Georgia Farm Bureau's Leadership Alert - July 18, 2012

July 18, 2012

www.gfb.org

Vol. 30 No. 29

SUCCESSION PLANNING, AWARD FINALISTS HIGHLIGHT YF CONFERENCE More than 250 Georgia Farm Bureau members, staff and guests trekked to Jekyll Island for the 2012 Young Farmer Leadership Conference, July 12-15. The event, coordinated by the GFB Field Services Department, featured breakout sessions on a variety of topics, the preliminary rounds of the 2012 GFB Young Farmer Discussion Meet and the announcement of the GFB Young Farmer Achievement Award finalists.

“Our organization has done a great job over the years developing leaders, not only for our organization but for our communities,” GFB President Zippy Duvall said. “I want to see them on their county commission boards, their boards of education, the EMC boards, all those things that touch their lives. What we’re teaching them today is how they can take their talents that God has given them and go back and work in their communities.”

Matt Bottoms of Pike County, Kyle Dekle of Habersham County, B.J. Marks of Newton County and Clay Talton of Elbert County advanced to the GFB Discussion Meet finals, which will be held during the GFB convention on Jekyll Island in December. The discussion meet drew 23 participants from all over the state. The first round of discussion centered on what a fair and balanced immigration policy should include. The second round addressed succession planning for farms and Farm Bureau’s role in encouraging the transfer of farm operations from one generation to the next. The discussion in the final 12 round centered on how Farm Bureau can reach out to non-farm members to enhance the value of their memberships.

During the conference, James and Brooke Hitchcock of Washington County, Chris and Marilynn Hopkins of Toombs County and Charlie Sanders of Greene County were named finalists for the 2012 Young Farmer Achievement Award. The state Young Farmer Achievement Award winner will also be revealed during the GFB convention in December.

Breakout sessions provided the farmers with information on farm business and finance, conservation, the Georgia Food Bank Association and GFB legislative initiatives. Attendees’ children were taken on a tour of the Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center, where they learned about rehabilitation efforts for injured or sick sea turtles, and they participated in activities like making bird feeders out of large pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed.

“I feel like people had a good time here,” said GFB Young Farmer Chairman Jake Carter. “I think there were a lot of new relationships within Farm Bureau brought forth. At the end of the day, we learned a lot of stuff, but the relationships built between people is probably the number one thing we’ll take away.”

Leadership Alert page 2 of 6 HOUSE AG COMMITTEE PASSES FARM BILL On July 11 the House Agriculture Committee marked up its version of the 2012 farm bill, passing the committee by a 35-11 vote. The bill, titled “The Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act,” now moves to the floor of the full House, but at press time it was unclear when it might be brought to a vote.

“Any way you look at it, the version of the farm bill the House Ag Committee passed is better for Georgia farmers than the version that came out of the Senate,” Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said.

House Agriculture Committee member Georgia Rep. Austin Scott (R-8th District) voted for the bill, while Rep. David Scott (D-13th District), also a committee member, voted against it.

GFB Peanut Committee Chairman Wes Shannon and GFB National Affairs Specialist Tas Smith attended the markup proceedings.

The House version of the farm bill would cut $14 billion from commodity programs and eliminate direct payments, the ACRE and SURE programs and countercyclical payments, replacing them with crop insurance programs. The bill calls for $6 billion in cuts from conservation programs and $16.5 billion from nutrition programs.

The committee considered more than 100 amendments. One key provision, in an amendment offered by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), was to enforce the Commerce Clause by preventing individual states from imposing agricultural production standards on commodities produced in other states. The amendment is aimed at the California statute that sets housing standards for egg-laying hens and requires eggs sold in the state, including those produced in other states, be produced by hens housed in certain size crates. King’s amendment would prevent California from stopping sale of eggs produced in other states provided they are produced in accordance with federal law.

Rep. David Scott co-authored an amendment with Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) that would require the USDA to file a report on steps it will take to bring the U.S. into compliance with the WTO decision regarding Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). The WTO ruled last year that the COOL rules violated the WTO’s agreement on technical barriers to trade. The amendment passed the committee by a 34-12 vote.

HSUS INTENDS TO SUE 51 PORK OPERATIONS IN THREE STATES The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has sent letters of notice of its intent to sue 51 pork operations in Iowa, North Carolina and Oklahoma over alleged unreported ammonia releases. HSUS said it had conducted months of research into the ammonia releases.

In a public statement, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) termed the threat of lawsuits a scare tactic aimed at getting the NPPC to relax its opposition to the egg care bill that has been introduced in both houses of Congress, which the HSUS helped craft. The NPPC stressed that the EPA is still evaluating air emissions data from livestock and poultry operations to develop a better understanding of emissions rates.

The NPPC has also noted that the vast majority of the operations targeted for lawsuits either filed reports and/or were exempt from filing under a consent agreement with EPA while the agency conducted its emissions study and developed emissions standards.

