Ag News
Small farmers hear about government programs at conference
Posted on Jul 09, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Small farmers from around the state visited UGA’s Griffin Campus on June 27 for the Small-Scale Education and Conservation Conference, held jointly by the UGA Extension Center for Urban Agriculture and the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The event included keynote addresses from State Conservationist Terrance Rudolph and new Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Duncan Johnson, as well as presentations from the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Division, UGA’s horticulture and entomology programs, as well as the UGA Product Innovation Center, and tours of projects on the Griffin campus.
Johnson gave a brief overview of what the FSA does.
“We give away money,” Johnson said. “I get to be Santa Claus all the time. Now I say we give it away, but the farmers earn it. They work for it and make sure our security is there and we can keep food growing and keep our lands available. Thanks to NRCS, we keep the land growing and producing so that we can keep all of us safe by having food to go with.”
Johnson talked about the FSA’s two main functions – farm loans and farm programs. Farm loans, he said, are for starting farms, operating expenses, buying new equipment and other purposes. Farm programs include crop insurance and subsidies, disaster assistance and others.
“We help you get your land ready again to plant so you can get back in there,” Johnson said. “There are crop losses due to unforeseen reasons, there are programs for that. Also, programs for insurance and then programs to help you get everything done.”
Johnson thanked the small farmers for their work in their communities and encouraged them to get children involved.
“Thank you for looking and learning and growing,” he said. “We need it. It is very important. Take a kid with you, bring them in there and teach them. Grow them up, nurture them. We need more people and need it to last longer.”
Georgia State Conservationist Terrance Rudolph shared a generalized view of what his agency does. Whereas FSA focuses largely on the business side of farming, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) primarily provides technical support, Rudolph said, offering guidance on best management practices that can prevent degradation of soil, water and air or help restore them if a farmer runs into problems.
Rudolph covered two key NRCS programs – the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
EQIP, which Rudolph referred to as the NRCS’ “mother ship” program, applies to a variety of natural resource concerns.
“That program addresses any and all resource concerns that you can think of,” Rudolph said. “Anything related to soil, water, air, plants, animals and sometimes humans. So if you have an issue, that is the purpose of that program.”
EQIP is a cost-share program that covers a standard 75% of the cost of installing conservation practices. In some circumstances, that NRCS portion of the cost share can be as high as 90%.”
CSP is the agency’s largest land program and is intended to reward stewardship practices farmers are using on their land.
“There are a lot of good programs the NRCS has to offer, but we’re a technical agency first,” Rudolph said.
Caroline Haney with the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Division reviewed the state’s produce safety program under the Produce Safety Rule (PSR), part of the Food Safety Modernization Act. She covered who the rule applies to, possible exemptions, what produce is covered and key Produce Safety Rule requirements.
The PSR could potentially apply to any fresh fruit or vegetable producer. Some produce is exempt:
• Produce that is not a raw agricultural commodity;
• Produce that the FDA has classified as “rarely consumed raw”;
• Produce from farms that have an average annual gross profit of $25,000 or less in produce sold during the previous three years;
• Food grains
• Produce grown for personal or on-farm consumption.
There is also a qualified exemption for farms with less than $500,000 per year in sales over the previous three years. The farms sales to qualified end users must exceed sales to all others combined. Farms with more than $500,000 in annual sales will have an initial inspection, with follow-up inspections every three years.
Produce covered includes apples, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cantaloupes, citrus, cucumbers, grapes, green beans, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, onions, peaches, peas, peas, peppers, strawberries, summer squash, tomatoes, turnips and watermelons.
“Those are the things that people like to eat raw,” Haney said. “Those are considered produce or vegetables we would go out and inspect.”
Agricultural water is divided by how it is used: either pre-harvest/production water and post-harvest water.
Pre-harvest water is water used in contact with produce during growth, including irrigation, fertigation, crop spays, cooling, frost protection, dust abatement and other uses where water directly contacts produce.
The PSR also has requirements for worker health and hygiene. Farm workers must have access to restrooms or portable toilets that are fully stocked and in working order. Farmers should ensure that their works know to put paper in the toilet rather than a trash can.
In addition to proper restroom use, Haney said workers should be trained on how to properly clean and sanitize equipment.
“When an inspector comes out to your field, they’re going to really focus on that, making sure that you have all the proper documentation for training your workers.
For information about the state’s produce safety program, visit http://agr.georgia.gov/produce-safety.
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