Feb. 6, 2019
www.gfb.org
Vol. 37 No. 3
NEWTON CO. AG CENTER DEDICATED TO FORMER GFB PRESIDENT EWING On Jan. 26, Newton County opened its new ag center and named it after former Georgia Farm Bureau President T. M. “Mort” Ewing. The T.M. “Mort” Ewing Newton County Ag Center is located at the FFA-FCCLA Camp off Ga. Hwy. 36 south of Covington. “The FFA and 4-H programs in the state of Georgia have so many opportunities for our young people,” said Ewing, who served as GFB President from1988 to 1994. “The first time I came to this FFA camp, I had just finished the eighth grade. Just think about all the things that have occurred in this camp since I was in the eighth grade. Needless to say, this is a great honor for me today to stand before you and thank all of those who have made this wonderful accomplishment possible.” The center features a 10,800-square-foot covered and climate-controlled arena, a Mort Ewing cuts the ribbon on the Newton 10,000-square-foot barn that can hold up to County Ag Center. 100 cows and a 35,000-square-foot horse arena. It has classrooms, concessions, office space, bleachers and other amenities. The $5 million facility can be used to host regional and statewide FFA and 4-H events. Ewing, who served for 12 years on the Newton County Board of Commissioners, said the project was 15 years in the making, after a 2004 livestock show was filled beyond capacity. Ewing, along with local and state officials, raised money to build the new place, using a Special-Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax, state funding and private donations. Construction began in December 2016.
GFB News Alert page 2 of 10 SENS. PERDUE, ISAKSON, INTRODUCE DISASTER RELIEF PACKAGE U.S. Senators David Perdue (R-Georgia), and Johnny Isakson, (R-Georgia), introduced a supplemental disaster relief package on Jan. 30 to provide critical funding for Georgia and other states recovering from recent hurricane and wildfire damage. “Farmers in Georgia and other states across the country are hurting from historic hurricanes and devastating wildfires,” said Perdue, who is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “We cannot wait around for Congress to complete this year’s government funding. Federal disaster relief should be considered immediately. In October, President Trump and Vice President Pence both saw the devastation firsthand and promised to help Georgia and other states rebuild. Now, Congress has the opportunity to help them keep that promise. I will continue to fight for disaster relief until our farmers and rural communities have the resources they need to get back on their feet.” On Nov. 30, 2018, Perdue and Isakson sent two letters requesting additional funding for disaster assistance for Georgians recovering after Hurricane Michael: the first letter to Senate appropriators and the second to Senate leadership. “Georgia farmers are still recovering from natural disasters in 2017 and 2018, and they need all the support they can get,” said Isakson. “We’ve got to help them and the other farm communities who have had natural disasters change their lives through no fault of their own, and I will keep working to get them the federal aid they need.” This supplemental funding package will provide about $3 billion for disaster relief across the country, including critical funds for Georgia farmers recovering in the wake of Hurricane Michael. Perdue and Isakson plan to continue raising this issue in the Senate until Congress approves disaster funding. The amendment only addresses agricultural losses and is nearly identical to the agricultural provisions in a House amendment introduced by Reps. Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott on Jan. 17. To view the full text of the amendment visit https://gfb.ag/Sendisasteramdt. BARNES JOINS GFB AS LEADERSHIP PROGRAM ASSOCIATE Logan Barnes has joined the Georgia Farm Bureau staff as leadership program associate in the Field Services Department. Barnes, who most recently worked as the McDuffie County Farm Bureau county coordinator, will primarily work with GFB’s new Land & Leadership Advocate program for farmers ages 36 to 50. She will also assist GFB’s Young Farmer & Rancher Coordinator and Ag in the Classroom Coordinator with their programs. “I’m excited to join the Georgia Farm Bureau team because we all share the same passion - spreading the importance of agriculture,” Barnes said. “I think I will really learn a lot from my co-workers!” Logan A native of Augusta, Barnes graduated from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural Barnes College and the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences where she received a bachelor’s degree in ag education. Barnes was an ag teacher/FFA advisor at Jefferson County High School after college. The daughter of Jeff Barnes and Edie Coe, Barnes was an FFA member at Evans High School and served as an Area 4 FFA officer.
