Georgia Farm Bureau's Leadership Alert - March 17, 2010

March 17, 2010

www.gfb.org

Vol. 28 No. 11

GEORGIA LEGISLATURE PASSES BILLS PROMOTING WATER CONSERVATION

The two chambers of the Georgia legislature last week passed identical bills to encourage what Gov. Sonny Perdue called a “true culture of conservation” in the state.

HB 1094, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan) and SB 370, sponsored by Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry), have five major provisions designed to promote conservation while protecting agricultural water use.

“It is important that we create a culture of water conservation and promote good stewardship of our water resources,” said Smith, chairwoman of the House Natural Resources & Environment Committee. “The steps taken in HB 1094 will save millions of gallons of water and demonstrate to our neighbors that Georgia can responsibly manage its water supply.”

Georgia Farm Bureau supported both bills and helped craft the provisions related to agriculture.

“Georgia’s farmers know how important it is to be good stewards of the state’s water supply,” GFB President Zippy Duvall said. “Continued access to plentiful water is a crucial component to their livelihood and plays a vital role in the state’s economy.”

The legislation establishes permit categories for farm use of surface and ground water.

In addition, it allows Georgians to irrigate for landscaping purposes only between the hours of 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. Commercial agricultural operations are exempt from the watering restrictions outlined in the bills.

The legislation includes measures requiring local governments to get approval from the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) before imposing watering restrictions more stringent than those implemented by the state.

The bills require various state agencies – the Department of Natural Resources, EPD, Environmental Facilities Authority, Department of Community Affairs, Forestry Commission, Department of Community Health, Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Soil and Water Conservation Commission – to pursue opportunities to conserve and enhance the state’s water supply.

The two bills also call for adjustments to state construction codes requiring efficient water use technology in new multifamily housing developments and multi-unit retail developments. The code adjustments go into effect July 1, 2012. The bills also encourage retrofits to install efficient water use technology in existing buildings.

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FARM BUREAU LEADERS LAUD SENATE CLIMATE CHANGE OPPOSITION GFB President Zippy Duvall and numerous other Farm Bureau leaders, including American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman, presented to senators last week some of the 100,000 grassroots letters and emails against cap-and-trade legislation.

The U.S. House passed climate change legislation last fall, but it met bipartisan resistance in the Senate, which is currently working on a revised climate change bill.

“The cap-and-trade bill would have impaired the ability of our farmers to provide food, fuel and fiber for the nation,” Duvall said, “It was critical for our members to make their voices heard.”

The House bill included the creation of markets for trading pollution permits, but it failed to address the nation’s energy needs, particularly those in agriculture.

Senators from the Rebublican and Democratic parties, along with Independent Joe Lieberman (Conn.), met with President Barack Obama last week to discuss energy and climate proposals. Lieberman said the group aims to draft compromise climate-change legislation by March 26. The plan is to initially cap greenhouse gas emissions only from the power sector, beginning in 2012.

Farm Bureau implemented a six-month opposition campaign with the slogan, “Don’t CAP our future,” using emails, online petitions, signed postcards from farmer and rancher members and social media outreach. The organization offered thanks to a group of senators, including Georgia’s Saxby Chambliss, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Noting that senators from both parties have said Congress should decide how to act on climate change issues rather than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Farm Bureau and dozens of other groups also sent a letter to the full Senate asking for disapproval of the EPA’s proposal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. USDA ASSIGNS DISASTER DESIGNATION TO 156 GEORGIA COUNTIES The USDA has designated 98 counties in Georgia as primary natural disaster areas and an additional 58 Georgia counties as contiguous disaster areas due to excessive rainfall that occurred from September 2009 to March 2. Catoosa, Columbia and Whitfield counties are the only three counties that did not receive a disaster designation.

To qualify for the USDA disaster designation, a county must have at least one crop that sustained a 30 percent production loss as a result of a natural disaster. Georgia crops that sustained damage included: beans, collard and turnip greens, corn, cotton, cowpeas, forages, millet, nursery crops, pasture, peanuts, pecans, peppers, pumpkins, sorghum, soybeans, squash, strawberries and tomatoes.

The disaster designations allow farmers with damage in primary disaster or contiguous counties to apply for low-interest loans if they meet eligibility requirements determined by the USDA. The USDA Farm Service Agency supervises the loans and will consider each farm’s losses, available loan security and repayment ability. Applicants have until Nov. 2 to apply for the loans. Visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov or contact your local FSA office for more information.

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USDA CONSIDERING ELIGIBILITY PETITIONS FOR TRADE ASSISTANCE Farmers and fishermen who think their commodity has suffered due to competition from imports may want to pursue having their commodity certified as eligible for the USDA Trade Adjustment Assistance for Farmers (TAAF) Program.

