Production of cotton, peanuts, soybeans and tobacco in Georgia all increased in 2014 according to the final annual crop production report of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service released on Jan. 12.
Slight increases in acreage and yields allowed the state's cotton growers to produce 2.5 million 480-pound bales in 2014, up 180,000 from 2013.
A 38 percent increase in harvested peanut acres, from 426,000 acres in 2013 to 591,000 acres in 2014, offset a 7 percent drop in average yield per acre in the state's peanut crop. Georgia peanut growers produced 2.43 billion pounds in 2014, up from 1.886 billion pounds in 2013.
The state's soybean growers increased production from 9.315 million bushels in 2013 to 11.6 million bushels in 2014, attributable to a 26 percent increase in harvested acres, from 230,000 in 2013 to 290,000 in 2014.
Georgia tobacco growers increased their yields by 550 pounds per acre, from 1,750 pounds in 2013 to 2,300 in 2014, resulting in a production of 34.5 million pounds, an increase of 54 percent of the state's 2013 tobacco production (22.4 million pounds).
The state's production in corn, hay and sorghum declined from 2013 to 2014. Georgia corn growers cut acreage by a third, a slight decline in average yield resulted in production of 52.7 million bushels, down from 81.375 million bushes in 2013.
Georgia hay producers harvested 1.51 million tons of hay in 2014, down from 1.566 million tons in 2013. Georgia sorghum growers produced 943,000 bushels in 2014, down more than 52 percent from the 2 million bushels they produced in 2013.