Senator Jon Ossoff urged swift bipartisan action from Congress to deliver disaster relief to Georgia farmers devastated by Hurricane Helene. Speaking before a Senate committee, Ossoff described the catastrophic damage caused by the storm to Georgia’s agricultural sector, infrastructure, and rural communities.
“Georgia farmers, who are the backbone of our rural communities and state economy, are in acute distress,” Ossoff stated, calling for urgent congressional action to pass disaster assistance legislation before the end of the year.
Hurricane Helene brought hurricane-force winds and torrential rains, which ravaged fall crops, destroyed pecan orchards, and damaged 1.5 million acres of timberland. The senator detailed the staggering impact on Georgia’s agricultural production, including significant losses in poultry, cotton, timber, beef, blueberries, pecans, peanuts, and more.
Among the most affected are pecan farmers, some of whom face losses of up to 85% of their orchards, with replacement taking decades. The poultry industry also suffered extensive damage, with 495 poultry houses heavily affected. Other crops like vegetables and cotton have similarly experienced devastating losses, with Georgia projected to lose nearly one-third of its cotton crop.
“This isn’t about numbers; it’s about families and rural communities,” Ossoff emphasized, warning that without immediate assistance, many family farms face bankruptcy. “If they go under, our rural communities go under,” he said, highlighting the ripple effects on local economies, schools, and infrastructure.
The senator’s appeal was underscored by bipartisan unity, with Ossoff and Republican Senator Thom Tillis jointly advocating for expedited relief. Ossoff concluded by urging Congress to set aside politics and act swiftly to support disaster-stricken communities.
“We must pass disaster assistance by the end of the year,” he stated, adding, “The rural way of life in Georgia risks disappearing altogether without our help.”
Senator Ossoff’s call for action comes as Georgia’s agricultural industry, a critical pillar of the state’s economy, faces unprecedented challenges in the wake of the storm.
Farmers dedicate their lives to cultivating the land, building not just livelihoods but legacies. With 70% of farming operations expected to transition within the next 15 years, the need for proactive farm succession planning has never been more urgent. Brian Bojo, a lawyer that often deals with estate law, sheds light on how farmers can prepare for the future while protecting their hard-earned assets and family relationships.
What Is Estate Planning?
Estate planning is about ensuring that your assets—land, equipment, savings, and more—are distributed according to your wishes after you pass away. “The goal is to make sure your ‘stuff’ goes to the people you care about, rather than to someone else or lost to taxes,” Bojo explains.
The process typically involves key legal documents:
A Will: Outlines how assets are divided.
Power of Attorney: Designates someone to act on your behalf if incapacitated.
Advance Directive for Health Care: Specifies medical preferences and decision-making authority in emergencies.
Why Farmers Need a Plan
Farmers face unique estate planning challenges due to the complexity and value of their assets. Farmland, barns, silos, and equipment are not only sources of income but also symbols of a family’s legacy. “These assets often represent generations of hard work,” Bojo says.
Addressing Family Dynamics
Farming families often grapple with difficult questions during the planning process, particularly when it comes to fairness among heirs. While some children may be committed to continuing the farm operation, others may have no interest. Balancing these dynamics requires thoughtful consideration and open communication.
“How do you honor your legacy while being fair to all your heirs?” Bojo asks. He encourages families to reflect on their values, asking questions like:
Do I want my grandchildren or great-grandchildren to work this land?
Would I prefer to sell the property if my children aren’t interested in farming?
How can I ensure family harmony while honoring my vision for the farm?
“There’s no wrong answer,” Bojo emphasizes. “What’s most important is making intentional decisions.”
The Case for Proactive Planning
Farmers often delay estate planning, preoccupied with immediate concerns like weather, crops, and equipment. “It’s easy to think, ‘I’ll get to it later,’” Bojo notes. But waiting too long can create uncertainty and conflict.
The process begins with reflection. “Start with a quiet moment on the porch,” Bojo suggests. “Ask yourself, ‘What do I want this to look like after I’m gone?’” Once you’ve envisioned your goals, communication is the next step.