The TAAF program is for producers and fishermen who had more than a 15 percent decrease in national average price, quantity of production, value of production or in cash receipts compared to the average of the three preceding years where it is determined that an increase in imports was a significant factor.

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) will administer the program, however, USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) will determine if a commodity is eligible for the program. Three or more producers or a commodity organization may request, on behalf of producers in their state or group of states, that a commodity be certified as eligible by submitting form FAS-930, Petition for Certification. This form is available online at http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/taa/taaforms.asp. FAS will review commodity petitions through April 14.

Once a commodity is certified as eligible, producers of the commodity may apply for benefits under the TAAF Program by submitting a written application (FSA-229-1) to their local FSA Service Center. For more information, visit http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/taa or contact the TAA for Farmers Program staff at 202720-0638, or 202-690-0633, or by e-mail at tradeadjustment@fas.usda.gov.

AG DEPARTMENT BREAKS GROUND ON LAB EXPANSION The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) on March 5 began construction on a 55,000-square-foot facility in Tifton that will house the state’s fuels, weights & measures and seed labs.

The project, paid for through bond issues and estimated to cost between $11 million and $15 million, will expand the current Tifton Seed Lab and move the labs for fuel and weights & measures from their locations in Atlanta. It is expected to bring 25 jobs to the Tifton area – some new positions and some to be transferred from the current labs in Atlanta.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said the new facility, which will supplant the old farmer’s market off U.S. Highway 41 on the south side of Tifton, will put the GDA in the 21st century.

“We’ve always had the department of agriculture model for the nation,” said Irvin, in his final year as agriculture commissioner. “This will put us back up front. We’re very proud of this. It’s something we’ve been planning to do for a long time.”

The labs are charged with consumer protection. The seed lab tests seeds to ensure they develop as their manufacturers claim, while the fuel lab verifies the quality and quantity of motor fuels, and the weights and measures lab tests those tools used in weight-based and volume-based commercial transactions in the state.

“It’s an investment in the future of agriculture,” said Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Terry Coleman. “We had this property, and Tifton is in the heart of agriculture country in Georgia. It made good sense to do this.”

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ENERGY CONSERVATION WORKSHOP March 23 Franklin County High School Ag Center Carnesville USDA and University of Georgia experts will give overviews of energy efficiency programs that can help farmers reduce their gas, diesel and electric bills. Call 706-384-4463 to register by leaving a message day or night. Workshop is free and a meal will be provided, but you must register by March 19.

FDA PUBLIC MEETING ON PRODUCE SAFETY March 25 UGA Tifton Conference Center 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Tifton Fruit and vegetable growers are encouraged to attend this meeting, to give input on the nationwide safety standards the Food and Drug Administration is establishing for growing, harvesting and packing fresh fruits and vegetables. Topics will include worker health and hygiene, composting, wildlife/environmental concerns and water quality. Meals will be provided.

For more information contact the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association at 1-877-994-3842 or send an email to producesafety@georgetown.edu or call 202-687-2976. To register, visit www.producesafetyproject.org.

GEORGIA TOBACCO COMMISSION REFERENDUM Ballots must be returned by March 25 Statewide Georgia tobacco producers are urged to vote in the referendum for the Georgia Tobacco Commission as required every three years by state law. If you are a tobacco producer and did not receive a ballot, contact the Georgia Department of Agriculture Commodities Promotion Division at 1-800-282-5852. The commission’s main research objective continues to be researching production practices and treatments that will reduce symptoms of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus.

PEANUT PROUD FESTIVAL March 27 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Downtown Square Blakely Join the fun with a 5K Run, peanut parade, food vendors, recipe contest, educational exhibits, antique farm equipment display, arts and crafts and speeches by Georgia’s 2010 gubernatorial candidates. For information, call 229-723-2802 or visit www.peanutproud.com.

GFB PREMISE LIABILITY WORKSHOP March 30 GFB Home Office 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Macon This free workshop will provide a general outline of premise law, how to recognize and limit liability problems, different types of insurance coverage and what to do in the event of an accident. Please RSVP by March 26 by calling 800-342-1196 or emailing btashley@gfb.org.

UGA HAY PRODUCTION SCHOOL April 8-9 Sunbelt Ag Expo Site Moultrie School begins at 8:30 a.m. on April 8 and ends with lunch on April 9. Registration is $75 per person and $35 for each extra person from the same farm. Anyone who produces cattle in Georgia or is a member of the Perennial Peanut Growers’ Association will receive $50 off the registration fee if they register by March 31. Call your local Extension office at 1-800ASK-UGA1 or visit www.georgiaforages.com for more information and to register.