September 24, 2008 - Vol. 26 No. 38
GEORGIA TOMATO GROWER TESTIFIES ON IMPACTS OF FDA WARNING -- During testimony given Sept. 17, Georgia Farm Bureau Vegetable Advisory Committee Chairman Greg Murray told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food & Drug Administration and Related Agencies how Georgia tomato growers were impacted by the salmonella advisory warning this summer.
            The nationwide advisory FDA issued in June warning consumers that some fresh roma and round tomatoes could be linked to an outbreak of Salmonella saintpaul cost Georgia tomato growers an estimated $13.9 million, Murray said, citing a UGA study. Decreased consumer demand for tomatoes following the warning resulted in 41% of Georgia’s spring tomato crop not making it to market, which cost Georgia growers $12,000 to $17,000 an acre. Murray farms with his brother, Dale, in Decatur County.  “We are appreciative FDA established a list of safe states that were identified as not being a part of the outbreak. Georgia was included on the very first safe list, but most consumers were afraid of any kind of tomato,” Murray said. “Tomato sales and prices at Murray Farms dropped to almost nonexistent, and we left over 1.5 million pounds of tomatoes in the fields to rot. We expect to lose over two million of income, not profit, due to this food safety scare.”
            Murray outlined the food safety precautions his farm and many other Georgia tomato growers follow to comply with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). He also recommended steps Congress might take to prevent another “false food safety awareness fiasco” from happening again. Murray asked Congress to pass a nationwide mandatory food safety program that takes regional production differences into consideration and is based on the risk factor for specific commodities. He asked Congress to require FDA to develop a plan of action that demands state and federal agencies work together with the food industry to prevent false food safety announcements. Murray also asked for swift passage of HR 6581, which would partially compensate growers for some of their losses due to the food safety scare.
            “We believe Congress should provide relief to growers and shippers for the losses we suffered at no fault of our own. We believe we are in the same situation as growers of other commodities whose crops were destroyed by a natural disaster,” Murray said.
            Farm Bureau has sent a letter to Congress urging support of H.R. 6581, introduced by Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.). Nationwide, marketing losses to the tomato industry are estimated to be close to $100 million. Lost sales are expected to have a $25.7 million impact on Georgia’s economy.

CONGRESS WORKING TO CLARIFY 10-ACRE RULE -- The House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation Wednesday to suspend for the 2008 and 2009 crop years a Farm Bill provision that required producers to have a minimum of 10-base acres to receive program benefits.  The House passed H.R. 6849 by voice vote in response to the US Department of Agriculture's plan to deny farm program benefits to hundreds of thousands of producers nationwide by refusing to allow for the aggregation of small base acreage.
"The USDA's decision to eliminate such a large number of base acres could affect hundreds of thousands of producers all across this country," said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota.  "Their selective interpretation of the Farm Bill is doing no favors for America's farmers and ranchers, who are rightly concerned that the Department is ignoring the Congress's clearly stated intent.  With passage of this bill, we are making clear to farm country that the Farm Bill will be implemented as Congress intended."
"This bill will ensure that thousands of farmers will receive the benefits that Congress intended for them to receive," said
Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.
"This legislation will correct USDA's narrow interpretation of the 10-base-acre-provision and provide security for thousands of
farmers who rent or lease smaller tracks of land for their farms," said General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee Chairman Bob Etheridge of North Carolina, the original sponsor of the legislation.  "H.R. 6849 will restore the intent of Congress by allowing the small farmers who provide food for the nation's table to receive the payments they deserve for their work."
On June 30, the US Department of Agriculture published a notice stating their intent to "not approve requests for farm combination
reconstitutions of farms having base acres of 10 acres or less," despite Farm Bill report language stating that base acreages could
be aggregated to allow for farm program eligibility if the sum of acres is over 10.
The cost of H.R. 6849 is fully offset with spending reductions in order to meet Paygo requirements.
Previous Committee action on H.R. 6849 and a summary of the bill's provisions can be found on the House Agriculture Committee
website at http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/legislation.html.

FALL CROP INSURANCE MUST BE BOUGHT FOR DISASTER ELIGIBILITY - Any producer who wants to be eligible for disaster assistance on 2009 summer crops must have crop insurance coverage on all insurable fall planted crops before the sales closing deadline. For winter wheat, barley and forage production the purchase deadline is Sept. 30.
The new farm bill requires crop insurance on all acres of any insurable crop or Noninsured Assistance Program (NAP) coverage on all acres of uninsurable crops in order to be eligible for the permanent disaster program - Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE). Producers who fail to sign up for crop insurance on their fall planted crops will not be protected under SURE for their summer crops, even if they buy crop insurance for those crops. SURE is effective for the 2008 crop year and runs through the 2011 crop year. SURE will be based on whole farm revenue and will be triggered by a USDA secretarial disaster declaration for a county. Contiguous counties are automatically eligible. SURE will also be available to any farm where, during the calendar year, the total loss of production on the farm, because of weather, is greater than 50 percent of the normal farm production.

