July/August 2024 - 18

GROWER PROFILE
Future tech
Haygood said he can see automation and AI doing for ag
what it's done for the auto industry.
" Anytime things can be a little more consistent, being
as precise as it can be, and level things out, it helps us all,
and is important for all of us as consumers as well, and
will eventually save us money, " he said.
A&M owns drones and uses them to scout crops. The
tech works well. Haygood predicts the tech, including
cameras, will improve.
Haygood envisions a strong future with AI and robots
helping in growing and packing vegetables.
" We know the tech is there, " he said. " It's getting it
Aries Haygood incorporates technology to grow his
Vidalia sweet onions. Photo courtesy of A&M Farms.
In the fields, Haygood said he expects automation
and AI to perform chores including determining crop
health faster than a naked eye. He said he's viewed laser
weeding systems on other crops that can zap more than
100,000 weeds an hour.
" It's the way of the future, " he said. " It will allow for
a job to be done with a lot fewer mistakes and more
consistency. We couldn't get enough help to afford and do
that kind of work. "
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to process and training it to work faster so it can be
more efficient. "
The biggest pest threat to Vidalia onions is onion thrips,
a parasite that feeds on leaves, allowing bacteria to enter
through moisture.
On diseases, the biggest challenges are botrytis and
center rot. Invisible to the human eye, center rot can
break an onion's neck and is detected only when the
plants are in peril.
Haygood said he's trying to guard against disease and
pest threats by laying down clean seedbeds. " No one
wants any kind of pest or disease in the crop, but we're
learning when we have them, and have to figure out why
they come and what we can do to stop them, " he said.
South Georgia is a challenge. One year you can try
something and feel it works, but try the exact same
thing the next year and it doesn't work, Haygood said.
With all the rain the region receives, weed control is
difficult to combat.
Soil matters
Haygood is paying more attention to the soil and
is considering ways to combat soil erosion, including
less tilling.
" The roots are basically the stomachs of our bodies, "
he said. " If we provide good nutrition and healthy biology
into the soil, then the roots living in the environment will
take in the good stuff, which will make them healthier.
Soil health is a lot bigger on my radar than it was in the
past. I'm learning much more about it. "
Haygood said he's trying to avoid over fertilizing, which
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can affect the soil's biology.
" There's so much going on in soil we don't think
about, " he said. " We think about it sometimes as being
dirt. There's a whole life going on underneath that is
breaking-down different products and organic matters,
trading that for the nutrients the roots need. At the end
of the day, we want plants to be as healthy as possible
so when my daughters eat the plant, they will consume
something as healthy as can possibly be grown. "
Weather remains Haygood's biggest growing challenge.
Growers can hit long cold, wet and dry spurts.
" With the onion, when you start adding more
unpredictable weather events and patterns, it makes it more
of a guessing game, " he said. " Our science and tech allow
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July/August 2024

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