Leadership Alert page 3 of 6 USDA CHANGES DISASTER PROCESS, GA. COUNTIES GET DESIGNATIONS Streamlined procedures to the USDA Secretarial Disaster Designation process, which Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced July 12, gave 142 Georgia counties a drought disaster declaration as either primary or contiguous counties. A secretarial disaster designation makes qualified farmers in designated counties, both primary and contiguous, eligible to apply for low interest emergency loans.

The new process for granting secretarial disaster designations now automatically qualifies a county for a drought designation once the U.S. Drought Monitor has categorized the county as experiencing a severe drought for eight consecutive weeks during the growing season.

The 17 Georgia counties that did not receive a drought designation are: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Dawson, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, Towns, Union, Walker, White and Whitfield. These counties may request a drought designation under the old method, Clark Weaver with the Georgia Farm Service Agency said.

The streamlined procedure no longer requires state governors to initiate disaster designations, although governors may still submit a designation request. The current criteria for triggering a disaster designation still applies: counties must show either a 30 percent production loss of at least one crop countywide or a decision must be made by surveying producers to determine that other lenders are not able to provide emergency funding.

Vilsack also announced that the interest rate for the emergency loans for which farmers in designated counties can apply has been reduced from 3.75 percent to 2.25 percent. The annual rent farmers pay on CRP acres used for emergency haying or grazing due to drought will be reduced from 25 to 10 percent in 2012.

In related news, Vilsack also announced July 12 that he granted Gov. Nathan Deal’s request for a secretarial disaster designation related to crop losses that occurred in April and May. Disaster Designation Number 1 addresses frost and freeze damage that occurred April 12-13.

Fannin, Habersham, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Rabun, Towns, Union and White counties were designated as primary disaster counties while Banks, Dawson, Gordon, Hall, Murray, Pickens and Stephens counties were designated as contiguous counties.

Disaster Designation Number 2 addresses hail and wind damage that occurred May 22 in the primary counties of Atkinson, Berrien, Cook, Lanier and Tift counties. Brooks, Coffee, Clinch, Colquitt, Echols, Irwin, Lowndes, Turner, Ware and Worth counties were designated as contiguous counties.

Farmers have eight months from the date of a declaration to apply for an emergency loan.

Farmers should contact their local FSA office for more information.

MARTIN NAMED SUNBELT GEORGIA FARMER OF THE YEAR Pulaski County Farm Bureau member Barry Martin has been named the Georgia winner of the 2012 Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the year.

Martin grows cotton, peanuts, corn, wheat, sorghum and timber on 800 acres.

He will compete with nine other state winners for the overall title. The overall winner will be announced on Oct. 16 at the Sunbelt Ag Expo in Moultrie.

Leadership Alert page 4 of 6 UPCOMING DEADLINES FOR FSA PROGRAMS Below are upcoming enrollment deadlines for programs administered by the Farm Service Agency: Aug. 1 Farm Reconstitutions (changes) for 2012 crop year Sept. 30 Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Dates vary Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), check with FSA service center for dates) and Crop Insurance (Contact a crop insurance agent or the regional Risk Management Agency (RMA) office.) For more information about FSA programs visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov.

GREAT VALLEY EXPOSITION AND “I LOVE BEEF” HAMBURGER COOK-OFF July 20-21 Lowrey’s Farm Market, 2416 Turkey Mountain Rd. Rome The Floyd County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee is sponsoring the inaugural Hamburger Cook-Off in conjunction with the Great Valley Exposition at Lowrey’s. The Exposition is a family-friendly antique tractor show featuring tractors, cars, antique farm tools and a variety of demonstrations. Floyd County Farm Bureau will be on site to promote Farm Bureau membership. Registration and ground beef pick-up for the cook-off will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on July 20. Registration for cook-off contestants is $10; payments must be in cash or check made out to Floyd County Farm Bureau. The cook-off will begin at 10:30 a.m., on July 21 and will be judged by national and state cooking contest winner Mary Louise Lever, retired professional bull rider Joe Rush and Georgia Rep. Barbara Reece. For more information, including complete contest rules, contact FCFB Office Manager Shana Burk at 706-291-0577 or smburk@gfb.org.

GEORGIA CATTLEMEN’S ASSOCIATION SUMMER CONFERENCE July 26-29 Jekyll Island Kick off your boots and join us for another exciting summer event! Highlights include a golf tournament, keynote speeches by the Port Authority, U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance and the Georgia Department of Agriculture and plenty of social and business fun for the whole family.

Visit http://www.gabeef.org/gca/summerconference.htm to register.

Cost is $25 per family. Friday and Saturday meals are $15 each for adults and $10 each for children.

GEORGIA GROWN FARMER SHOWCASE July 28 Atlanta State Farmers Market 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Forest Park The second Georgia Grown Farmer Showcase will feature dozens of vendors selling, fruits, vegetables, meats, multicolored eggs, beef and pork jerky, apple juice and apple products, alpaca yarn and products, cheeses, plants and flowers, jams, jellies, honey, bread, Georgia Grown Tshirts (in an assortment of fruit and vegetable colors) and more. For information contact Paul Thompson at 404-675-1782. The Atlanta State Farmers Market is located at 16 Forest Parkway, Forest Park.

