In the early years of Branch’s work, the Florunner peanut variety, released by the University of Florida, dominated until tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) began damaging fields across the Southeast. As a breeder, Branch worked to develop new varieties to help with the battle against TSWV but also have similar characteristics to Florunner. Through the past 25 years, Branch has developed more than 20 new peanut varieties with the consistent goal of increased yield and grade as well as resistance characteristics for the farmer, and better shelling characteristics and enhanced flavor and nutrition for the consumer.

As TSWV wreaked havoc on farms across the Southeast, Branch released a cross between Southern Runner and Sunbelt Runner, named Georgia Green. According to Branch, Georgia Green helped to set the industry back on track with their fight against TSWV. When yields began decreasing with Georgia Green, Branch released Georgia-06G, a cross between Georgia Green and C99R.