Bojo stresses the importance of transparency with family members. Whether through formal sit-downs or one-on-one conversations, sharing your intentions can prevent misunderstandings and align expectations. “Sometimes parents assume their children’s desires, only to discover they’re mistaken. Open conversations are key,” Bojo explains.
Barriers to Estate Planning
One common hesitation is fear of upsetting family members. “Many people make decisions based on avoiding conflict, rather than focusing on their goals,” Bojo observes.
He advises shifting the perspective. “Think of it as stewardship. You’ve worked hard to build something meaningful, and it’s your responsibility to ensure it’s managed according to your values.”
For some, this includes prioritizing family harmony. “Many parents want to ensure their decisions don’t cause their children to stop speaking to each other. That’s a valid goal, but ultimately, you’re the boss. Your wishes should guide the plan.”
Getting Started
The idea of succession planning may feel overwhelming, but resources are readily available. Bojo suggests several starting points:
Farm Bureau Representatives: Offer tailored resources for farm families.
Experienced Attorneys: Specialize in estate planning for landowners and small businesses.
Community Members: Share insights from their own experiences with probate or succession planning.
“It doesn’t matter where you start,” Bojo says. “What’s important is beginning the conversation.”
Preserving Your Legacy
For Bojo, working with farming families is an honor. “These are some of the hardest-working, most dedicated people. Their operations are built on years of effort and resilience.”
Succession planning is not about predicting the worst but ensuring continuity. By reflecting on your values, communicating openly with your family, and seeking professional guidance, you can create a plan that protects both your legacy and your loved ones.
In the end, Bojo reminds farmers, “You have the power to decide what happens to your life’s work. Take the time to plan—it’s a vital part of the stewardship you’ve already demonstrated through years of dedication to your farm.”
While the Midwest might be king when it comes to soybean production, it is a crop that has a strong foothold here in Georgia, as the state is responsible for more than eight million bushels a year. And that number might be even bigger in 2024, as production is expected to be up despite some difficult growing conditions.
“I bet we went probably forty something days with no rain, but that could be worse too, because I got some buddies that’s seven or eight miles from me right here that went about two months without no rain. So, it could be worse, but it was a good growing season other than we had to pump a lot of water. Light bills were higher, fuel bills were higher, but other than that, it was pretty good,” says Cody Lord, a Laurens County Farmer.
However, those dry conditions didn’t extend into the harvest season, as heavy rains from Hurricanes Helene and Milton delayed growers from getting out into the fields. And with warmer than normal conditions sticking around, it’s important to harvest wrapped up as soon as possible.
“I wish they were in the bin because that’s what can mess your beans up, when they stay wet and it’s hot, they can germ and they can get damage to them. But, typically if it’s a normal October, November, where it’s in the forties at night and in the sixties and seventies in the day, it’s not as hot, they won’t germ and go bad. So, normally a bean can take a good bit more weather, but I need these in the bin with the weather we’ve been having. It’s been a little too warm and a little too moist for the bean crop this year,” says Lord.
However, it’s a delicate balancing act as harvested beans have to be at a certain moisture content before they can be stored away in order to maximize their earning potential.
“If you get too much moisture content in a bin, they’ll go through a heat mold and it will ruin your beans as far as seed quality for sure. Then, end users, they want them dry and beans at thirteen percent. If you go in at thirteen point one, they start knocking money per bushel off. So, it’s very important, you want your moisture to be right because if you mess around and have fourteen, fifteen percent moisture on soybeans, they just dinged you a lot of money,” says Lord.
And more than ninety percent of these beans will be going towards seed for next year.
“I grow those for Pioneer and for mixing different varieties, but what I’m growing, they’ll come pick up out of my bins. I’ll keep them and they’re actually cleaned, bagged, and sold back to the farmer to grow for next year,” says Lord.
You can bet Lord will be one of those farmers, as it’s a crop he both enjoys growing and can get the most bang for the buck.