GEORGIA PEANUT COMMISSION RIBBON CUTTING & OPEN HOUSE July 31 New GPC headquarters building Tifton Join the Georgia Peanut Commission as it celebrates its 50th anniversary with the opening its new state-of-the art building on Fulwood Blvd., just off exit 63B on I-75. Ceremony begins at 10 a.m.

For more information, call 229-386-3470.

Leadership Alert page 5 of 6 FSA TAKING NOMINATIONS FOR COUNTY COMMITTEES The Farm Service Agency is accepting nominations for county committees through Aug. 1 To be eligible to serve on an FSA county committee, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and reside in the local administrative area in which the person is a candidate. For more information visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. FSA will mail ballots beginning Nov. 5. The ballots are due back to the local FSA office by Dec. 3. Newly elected committee members and alternates take office on Jan. 1, 2013.

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA TURFGRASS FIELD DAY Aug 1 UGA Griffin Campus 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Griffin The UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UGA Cooperative Extension, the Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association, the Georgia Urban Ag Council and the UGA Center for Urban Agriculture have partnered to conduct this field day, during which UGA researchers and Extension specialists will present the latest information on how to care for residential lawns and commercial golf courses. Field day topics will include controlling turf insects like mole crickets and white grubs and controlling turf weeds like crabgrass and dollar spot. For Spanish-speaking attendees, the field day will also be offered in Spanish. The field day is certified for Georgia Pesticide License credit hours: two hours for a private license and four hours in categories 21, 24 and 27. A barbecue and chicken lunch will be followed by displays and demonstrations of the latest turfgrass industry equipment. Registration for the field day is $65 and covers the day's program and lunch. Groups of four or more will receive a 10 percent discount.

Students can attend for $20.

For more information visit http://georgiafaces.caes.uga.edu/?public=viewStory&pk_id=4472. To register, call 770-2293477 or visit http://www.georgiaturf.com.

GARLICFEST 2012 Aug. 25 LoganBerry Heritage Farm 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Cleveland This annual celebration of the Garlic harvest is a free and fun family event. It includes lots of garlic, chefs, creative food, cooking demos, tastings, live music, artisans and animals. For more information, contact LoganBerry Heritage Farm at 706-348-6068 or visit http://www.loganberryheritagefarm.com.

2012 GARDEN ACADEMY Sept. 6-Oct. 23 Houston County Extension Office Perry This multi-week program is designed to help participants get the most from their plants through planning, preparation, and work. The course includes the most recent research-based information available to guide you in tending your landscape. Classes are schedueled for Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Extension Office Multipurpose Room in the Government Building (old renovated courthouse) in downtown Perry.

The class fee of $120 includes all sessions, the Georgia Yardstick Workbook, and a collection of valuable Extension publications. This year’s theme is The Central Georgia Landscape. Learn more about landscape planning and plant selection, planting and maintenance. This will be an extended course planned and taught by UGA Specialists, Master Gardeners, Extension Agents, local professionals, and other gardeners. The class size is limited so register early! Contact the Houston County Extension Office at 478-987-2028 or email mg@uga.edu for a registration form.

Leadership Alert page 6 of 6 2012 AGROFORESTRY AND WILDLIFE FIELD DAY Sept. 20 University of Georgia Griffin Campus 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Griffin Registration is now being accepted for this unique educational event, sponsored by UGA, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Fort Valley State University, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the NRCS. The field day will provide information on ways land value can be enhanced. More than 25 topics will be showcased, including wildlife opening management; pond management; management for wild turkeys, doves and quail; selling and marketing timber; prescribed burning, cost-sharing assistance programs, GPS/GIS use in managing land and invasive insects, disease and plants. Registration is $25 before Sept. 3 and $35 after. Fee includes lunch, and those who register in advance will receive an Agroforestry & Wildlife Field Day baseball cap.

For more information, visit http://www.caes.uga.edu/events/awfd/index.html.

HAWKINSVILLE HARVEST FEST/PIGS & PRODUCE BARBECUE CONTEST Oct. 26 & 27 Courthouse Square Hawkinsville Better Hometown of Hawkinsville will host the annual Harvest Fest featuring the Pigs and Produce barbecue competition, an official contest sanctioned by the Georgia Barbecue Association. Along with some great professional barbecue teams and some very interesting ancillary categories, Hawkinsville will host two very unique events at this festival: The first ever Georgia State Boiled Peanut Championship sponsored by Hardy Farms Peanuts and the Old vs.

New Faceoff. This head-to-head contest will be held on the courthouse square in downtown Hawkinsville between barbecue legend Myron Mixon of Jack’s Old South and his son, Michael Mixon of Jack’s New South.

For more information, please visit http://www.hawkinsvilleharvestfest.com.