GFB News Alert page 3 of 10 IMMUNIZING POULTRY KEY TO HEALTHY FLOCKS, SAFER FOOD SUPPLY Like human infants, chicks are born without immunity to many common diseases. Immunizations are the answer, but it can be hard to immunize entire flocks of chickens in an efficient manner. That’s where poultry health specialists like Brian Jordan come in. Jordan, an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health and the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia, is working to improve the vaccines available for poultry in hopes that they’ll improve the well-being of chickens and protect the health of chicken consumers. Happy and healthy chickens grow faster and more efficiently, and that’s good for farmers’ bottom lines. But more importantly, healthy chickens carry less of a risk of passing pathogens like salmonella or E. coli into the food chain, Jordan said. “It’s very important to think about the health of all of our chickens — meat chickens and egglaying chickens as well — because ultimately the health status of those birds is going to translate into potential health factors for humans,” he said. Jordan has a two-pronged focus on poultry health in his lab at the UGA Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center. Foremost, he’s concerned with improving the way chickens are vaccinated. Over the past three decades poultry hatcheries have improved vaccination of chicks, but it’s still a difficult process. “Our small hatcheries produce one million chicks per week,” Jordan said. “Our large hatcheries produce three million chickens per week. There’s no way that we can individually handle each chicken and vaccinate them.” The answer is using group-application technology. The chicks are sprayed as a group to protect them against respiratory diseases and an intestinal parasite, coccidia. The chicks eat the gel, or liquid droplets, as they clean it from their feathers, or it enters into membranes near the birds’ eyes. “I’ve done a lot of research in this laboratory to improve this process — to try to make it more efficient and make sure all of our birds get vaccinated — and to make sure the vaccines are effective and the birds are well protected from disease,” Jordan said. “We’re constantly improving the technology so we can do the best job we can.” In addition to immediately applicable vaccine research, Jordan is working on the genetics of poultry pathogens. Through this work, he hopes to improve vaccine formulations and make sure current vaccines are effective. “We are currently designing a new technology for developing and creating infectious bronchitis virus vaccines,” Jordan said. “It’s moving away from the traditional method of isolating a virus from the field and going through the laboratory process to render the virus safe to use in a vaccine.” Jordan’s lab is working on a process that would use the genetic sequence information of a known virus to create a virus that is inert and safe from the beginning. The new inert virus would then be used as the vaccine. Maintain the health of poultry flocks in Georgia and around the world by developing more effective vaccines and a better understanding of pathogens is critical to ensuring the safety of our food supply, Jordan said. So while his lab’s most immediate priority is the health of the chickens they work with, Jordan’s ultimate goal is the safety of his family and all families who eat chicken and eggs. “If we can maintain the health of our birds, especially maintaining their gut health, we can prevent much of the prevalence, distribution and growth of a lot of these bacteria,” Jordan said. “If they’re not growing in the bird, then they’re not going to contaminate any kind of meat or table eggs when they go into the food chain.”
