The Georgia Farmer’s Strike

From Alma, Georgia to Washington’s Capitol Hill. Starting with the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976, farming began a slow dissention toward bankruptcy. Georgia farmers took to the highways in miles long tractorcades to protest the extinction of their way of life. From the Bacon County Courthouse steps to the steps of the White House, farmers brought their fight for survival to their neighbor’s front door. Tommy Kersey, Tommy Carter and Tommy Fulford spent years protesting the coming depression in the agriculture world. Driving tractors on the Georgia and federal interstates in dozens of miles long tractorcades, they found their voice, but never found results. The 1980’s began with the hope of a new start with a new president, thanks to the efforts of the AAM to oust the tone deaf Jimmy Carter. The hope farmers had soon died when mass evictions and bankruptcies covered the state. Many farmers fought back and some armed themselves, staring down law enforcement in a farmer’s front yard near Cochran, Georgia in a standoff that made national news. Another farmer was pushed to his limit and had his farm rescued with the help of a young real estate tycoon named Donald Trump.