Tag Archives: farming in Georgia

New FSA Leader Brings Business-Minded Vision to Support Georgia’s Small Farms

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Tifton, GA |

With more than 39,000 farms generating over $13 billion in annual revenue, agriculture is big business in Georgia—and behind many of those operations is a vital federal partner: the Farm Service Agency. Helping lead the way now is newly appointed State Executive Director Duncan Johnson Jr., who brings a fresh perspective rooted in business experience and a desire to support the people behind Georgia’s number one industry.

“I was drawn to this. I was actually asked to consider doing this job because of my business experience,” said Johnson. “Looking into all about agriculture, there’s just great people and an industry that needs help. It’s fun. It’s great people. And farmers are a good community to be a part of. I love being out in it.”

While he may not have grown up on a farm, Johnson says his background running a family business gives him a deep understanding of the pressures Georgia producers face—particularly when it comes to managing rising costs and navigating market uncertainty.

“I think not having grown up as a farmer and growing up in a generational family business, understanding the pressures that come with that… it’s a lot like farming,” Johnson explained. “Hopefully I can take that and translate that into doing a better job to serve our farmers. My long-term goal is to make sure that Georgia’s FSA is accessible to the farmers, is efficient, and does everything it can to help make farming fun and profitable.”

That focus is especially important now, as producers face record-high input costs, lagging commodity prices, and continued financial pressure.

“I think it’s always been important, but especially when times are tough,” Johnson said. “Being familiar with what’s there to help you stay sustainable and profitable is very important. FSA is very important for the farmers because it’s such a tough industry and it is so up and down. And the security of our farmers to make sure we can still go to the grocery store and have something to eat is so important.”

With nearly 90% of Georgia farms generating less than $50,000 in annual sales, Johnson says a renewed focus on small farms is a priority for both state and national leaders.

“The secretary and the president are working really, really hard to make sure that we take care of the farmers and the focus is on the small farmer, which we have a lot of here in Georgia,” said Johnson. “I’m excited to see what’s coming and what the administration is doing and putting out. I think it’s going to be great and a benefit to our small farmers.”

By: Damon Jones

Georgia Ag Issues Summit: Lawmakers Tackle Rural Challenges Ahead of 2026 Session

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Perry, GA |

As Georgia lawmakers gear up for the 2026 legislative session, agriculture leaders and industry professionals recently gathered in Perry for the annual Joint Agriculture Committee Chairmen Ag Issues Summit. Hosted by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Russ Goodman and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Robert Dickey, the event served as a platform to discuss both ongoing concerns and opportunities within Georgia’s largest industry.

“It’s a joint summit between the House and the Senate,” said Senator Goodman. “Chairman Dickey and I are the co-hosts of it and really just bring in people from across the state that are involved in the agricultural industry or extension, or people that have an interest in the industry, and come together and talk about issues, have guest speakers, and find out what our challenges are, what our opportunities are, things that we’re doing well.”

Goodman emphasized the importance of learning from university and extension professionals, noting the summit is essentially “about all things ag.”

For Representative Dickey, the event also plays a critical role in educating colleagues who may not have direct ties to farming or rural life. He says the summit helps bridge that knowledge gap between ag leaders and state lawmakers.

“Chairman Goodman and I are certainly up to speed on a lot of these issues, but so many colleagues are not,” Dickey explained. “That is the kind of information we need to get out to the rest of our colleagues in the House and Senate and the Governor’s office—what the problems are with agriculture in Georgia, what the challenges are that we need to be working on. And there’s lots of them. Rural Georgia and agriculture are facing a lot of headwinds right now.”

Among those headwinds is economic uncertainty—something Senator Goodman says threatens the future of many family farms. He believes public policy needs to be shaped with generational survival in mind.

“Right now, ag is struggling in a lot of ways with commodity prices,” Goodman said. “We’ve seen cost of input come down, but as you heard Dr. Dorfman say, they quadrupled, and now they’re just double what they were pre-COVID. Moving forward, it’s just going to continue to be about making sure we’re implementing public policy that hopefully enables the next generation to continue to farm.”

That message was echoed by Dickey, who says when agriculture suffers, the entire rural community feels the impact.

“Our rural communities are really suffering,” he said. “High cost inputs for farmers, low crop prices—a lot we can’t do on a state level. But we’ve got to support those communities, those rural ag communities, to have the infrastructure, to have the diversity that those communities really need. Agriculture is the largest industry in those counties. When ag constricts, it really puts a burden on our school systems, our roads, and those types of things.”

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Farmers Head to D.C. to Fight for Ag Policy Reform | Farm Bill, Labor & National Security

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Washington, D.C. |

From the moment they touched down in our nation’s capital, Georgia Farm Bureau legislative staff, Directors, and County Presidents got to work advocating for the ag industry – something GFB President, Tom McCall says is central to the organization’s mission, especially at a time with so much hanging in the balance for farmers and producers across the country.

“When they can hear from actual producers of some of the concerns that they have and what the Congress needs to be doing to help agriculture survive, not only in Georgia, especially in Georgia, but not only in Georgia, but the whole country, and get the point across that after military, food supply is the national security issue,” says Tom McCall, President of Georgia Farm Bureau.

“Main reason we’re here is to promote agriculture, talk about agriculture and what we’re facing as the state of Georgia and farmers. It’s very important for us to be up here communicating these things that we need to the people that might not get to see it every day. So, this has given us a platform to speak on behalf of the Georgia farmer,” says Brian Fleming, President of Hart County Farm Bureau.