GEORGIA FARM BUREAU HOSTS ALTERNATIVE FUELS TOUR -- Georgia Farm Bureau stressed the importance of Congress continuing to support alternative fuels when it hosted a fuels tour Sept. 22 in southwest Georgia for congressional staff.
    Legislative staff representing Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson and U.S. Reps. John Barrow, Sanford Bishop, Hank Johnson, Jack Kingston and Jim Marshall participated in the tour to see the work that is being done on alternative fuels in Georgia.
    The tour included stops at the USDA Agricultural Research Service National Peanut Research Lab in Dawson and a tour of First United Ethanol’s facility in Camilla that is scheduled to open in less than two weeks.
    “We always enjoy when our legislative staff members come by, because it’s very important for them to see what we’re doing,” said Dr. Marshall Lamb, research leader at the peanut lab.
    At the FUEL facility, CEO Murray Campbell explained the benefits of ethanol. He stressed that although corn-based ethanol isn’t the complete solution to make the United States free from importing oil, it can be part of the answer.      
    “We have to do something within this country,” Campbell said. “Corn-based ethanol is not the total answer, but it’s an important part of the answer, and its roots are here in rural America. We can do this on farms, today.”
    There is more at stake in ethanol production than cutting fuel costs. A rise in the production of corn-based ethanol would likely give growers a higher incentive to grow corn than has been present in recent years. Campbell responded to attacks on corn-based ethanol that claim too much corn is used in the production process. Roughly a third of the corn used for ethanol actually goes back to farms as feedstock in both the dairy and poultry industries.
    “We’re going to return a third of the corn that goes into ethanol into the feed markets for poultry and for dairy as a dry distillers grain,” Campbell said.   
    The tour also saw the production of biodiesel from peanuts through a process where peanuts are pressed to produce peanut oil that is heated and later mixed with methanol and lye. The grinding of the peanuts also produces a pressed cake that is 45 percent protein and can be used for feedstock.
    “It would help farmers become more self-sustainable with their energy needs, and that’s the whole objective,” Lamb said. “It’s also environmentally friendly because it’s carbon neutral.”
    The purpose of the research is to allow farmers to produce their own peanuts, oil, and biofuels at the farm level to defray fuel costs.
    “There are just not enough peanuts grown in the Southeast to get into a mass-scale production of peanut biodiesel,” said Wilson Faircloth, research agronomist at the peanut lab. “However, if growers can come together, a single grower or a group of growers, and dedicate some cropland to this, it can become very profitable on a small scale.”

GFB REMINDS FARMERS TO BE MINDFUL OF SAFETY - Agriculture is one of the country’s most dangerous occupations. A total of 715 deaths and 80,000 disabling injuries were attributed to agriculture in 2007, statistics released by the National Safety Council show. The death rate associated with agriculture ranks first among all occupations with its injury rate being ranked second behind the transportation and warehousing industries.
    If farmers are injured, it is very difficult for them to carry out their job of producing the world’s food and fiber. Because of this, Georgia Farm Bureau is stressing the importance of staying safe while farming during National Farm Safety and Health Week, Sept. 21-27. The purpose of this week is to remind farmers to guard against injuries that may occur while they are working on their farm.
    “Harvest season is in full swing in Georgia,” Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said. “That means motorists are likely to encounter more tractors and other harvesting equipment on the road as farmers move from one field to another. It’s important that we all do our part to avoid accidents.”    
    Because many farm injuries occur during crop production, with machinery accidents accounting for most injuries, farmers should inspect the tractor or harvest equipment before each use and repair any broken parts or leaking fluids. There should be shield guards on moving parts of the equipment. About 60 percent of farm injuries occur when farmers are working with large livestock. Cattle and swine have poor depth of field vision and are also colorblind, causing them to be sensitive to light, noises and sudden movements.





GEORGIA FARM BUREAU ANNUAL DISTRICT MEETINGS

Oct. 7.....................District 1.................First Baptist Church....................Calhoun
Oct. 9.....................District 5.................Thomaston Civic Center..............Thomaston
Oct. 27...................District 9.................Mitchell/Baker High School......Camilla
Oct. 28...................District 7.................First Baptist Church....................Statesboro

All meetings begin at 7 p.m.

MASTER EQUINE COURSE

Sept. 23 - Oct. 28 (Tuesdays)........Heart of Georgia Technical College........Dublin
Oct. 14 - Nov. 25 (Tuesdays).........Commerce Civic Center.............................Commerce      

A Master Equine Training Course is scheduled in Dublin on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 to Oct. 28 and in Commerce on Tuesdays, Oct. 14 to Nov. 25 (excluding Nov. 18). These classes will offer advanced training for horse owners on topics related to starting and managing a horse-related business. Class size is limited to the first 75 applicants. Cost is $150, which includes study materials, meals, refreshments, door prizes, embroidered cap and graduation certificate.

Registration deadline for the Commerce class is October 1. To register for the Dublin class contact the Pine Country RCD at (912) 529-6652 or (478) 272-2288. To register for the Commerce class, contact a sponsoring County Extension office: Franklin County (706) 384-2843, Banks County (706) 677-6230, Barrow County (770) 307-3029, Jackson County (706) 367-6344 and Madison County (706) 795-2281.

GUYSIE MULE ROUNDUP

Oct. 3-4........................................Guysie

Visitors will get a chance to step back into history with the Mule Roundup’s Pioneer Village, which has been recreated to look like many Southern farms during the era of the mule. The village includes an authentic log cabin, a log smokehouse, a general store and barns. Visitors can also pick up ground cornmeal and grits from a working gristmill.

  Admission for Oct. 3, a day filled with educational programs for schoolchildren, is $3 per student. A free gospel singing event will be at 7 p.m. The events of Oct. 4 include a crafts show, sugar cane grinding, soap making and plowing demonstrations. A mule show featuring 19 events begins at 1 p.m. with a $5 admission fee for visitors ages 13 and above. The Mule Roundup will be held five miles West of Alma on Highway 32, 19 miles East of Douglas.

For more information, call James and Barbara Spires at (912) 632-1777.