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The Oglethorpe Echo

Agriculture and Environment Reporter

Jan. 2025- May 2025

The Oglethorpe Echo •

Oglethorpe’s family-owned farms persevere through changing times

“They’re climbers; they’ve gotta climb stuff, or they’ll just go crazy,” she explained, referring to the plants’ growing habits.

She points out which crops are which, quickly distinguishing a reddish, flowering leaf — beet, not radish — and pulls onions that have bolted and can’t be taken to market.

It’s a glimpse into her childhood, shaped by lessons learned on her family's multi-generational farm in Oglethorpe County.
The Oglethorpe Echo •

Eyes on the poultry prize: Youth put skills to the test

When some students begin their involvement with the poultry judging team, birds are already a part of their lives. For others, it comes later, in unexpected ways.

Kayla Latimer, mother of seventh-grade Oglethorpe County 4-H team member Blane Latimer, recalled her son coming home from practice one afternoon carrying a mysterious box.

“Hey buddy, what’s in your box?” she asked, unsuspecting of its chirping contents.

Blane replied, “It’s my bird.”
The Oglethorpe Echo •

Arnoldsville falconer aims to protect raptors

“But then I thought about how much joy this brings to my life, and I said, I was born to do this. I was born to be a falconer,” Hill said.

He’s found purpose in educating others about the art of falconry and the importance of protecting the birds.

“I can take this information and share it with you people so you guys can have a better understanding of what we do with these animals and how much they mean to us as falconers,” Hill said. “But not only that, how much they mean to Mother Nature alone.”
The Oglethorpe Echo •

Don’t fumble the chicken: Cost of eggs forces 4-H poultry team to use football, not fowl

Instead, Marcus Eason, the county’s 4-H agent, cradled a deflated football under his left arm — where a white leghorn hen would usually be.

Eason lightly pressed into the featherless football, demonstrating to the three students where, on a live hen, they would need to assess factors like abdominal capacity as they prepared for the upcoming Georgia 4-H Area Poultry Judging Contest on April 24.

“I’m still having a hard time finding birds to keep here or just borrow for an extended amount of time because egg prices are up,” Eason said. “And I can definitely understand why people don’t want to spare a couple of chickens because that’s some dollars.”

In a typical season, the 4-H program would receive hens and eggs from the district development coordinator. But with avian flu concerns, the county is “on its own” this year.
The Oglethorpe Echo •

Pride in her Pigs: Poulnott finds success in the arena

While her peers spend their weekends catching up on sleep, Oglethorpe County High School senior Raegan Poulnott is up early, painting pigs and preparing them for competition.

Yes, painting pigs.

For Poulnott, using paint to enhance her pigs’ natural black and white markings for competition is only a fraction of what it takes to succeed as an award-winning showman in regional and national livestock shows.
Read the full story here.
The Oglethorpe Echo •

Freedom, Forage Friends: Local rescue event equips people to take action when horses are abused, neglected

“Your attention to shelter, safety, food and water and all of those kinds of things, really is care, it’s what we expect,” Husted said. “The excessive standard is welfare, which is freedom, forage, friends — the social and foraging needs.”

These three principles were the foundation of Sunday’s Identifying Equine Abuse seminar, where the seven participants gained hands-on experience evaluating the rescue horses at ReDux. They practiced using a weight tape, examining markings and physical signs, and assessing weight gain by examining different areas of a recovering horse.

My experience as a reporter for The Oglethorpe Echo was invaluable in shaping my approach to journalism. I covered the Agriculture and Environment beat, writing feature stories and capturing photography that highlighted community voices and environmental issues. This role allowed me to build meaningful relationships with local residents and better understand how to deliver news that truly mattered to them. I gained a deep, hands-on knowledge of the agricultural industry, just a county over from where I’d been living for the past few years. I even got involved personally—holding chickens, measuring horses, and visiting local farms. It was an unforgettable experience and a unique opportunity to immerse myself in community journalism.

Multimedia Storytelling

As the county’s leading news source with nine different digital platforms, it was essential to pay close attention to the digital products I was producing as a reporter. This experience helped me become more comfortable shooting and editing video, creating content tailored for various social media platforms and scheduling posts effectively. I also gained hands-on experience writing, promoting and uploading stories to the website. These responsibilities made me a more well-rounded reporter with a stronger understanding of the digital side of journalism—an essential skill in today’s media landscape.

The reels and shorts below are examples of the social media content that accompanied my print and digital stories. These pieces helped engage our audience, driving traffic to our website and YouTube channel, where readers could explore more of the content through both written and video formats.

Latin American Ethnobotanical Garden Video Package and News Story

This video package and news story were part of my Reporting 3 course on multiplatform storytelling. I chose to showcase this project as an example of my ability to work with a range of video editing software, including Adobe Premiere and Photoshop. Throughout the course, I developed skills in editing long-form video, sound bites, B-roll, and standups, transforming them into shorter, more engaging videos that complement the written story. 

This video package and news story reiterated the power of video in storytelling. Nunnelly, with her charisma and deep passion for gardening, brought so much energy to the piece. The video helped bring the entire story to life, giving viewers a deeper connection to her and the garden.