As mentioned, the trip couldn’t have come at a better time, as producers across Georgia and the nation are struggling as a host of ag related issues continue to threaten their livelihoods; the two most pressing concerns being labor and the desperate need for an updated farm bill.

“Obviously, number one is this farm bill. We’ve been rolling on the same farm bill for seven years now. 2018 feels ancient, so that farm bill is basically an antique now. We need to see modernized farm programs, whether it’s reference prices, crop insurance products or changes to credit and additional funds to conservation Title. We need to see those improvements, ” says Ben Parker, National Affairs Coordinator.

“Number two, especially for the state of Georgia, is we’ve got to address this labor issue. It is far too costly, nothing makes sense and where we’re seeing these annual AEWR rates increase at seemingly random points. Seven and a half percent increase here. Fourteen percent increase here, and then this last year, we saw a nine and a half percent increase to over sixteen dollars an hour. I think finally, people are starting to see that these random increases in wage rates are only detrimental to ag and not just AG in Georgia, but poses national security risk for everyone that uses it,” says Parker.

Though they may not see the direct impact of this trip right away, Fleming says he believes the trip will pay dividends in the long run – and will hopefully make an impact back home on the farm.

“You might not see it right away, but getting what we need out, the support that we need and being able to talk to these people that we don’t need to see every day and actually see them take interest in it and understand what we’re saying that’s going on, it makes a big difference, and I think in the long run, we will see the benefits and things like this back at home,” says Fleming.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Corn Comeback? Farmers Prepare for 2025 Amid Rising Costs & Drought Challenges

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Tifton, GA |

After seeing a significant drop in acres of corn being planted in Georgia last year, those numbers look to be on the rebound in 2025, especially with the issues other crops around the state are experiencing.

“I think that given some of the constraints with some of the other commodities, that we’re probably going to see an increase in corn acreage this year. I have a prediction but we’ll see if it comes to fruition this year, but I think there’s going to be a significant increase with the crop,” says Nicholas Shay, Extension Grains Agronomist.

Despite seeing prices surge by more than thirty percent over the past six months, growers must still walk a fine line in order to turn a profit, especially with the ever-increasing cost of production.

“To navigate that, we have to try to really manage our input efficiency the best we can, and really go back to the drawing board and count our pennies to make sure that we’re being as efficient as possible with our agronomic management or crop management plan in that, for the season,” says Shay.

Another major issue for growers is the long periods of dry weather throughout the state each and every year. It’s a factor that should always be accounted for when planning crop management.

“I think we can bet that every single year, there has been some sort of level of intermittent drought that has occurred. And so, I think really staying on top of your nutrient management and understanding how a crop responds to drought or to a treatment or a fertilizer application that you’re going to apply in the growing season,” says Shay.

The biggest defense against drought conditions is to implement preventative strategies as soon as possible.

“We have to prepare that crop for those stressful environments instead of reacting to a common symptom entomology we may see in the field. If we’d be proactive and have a proactive mitigation strategy, then maybe we can alleviate some of that stress in the growing season, especially when it comes to drought,” says Shay.

With that in mind, it’s never too early to start preparing, especially with planting season right around the corner.

“Growers should obviously be focusing on making sure their equipment is ready, land preparation this time of year, making sure that they have a good plan in place to start the year as far as fertility, as far as weed management, preparing that ground. Then making sure that they have that plan A, plan B in place to be proactive in their approach to mitigate those midseason or early season stresses that we can almost expect are going to occur,” says Shay.

By: Damon Jones

2024: A Tough Year for Georgia Soybean Farmers – What’s Next?

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Macon, GA |

2024 was a challenging year for Georgia agriculture across the board. That includes soybean growers around the state as they saw a significant drop in yields to go along with falling commodity prices.

“For Georgia soybean growers, the hot summer that we had in June really hurt some of the yield potential we had. Then, also with the lower prices, it just made for just a bad year for soybeans. So, I’ve talked to several farmers around and it’s just not an exciting time right now,” says Greg Mims, Chairman of the Georgia Soybean Commission.

So, getting things back on track is the top priority for the Georgia Soybean Commission, who recently held their planning and budgeting meeting to determine the best path forward.

“We get together with committee members because we have some missions of research products. And we have to approve those every year. We have to go through them and evaluate and see which one’s the best and then make a decision on what we want to approve with the budgeted money that we have,” says Mims.

And there are a number of programs they are excited to support that will help maximize yields in the near and distant future.

“A lot of the soybean breeding is always a pretty significant funding for us, just trying to create varieties that work for us here in the southeast and in Georgia. So, that’s kind of a big push that we try to every year. Another thing is just insect trials. This year, we’ve seen a lot more insect damage and more insect problems than we have in the last five years. So, just trying to keep up with what’s coming down the pipe and new things that are coming around that we’re going to be running into for the next couple of years,” says Jesse Patrick with the United Soybean Board.

Looking at 2025, the increase in global production specifically in Brazil and Argentina, has resulted in greater supplies. That means the industry must now find creative ways to market their product.

“As a Georgia soybean farmer and a US soybean farmer, I think our biggest thing is competition right now. Trying to find newer export markets to be able to push some of these newer products that we have; high oleic soybean mill with aviation fuel coming into effect with soybean oil and some biodiesel,” says Patrick.

While Georgia might not be the one of the larger production states, it is still important growers around Georgia voice their issues and concerns on the national level.

“To have that big voice across the US, we still need a voice in the southeast and specifically in Georgia. Just because we don’t grow the same amount of acres doesn’t mean we don’t have the same problems or want to see the same things accomplished across the US,” says Patrick.

By: Damon Jones