GFB News Alert page 4 of 10 USDA AWARDS AGRICULTURAL TRADE PROMOTION FUNDING On Jan. 31, the USDA awarded $200 million to 57 organizations through the Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) to help U.S. farmers and ranchers identify and access new export markets. The ATP is one of three USDA programs created to mitigate the effects of trade retaliation against U.S. farmers and exporters. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) accepted ATP applications between Sept. 4 and Nov. 2 from U.S. trade associations, cooperatives, and other industry-affiliated organizations. USDA has released a list of the ATP funding recipients, which can be viewed at www.fas.usda.gov/atp-funding-allocations. Among the recipients with Georgia ties are the American Peanut Council ($1.9 million), the American Soybean Association ($21.9 million), Cotton Council International ($9.1 million), the National Watermelon Promotion Board ($50,000), Southern United States Trade Association ($12.6 million), the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council ($259,953), U.S. Pecan Growers Council ($1.3 million) and the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council ($1.4 million). President Donald Trump authorized up to $12 billion in programs to provide assistance to U.S. agriculture through a trade mitigation package announced by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Sept. 4, 2018. In addition to the $200 million allocated to the ATP, the package also included the Market Facilitation Program to provide payments to farmers harmed by retaliatory tariffs, and a food purchase and distribution program to assist producers of targeted commodities. USDA FILLS THREE SENIOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS On Jan. 28, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue selected three individuals for senior leadership positions at the USDA. Perdue named Dr. Mindy Brashears as Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety, Naomi Earp as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, and Dr. Scott Hutchins as Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. These positions do not require Senate confirmation. The three previously had been nominated by President Donald Trump for Senate-confirmed positions at USDA. While the Senate Agriculture Committee on a bipartisan basis approved all three nominees, their nominations expired without being confirmaed by the end of the 115th Congress in early January. The president has resubmitted their nominations to the Senate in the 116th Congress. The three have been re-nominated for more senior roles than the ones Perdue selected them to fill. Dr. Brashears was nominated for Under Secretary for Food Safety; Earp was nominated for Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights; and Dr. Hutchins was nominated for Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. While in their deputy roles as selected by Perdue, they will not be serving in “acting” capacities for the positions for which they have been nominated. As a result, they will not be able to exercise the functions or powers expressly delegated to the Senate-confirmed positions. Dr. Hutchins will oversee the Office of the Chief Scientist, with Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young continuing to serve as Acting Chief Scientist. Brashears is a Professor of Food Safety and Public Health and the Director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University. Earp is a retired career civil servant with more than 20 years of experience in federal equal opportunity policy, charge processing, complaint handling, and employment law. Dr. Hutchins formerly served as the global leader of integrated field sciences for Corteva Agriscience and as an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska.
GFB News Alert page 5 of 10 FARM DEBT FORECAST AT RECORD LEVELS In 2018, agriculture-related debt is estimated to have reached a record $409.5 billion. In inflation-adjusted dollars, farm debt in 2018 is the highest since the 1980s, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation analysis of the USDA’s 2018 Farm Sector Income Forecast. The largest creditors in agriculture are commercial banks, holding 41 percent of farm debt, 47 percent of non-real estate debt and 37 percent of real estate debt. Following commercial banks, the customer-owned Farm Credit institutions hold 40 percent of farm debt, 33 percent of non-real estate debt and 45 percent of real estate debt. These farm lenders support rural communities by making loans on real estate, farm production and rural infrastructure initiatives. Farm sector debt was projected at a record-high $409.5 billion, up 4.2 percent, or $16.4 billion, from 2017 levels. Real estate debt in 2018 was projected at a record $250.9 billion, up 5.4 percent or $12.8 billion. Non-real estate debt was also projected to be record-high at $158.6 billion, up 2.3 percent, or $3.6 billion, from prior-year levels. There are a variety of creditors that lend into agricultural credit markets. These creditors include but are not limited to customer-owned Farm Credit institutions, commercial banks, life insurance companies, individuals, Farmer Mac and USDA’s Farm Service Agency. The largest creditors are the Farm Credit institutions and commercial banks, holding a combined $321 billion, or 81 percent, of agricultural debt in 2017. At the end of 2017, data from USDA’s Economic Research Service revealed that commercial banks held a record $162 billion in farm-related debt. Second to commercial banks was the Farm Credit system, holding $159 billion in both real estate and non-real estate farm debt. The remaining creditors include individuals at $40 billion, life insurance companies at $15 billion, the Farm Service Agency at $10 billion and Farmer Mac at $6 billion. While Farm Credit is the second-largest creditor in agriculture, these customer-owned cooperatives are the largest creditors in farm real estate. At the end of 2017, the Farm Credit system held $108 billion in farm real estate debt, representing 45 percent of total real estate debt. Second to Farm Credit were commercial banks. At the end of 2017, commercial banks held $89 billion in farm real estate debt. For non-real estate debt, the largest creditors in agriculture are commercial banks. At the end of 2017 commercial banks held nearly 50 percent of all non-real estate debt at a record $73 billion. The Farm Credit system held $51 billion in non-real estate debt, representing 33 percent of all nonreal estate farm debt. The third largest creditor were individuals, who held 17 percent of non-real estate debt totaling $26.5 billion. Data from the Chicago and Kansas City Federal Reserves confirm that real estate debt carries a lower borrowing cost, i.e., interest rate. The lower interest rate reflects the relative risk of lending for real estate versus non-real estate needs. Across the agricultural creditor landscape, the exposure to real estate and non-real estate debt varies. Individuals and others have the highest proportion of non-real estate debt at nearly 70 percent. Among the larger Farm Credit and commercial bank lenders, 68 percent of the debt held by Farm Credit is in real estate, while only 55 percent of the debt held by commercial banks is in real estate.
