Agriculture + Lifestyle

USDA Deputy Secretary Vaden visits Georgia

by Jennifer Whittaker
GFB News Editor

Posted on May 26, 2026 12:04 PM

Georgia Farm Bureau hosted a roundtable April 7 for USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden and farmers to discuss the economic pressures they are facing. The group, which met at Southern Belle Farm in Henry County, also discussed crop insurance and poultry issues. 

“The biggest thing we as producers and Farm Bureau worry about is the profitability of our farms. If farms aren’t profitable, they aren’t sustainable,” GFB President Tom McCall said. “America being able to feed itself is a national security issue. You only need five things to survive - food, clothing, shelter, air and water - and three come from agriculture. When farms in our rural communities start fading away, so do the hamburger joints, the grocery stores, the gas stations and the tire dealers.”

Between the farmers attending, most of the state’s major crops were represented.

“We’re in trouble. This will be my 43rd crop and this is the first time in my life that I’m thinking going into the crop year that I probably won’t break even,” said Pierce County row crop farmer Daniel Johnson. “It’s not just fertilizer and fuel, it’s [equipment] parts and all of the inputs. I keep hearing about tax breaks that will help save the farm, but if something doesn’t turn around pretty fast there isn’t going to be a farm to save.”

One reason for high costs: consolidated ag companies 

Vaden, the second-highest ranking USDA official, helps oversee implementation of federal ag policy nationwide. He served as USDA general counsel during President Trump’s first term, leading the department’s legal strategy on regulatory and policy issues. As a former judge on the U.S. Court of International Trade, Vaden handled cases involving trade law, tariffs and global commerce. 

Vaden said he spends a lot of his time focused on input costs and looking at the broader market dynamics. He said USDA data shows that from the early 1970s to about 2010, commodity prices and input costs were correlated.

 “They [input costs] no longer follow the commodity prices like they did before. If you look back at what was going on in that time period, it happens to correlate with the number of large mergers that took place, particularly in the agricultural sector,” Vaden said. “You’ve still got all the brands you bought for decades. They just are now owned by about three companies in each sector. We think fewer people competing for your business and the growing prices are related.”

Vaden said the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are asking if some companies are following antitrust laws. He said the three big fertilizer companies are being investigated. The FTC is suing farm equipment companies over farmers’ right to repair their own equipment.

Screven County row crop farmer Ben Boyd said he received a text after leaving home informing him that his fertilizer prices were going up another 10%. Boyd said his fertilizer costs have increased from 55 cents/pound to 96 cents/pound since early March. 

 Both Boyd and Julie Hardy, a Thomas County row crop farmer and cattle producer, expressed concern that ag companies are charging farmers maximum amounts.

“Every time I fill out the credit applications for the companies we buy our inputs from, every company wants to know, not only our financial information, they want to know how many acres of what crop we’re planting and what our expected yield is,” Hardy said. “Even when we got the USDA Bridge payments that were to help farmers, because a farm bill hadn’t been passed since 2018 to update reference prices to account for higher production prices, they raised their prices. Don’t get me wrong, we needed the bridge payments, and we’re thankful for them, but they know what they can charge us because they finance everything.”

Farmers say another USDA Bridge payment is needed

Grady County peanut and cotton grower John Harrell warned another round of payments may be necessary. Harrell said multiple bankers told him that without the bridge payment and without provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill set to increase crop reference prices in October, they could not have financed a lot of farmers this year. 

“The price of everything has jumped up, so our bridge payment is basically gone now. I know [U.S. House Agriculture Committee] Chairman [Glenn] Thompson is wanting to do another bridge payment through the House and the Senate,” Harrell said. “I hope that can be put on something [the pending farm bill or an appropriations bill] because I know what y’all are doing is going to help us in the future, but it’s like others have said, no business can operate losing money. The only thing keeping most of us afloat [with the banks] is the value of our land.”

Crop insurance & chances of farm bill being passed 

 Lowndes County tobacco grower Fred Wetherington expressed gratitude to Congress and the Trump administration for including provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill that lowered the cost of crop insurance. He asked if it’s possible the pending farm bill could increase the maximum amount a farmer can insure a crop from 75% to 90%.

“My crop insurance that I had last year is costing about 20%, maybe 21 or 22% less this year than it did last year, so I want to thank you for that,” Wetherington said. “Trying to be a solutions-oriented person, I am just wondering could we maybe buy crop insurance to cover up to 90% of our crops? Buying crop insurance lets farmers stand up more on our own.” 

Vaden said he thinks there’s a 40-60% chance Congress will pass a new farm bill this year and encouraged Farm Bureau members to keep pressure on their U.S. legislators to pass it.

USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden, left, visits with GFB 7th District Director Ben Boyd during a meeting GFB held in April. /Photo by Jennifer Whittaker