November 16, 2011
www.gfb.org
Vol. 29 No. 46
COUNTY FARM BUREAUS CELEBRATING FARM-CITY WEEK The 56th annual National Farm-City Week, to be celebrated Nov. 18-24, pays tribute to the partnership between farmers and their urban colleagues who help prepare, transport, market and retail the food and fiber farmers grow for American consumers. The celebration, intended to increase the understanding of the partnership between urban and rural residents, is marked by farm days at schools, farm tours, banquets and mayoral proclamations in communities across the country. “We’re blessed in our country to be able to go to our local grocery stores and find a wide variety of food that has been grown following the safest quality standards in the world, but the food at the local grocery doesn’t just magically appear on the shelves,” said Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall. “Georgia farmers work all year to produce chicken, peanuts, beef, milk, pecans, blueberries, peaches, watermelon and vegetables for us to eat. Employees of agribusinesses work to prepare, market and transport the food to stores for consumers. It takes all of us to feed and clothe America and this partnership is what we’re celebrating with Farm-City Week.” Food and fiber production and related processing directly and indirectly generated a total economic impact of $68.8 billion for Georgia and represented more than 383,000 jobs in 2009, according to UGA economists. In addition to helping our state economy, Georgia agriculture also contributes to our nation having a positive agriculture trade balance. Last year, Georgia ranked first in the nation for exporting $468.7 million of poultry products. The U.S. also exported $5.7 billion worth of cotton, for which Georgia ranked second in cotton exports, exporting cotton and linters worth $572.5 million. Georgia ranked first in peanut exports, shipping $154.6 million worth of peanuts and peanut products. Farm-City Week is a great time to discuss how the economy is impacting farmers and consumers. Although farmers have received higher prices for their crops in the past year, they are also experiencing record-high production costs. According to UGA economists, variable operating costs for Georgia farmers have increased from 2010 by 19 percent for cotton, 20 percent for corn, 23 percent for soybeans, 26 percent for wheat and 29 percent for peanuts. Production costs have increased from last year due to higher fuel, seed, fertilizer and irrigation costs. It’s important to note that farmers receive only 16 cents out of every dollar spent on food at home and away from home, USDA statistics show. The rest of the food cost covers the expenses of wages and materials for food preparation, marketing, transportation and distribution, all of which have increased in price, too.