Farming
Our topic is about farming in the Southeast. First we will talk about chickens. The Southeast is very popular for raising chickens. Eight of the top ten states that raise chickens are found in the Southeast.
The Southeast is good for growing cash crops because of the warm climate causing longer growing seasons and it has lots of rainfall.
This next paragraph is about fruits and vegetables. Apples grow west of the Piedmont Plateau in Virginia. Georgia and South Carolina raise peaches. Along the coast of the Southeast celery, beans, tomatoes, peppers, and cabbages are grown. Along the coast of the Carolina's sweet potatoes are raised in sandy soil. In Florida oranges, grapefruits, and other citrus fruits are raised. 70% of our countries citrus fruits are grown in Florida: 50% of the world's grapefruits are raised in Florida.
Next we are going to tell you about peanuts. Peanuts need 4 or 5 months to grow. The peanuts are raised on the Coastal Plain in Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida. Peanuts grow especially well between Southwestern Georgia and Southeastern Alabama. Georgia harvests about 500,000 tons of peanuts yearly. Georgia is the leading state for peanut production. Georgia raises 3 times as many peanuts as any other state. Peanuts are valuable for all their uses. Half of the peanuts are made into peanut butter. About 1/4 ( 25% ) are roasted and eaten as snacks. The rest of the peanuts are pressed into oil which has many uses. Long ago soldiers called the peanuts "goobers'' or "goober peas."
This next paragraph is about rice. Arkansas is the leading state because there is plenty of rain (49 inches per year). It also has a longer growing season. Rice is planted by air planes over flooded fields, or by high speed planting drills pulled by tractors.
Tobacco is next. Tobacco is grown on the Piedmont Plateau and the Coastal Plain. 90% of the tobacco raised in the U.S.A. is raised in the Southeast. The leading state for tobacco is North Carolina. They produce 700 million pounds of tobacco. Tobacco is planted in spring and harvested in July. After tobacco is harvested they put the tobacco in a barn for 1-3 weeks to dry. This is called curing. The tobacco is then put in a hog shed for 3 years or longer! This is called aging. Finally the tobacco is sold at auctions to companies who make cigars, cigarettes, and pipe tobacco.
Now we will tell you about soybeans. All of the Southeast states raise soybeans. The leading states for soybeans are Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
Now we are going to teach you about places where land is no longer good for crops. On land no longer good for crops they breed and grow livestock. (cows,dairy,hogs,chicken,and turkey.) Georgia is the leading state for producing broilers. Broilers are young chickens that are raised for markets.
Now we are going to tell you a little bit about sugar cane. Sugar cane is another crop raised in the Southeast. It is a tall grass plant that grows in tropical and semitropical countries. Sugar cane consists of sturdy stalks 7 to 30 feet (2 to 9 meters) high and about 2 inches in diameter. These stalks contain a large amount of sugary juice from which sugar and molasses are made.
Finally we will talk about cotton. The leading state is Mississippi with 2 million bales of 500 pounds each. Louisiana, Tennessee, and Arkansas also raise cotton. It is planted in April and May. Also it is harvested by large machines. Around 25% is harvested by hand.
By: Alex, Jordan, Adam, Miranda, Dylon B