GFB News Alert page 6 of 10 AUSTIN SCOTT TO SERVE AS RANKING MEMBER ON AG SUBCOMMITTEE Rep Austin Scott (Georgia 8th District) will serve as the ranking member on the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit, which also oversees rural development. Scott was appointed as ranking member of the subcommittee by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Michael Conaway (R-Texas). Scott will also serve on the subcommittee for general farm commodities and risk management. “It is certainly no secret the size and scope the agriculture industry plays in Georgia, and I am thankful to once again be serving on the House Agriculture Committee to bring further reform and relief to our producers and rural communities,” said Rep. Scott. “While I was very glad we could get a new farm bill finished in the 115th Congress, there is still much work to be done for our farmers and rural areas, including through delivering much-needed federal assistance for those impacted by recent natural disasters. The time to bring this relief is now, and I am continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this done.” As chairman of the Subcommittee on Commodity Exchange, Energy and Credit in the 115th Congress, Rep. Scott worked to build infrastructure in rural communities, namely high-speed broadband service. In the 2018 farm bill, Scott was able to include two amendments to bring modernization and accountability to broadband services and infrastructure investment in rural American. He seeks to continue that work in the coming years. Other Georgia representatives serving on the House Agriculture Committee are Rick Allen (R12th District) and David Scott (D-13th District). CROP INSURANCE DEADLINES NEAR FOR MULTIPLE GA COMMODITIES Georgia farmers who produce corn, cotton, flue-cured tobacco, grain sorghum, peanut or soybeans have until Feb. 28 to apply for crop insurance coverage or make changes to their existing coverage. Growers who are interested in the Whole Farm Revenue Protection policy and are calendar year or early fiscal year filers, have until February 28 to apply for crop insurance. Current policyholders who wish to make changes to their existing coverage also have until the February 28 sales closing date to do so. Federal crop insurance is critical to the farm safety net. It helps producers and owners manage revenue risks and strengthens the rural economy. Coverage is available for corn, cotton, flue-cured tobacco, grain sorghum, peanuts, soybeans, and whole farm revenue protection in select Georgia counties. Please contact your insurance agent to see if your county is covered. Growers are encouraged to visit their crop insurance agent soon to learn specific details for the 2019 crop year. A list of crop insurance agents is available at all USDA Service Centers by visiting the RMA agent locator at www.rma.usda.gov/tools/agent.html. Growers can use the RMA cost estimator at bit.ly/rmacost to get a premium amount estimate of their insurance needs online. Learn more about crop insurance and the modern farm safety net at www.rma.usda.gov.
