harvester. The carrots move up the conveyer, which shakes off extra soil. The topped carrots fall into the trailer following alongside the harvester.

At the packing house, the carrots are washed and trimmed to remove excess soil and root parts.

Then the carrots are checked for quality and inferior carrots are discarded. They are sorted by size and bagged.

Carrots generally get to your supermarket in 1-, 2-, 5- or 10-pound bags. Schools, restaurants or small processors may buy carrots in 50-pound bags. Carrots store well, but usually get from the field to your supermarket in two or three days. ÿ

That’s up from about 1,200 acres in nine counties
during the ’97-’98 season. Many
farmers saw the success of the crop in previous years and
are adding carrots to their
farms or expanding their carrot acreage.

Some carrot farmers are also moving their acreage to
Georgia from Florida. Because
environmental groups are working to preserve muck soil
lands, farmers who raised carrots
there are moving their operations to other areas.

Conditions just
right

The soil and climate in southwest Georgia are ideal to
grow carrots during the winter.

UGA research scientist Sharad Phatak
said the cool nights in south Georgia contribute the
carrots’ distinctively sweet taste.

“During the day, the green tops fix carbon dioxide
(through photosynthesis),”
Phatak said. “At night, the carbon dioxide moves into the
root and is stored as sugar
– energy – for growth.”

Sandy soil with few rocks allows carrot roots to grow
straight down without twists or
bends. “Shoppers want nice, straight carrots, eight or 10
inches long,” Kelley
said. “With these conditions, we can deliver that.”

Carrots at the
market

You may find Georgia carrots in your favorite market
as “Georgia Sweet
Carrots,” “Lake Park Brand” or “Vidalia’s Pride.” But
Kelley said
it’s more likely that shoppers in New England will find
them.

“Most of the produce in Georgia, not just carrots, is
shipped away from the
growing area,” he said. “The bulk of our produce goes to
the northern tier of
states.”

Unusual 1999
weather

This year’s unusually warm winter hasn’t been as much
help to the farmers as you might
think. Phatak said the warm weather has forced farmers to
hustle carrots out of the
fields. With colder days, farmers can “store” carrots in
the field, he said.

Kelley said the relative heat is adding to farmers’
disease worries and costs, too.

“It’s keeping disease organisms alive and potentially
damaging carrot tops,”
he said. “It’s not decreasing yields yet. But controlling
this problem is adding to
the farmers’ costs to raise the crop.”

Georgia carrot
history

Georgia farmers have been growing carrots for
processing for years. Baby food companies
have bought Georgia carrots since the 1980s, Kelley said.
But farmers have grown carrots
for fresh markets only since about 1991.

But Phatak said UGA scientists have been researching
carrots since 1975. “We were
ready with management recommendations when farmers began
growing them,” he said.

Scientists and agents with the UGA Extension Service
helped a group of farmers form a
cooperative in Bacon County to grow, process and market
their carrots in 1993.

“Economics has convinced many farmers to grow them,”
Kelley said.
“They’ve seen carrots as a good opportunity to diversify
their operation and
potentially increase their profits.”