This week’s Farmer Spotlight is Lucas Killam from Jay, Florida! ??
We had a blast visiting with Lucas at his barn a few weeks ago! Jay has a bountiful amount of ideal farm land for peanuts: flat, fertile and due to its proximity to the coast, fields does not require much irrigation and can easily achieve a bumper crop.
Lucas has been farming peanuts his whole life, but he started farming his own peanuts in 1996, nearly 22 years ago. His favorite part about farming peanuts is digging peanuts. Lucas adds “it’s just in my blood and I can’t get away from it”, in regards to what he loves most about peanut farming. Like other farmers, Lucas does not only grow peanuts, but also cotton.
When asked his favorite way to eat peanuts, Lucas said he favored boiled peanuts. We also like to ask farmers if they prefer creamy or crunchy peanut butter, and Lucas replied with “creamy”.
One difficult question we asked Lucas was to tell us what has been the most challenging part of farming for him, and he explained it has been the “financing side of farming, managing everything…especially being young.” This is very relatable for all farmers, simply because a major part of farming is the business side. Lucas’ prediction for this year’s peanut crop is that “It’s looking pretty good now I’m shooting for making a good crop.” Lucas informed us that one thing farming has taught him is to “be patient”…we couldn’t agree more!
To see pictures and view story on Facebook, click here https://www.facebook.com/floridapeanutproducersassociation/posts/214184055882730?comment_id=214341609200308¬if_id=1532969849954524¬if_t=feed_comment