GFB News Alert 7 of 10 GEORGIA FARM BUREAU DAY AT THE CAPITOL Feb. 12 Georgia Depot/State Capitol 9:30 a.m. Atlanta Year after year, Farm Bureau Day is one of the largest events held under the Gold Dome. This free event provides GFB members an opportunity to visit with their legislators, exercise our grassroots structure, and contribute to the voice of Georgia farmers! This year the keynote address at lunch will be given by Gov. Brian Kemp. To register, contact Renee Jones at rejones@gfb.org. BEEF CATTLE SHORT COURSE Feb. 13 UGA Livestock Instructional Arena 8:30 a.m. Athens The 8th Annual Northeast Georgia Beef Cattle Short Course will offer three hours of credit toward Beef Quality Assurance recertification, one hour of private pesticide credit and one hour of commercial pesticide credit. Topics include a market outlook, strategies for late-winter feeding, heifer development, health protocol, animal identification and more. Cost is $30 to offset the price of lunch and instructional materials. Registration deadline is Feb. 4. To register online, visit www.ugabeef.com/athens. UGA MASTER CATTLEMAN PROGRAM Feb. 18 – March 25 Brooks County Extension Mondays 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Quitman This training will feature UGA Extension specialists covering forage management, economics, herd management and much more. Participants will be provided a course notebook as well as a USB thumb drive covering all program topics. Participants completing at least six of the eight sessions will receive a certificate of completion and UGA Master Cattleman cap. Registration is $85 per person and includes a dinner each night. Registration may be mailed with checks made payable to Brooks County Extension to 400 E. Courtland Ave., Quitman, GA 31643 or you may contact the Brooks County Extension office at 229-263-4103 to register and pay via credit card over phone. For more information, contact the program coordinators Jason Duggin at jduggin@uga.edu or 706-624-1403, or Michasia Dowdy at michasia@uga.edu or 229-263-4103. USING PESTICIDES WISELY TRAINING Feb. 18-April 18 Various locations There are 30 sessions at various locations around the state for producers to receive the Using Pesticides Wisely (UPW) training. UPW is required training for anyone applying Engenia, XtendiMax or FeXapan. Also, any person in charge of Enlist One and Enlist Duo in-crop applications must attend. The training will last about 2 hours, 15 minutes. Immediately afterward, there will be a 45 minute training for those individuals wanting to obtain a 2 year certified pesticide applicators license to apply Engenia, XtendiMax or FeXapan. Each location has limited capacity under local fire codes, and advance registration is required. For a complete list of training dates and locations, visit http://agr.georgia.gov/auxin-main.aspx.
GFB News Alert 8 of 10 GA PORK CONGRESS & ELECTION OF NPP DELEGATES Feb. 19 Georgia Farm Bureau 8 a.m. Macon The election of pork producer delegates for the 2020 National Pork Producers (Pork Act) Delegate Body will take place at 1 p.m. in conjunction with a meeting of the Georgia Pork Producers Association. The election will immediately follow the 2019 Georgia Pork Congress that will start at 8 a.m. at the GFB Building. The Georgia Pork Congress will feature speakers discussing current issues affecting pork producers. All Georgia pork producers are invited to attend both meetings. Any producer age 18 or older who is a resident of the state and has paid all assessments due may be considered as a delegate candidate and/or participate in the election. All eligible producers are encouraged to bring with them a sales receipt proving hogs were sold in their name and the checkoff was deducted. For more information, contact the Georgia Pork Producers Association, P.O. Box 1566, Bainbridge, Ga. 39818 or call 229-246-8297. WATER MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS Feb. 22 Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center Blairsville March 5 Wayne County Extension Office Jesup April 3 Houston County Extension Office Perry May 7 Dougherty County Extension Office Albany May 13 Gordon County Extension Office Calhoun May 15 Cobb County Water Lab Marietta These free workshops will explain the efficiencies of impact sprinklers, drip irrigation systems, how to develop an Irrigation Water Management Plan and hands-on activities assembling basic irrigation systems. Each workshop runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To register online visit www.tinyurl.com/CRSSWater or contact Dr. Gary L. Hawkins at 706-310-3526 or 706-310-3464. BEEKEEPING SHORT COURSE Feb. 23 Henry County Farm Bureau office 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. McDonough Henry County Farm Bureau is partnering with the Henry County Beekeepers to host a short course on beekeeping. The class will emphasize that anyone can be a beekeeper. Class topics will include: meet the honey bee colony, equipment assembly; where to get bees; smoker lighting; hive manipulation; extracting honey from hives and beekeeping issues. Cost of the class is $25 for those who pre-register. Cost day of event is $30. Class fee includes a yearlong family membership to the Henry County Beekeepers. For more information, contact Jerry Haygood at 770-461-6686 or jchayg1@attglobal.net or Tom Bonnell at 678-983-7698 or tombonnell@bellsouth.net. The Henry County Farm Bureau office is located at 117 Racetrack Road in McDonough. 3RD ANNUAL GEORGIA CITRUS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Feb. 25 UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Tifton The annual conference for the GCA features sessions on citrus production needs, citrus pests, growers’ perspectives, consultant observations, disease, citrus economics and more. Tickets can be purchased online at https://gfb.ag/19Gacitrusconf.
GFB News Alert 9 of 10 GFB FOUNDATION FOR AGRICULTURE SCHOLARSHIPS March 1 application deadline The Georgia Farm Bureau Foundation for agriculture is offering $58,000 in scholarships to students pursuing careers in ag or a closely related field. Scholarships are available for college, technical college and UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. Visit www.gfb.ag/19scholarships for complete details and to apply. 2019 GFB MIDDLE SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST March 8 state deadline to enter The GFB Middle School Essay Contest is an opportunity for students to use their writing skills and knowledge or research of agriculture. The contest is open to all 6th, 7th and 8th graders in Georgia. The topic for this year’s contest is: What would happen if there were no farmers or ranchers? One winner will be selected in each of Georgia Farm Bureau’s 10 districts. Each district winner will receive a cash prize of $100. The state winner will be selected from these 10 district winners and will receive an additional cash prize of $150. Contact your county Farm Bureau for county entry deadline and more details. You can also find information on the GFB Foundation for Agriculture website: www.gfbfoundation.org/aitc_essay.html. The state deadline is March 8. 2019 GFB HIGH SCHOOL ART CONTEST March 8 state deadline to enter Attention, high school artists! Explore new directions in your artistic skills and enter our annual art contest. The contest is open to any high school student (grades 9 - 12) in Georgia. We’re looking for artwork that best represents modern agriculture found in the student's home county, or Georgia agriculture as a whole. From all entries received, 10 finalists will be named (one from each of Georgia Farm Bureau’s districts). One of those will be named the overall state winner, and two others will be named state runners up. Cash prizes will be awarded to all 10 finalists, and additional prizes for the state winner and runners up. Contact your county Farm Bureau for county entry deadline and more details. Visit www.gfbfoundation.org/aitc_art.html for more information. The state deadline is March 8. CHEROKEE COUNTY AG EXPO March 22 Hickory Flat Fellowship Church 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. Canton This annual event, sponsored in part by Cherokee County Farm Bureau, is a celebration of all things agriculture in honor of National Agriculture Month. Exhibitors will include Farm Bureau, Georgia Grown, 4-H, FFA and Farm to School. Farmer Sue & The Art Barn Crew from Morning Glory Farm will be on hand with some of her furry and feathery friends to celebrate agriculture through art and education. The Master Gardeners will present gardening classes. Concessions and refreshments will be available. For more information contact Shirley Pahl at 770-479-1481 or sfpahl@gfb.org. If you would like to exhibit at the Expo, please email Shirley Pahl to receive a vendor application.
GFB News Alert 10 of 10 PEANUT PROUD FESTIVAL March 23 Downtown area Blakely Come celebrate all things peanut at this annual festival on Blakely’s town square. The day-long celebration begins with a 5K race and fun run and ends with a street dance. Festivities include a parade, more than 100 vendors, a kids’ peanut butter obstacle course, free entertainment and more. For more information, visit www.peanutproudfestival.com. GFB TAKING LISTINGS FOR HAY DIRECTORY Farm Bureau members with hay for sale or offering custom harvesting or custom sprigging services are invited to list in the GFB Quality Hay Directory published on the GFB website. Because this directory is now offered online, hay can be listed or removed from the site as your inventory dictates. To participate, please complete a submission form available at your county Farm Bureau office or online at www.gfb.ag/hay. Please include a $10 check made payable to Georgia Farm Bureau for each listing of hay, custom harvesting or custom sprigging. Multiple listings are allowed.