“From the help standpoint, I can take one of those machines behind me and do what three of them roller pickers will do in a day by itself. I’m just rigged up to grow grains so, I like grain. I’d rather run the combine any day than the cotton picker,” says Lord.
Holidays are always a busy time of year around The Second Harvest Food Bank of South Georgia. However, this year, thanks to Hurricane Helene, things are kicked up into overdrive, as they also look to help those families rebuilding after the storm.
“Thirteen of our twenty-six counties were affected by the storm. So, we have been doing our kids café program, which is children’s meals. We have been doing our mobile pantry program. We’ve been doing our large pods, which are points of distribution, which are large scale drive thru distributions and we have been working with our partner agencies as well as the EMA’s in most of these communities to put resources on the ground as they’re needed,” says Eliza McCall with Second Harvest Food Bank of South Georgia.
So far, this food bank has provided more than two million meals worth of food and nearly a million bottles of water to those in need. And that’s all thanks to an increase in donations both big and small.
“We have been seeing help come from locally and we have been seeing a great response nationwide from food vendors and from retailers and from businesses and individuals and congregations,” says McCall.
It’s not just food and water that have seen an increase, but also volunteers. Because of that rise in manpower, they are now able to extend their help far and wide.
“We have been building disaster boxes not only for South Georgia, but also for other Hurricane Helene affected areas. So, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee for other food banks, other Feeding America food banks. And so, the people of South Georgia have been wonderful about coming in and helping us build boxes or showing up at our events and helping us hand out those boxes or other items once they’re built,” says McCall.
That also includes the farming community. While they might now have extra produce to donate due to the crop damage following Helene, they are finding other ways to help out the community.
“Right now, they’ve not been able to do much because they’ve all been so heavily affected. And I know that they want to do more, but they just can’t. But we have seen them volunteer. We’ve seen situations where they’ve called and said what can I do? What can my family do to help you get resources out in say, Clinch County, in Homerville? And so, we’ve been able to use folks as volunteers or as points of contact,” says McCall.
Even though this recent surge has been beneficial in helping those affected in the short term, it’s important to remember, this is just the start of a long rebuilding process.
“We have in this area, been hit by three name storms in a thirteen-month period. And so, now we have a whole bunch of people who were not food insecure before, who now are, on top of the one in six people who are on a normal basis or who experience it from time to time. So, this is going to be a process that’s going to take twelve, eighteen, twenty-four months for South Georgia to get over,” says McCall.
The US cattle industry is the largest and most sustainable in the world, and in order to protect that prestigious title, the USDA has been working on the concept of traceability for the US cattle industry since 2003, after a disastrous disease outbreak that had huge, lasting ramifications for the industry.
“Traceability within the cattle industry is something that we have been using for many, many years. Many producers will be used to the fact that those cows have had a metal nues tag in their ear, that’s our current tracking system for beef cattle. Many of those tags are used and utilized to ensure that if there is a disease outbreak, we can we can easily find it, and hold that down. Much of the traceability in this country, winds is going to help provide confidence to both consumers as well as other countries that we are trading with internationally that have a higher standard there. And the U.S. produces the most, sustainable and wholesome beef in the world, so this is this is a program that is critical to the success of our industry long term,” says Dale Sandlin, Executive Vice President for the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association.
In an effort to further strengthen traceability measures, a new USDA traceability rule recently went into effect that requires the use of electronic ID tags.
“Even though it creates more technology, it’s not something that the average producer needs to be overly concerned about having to learn and identify all these things, and all the ways that the technology works, the biggest thing you need to know is that if you’re going to ship your cattle, breeding stock, eighteen months of age or older out of state, you’re going to have to put a tag in their ear. If they’re only staying in the state, that’s fine. You won’t have to buy a wand. You won’t have to delve into that technology, but at the same time, it does provide a safety net for our industry to be able to prevent undue burdens on your operation if your neighbor down the road winds up having a situation. The worst possible thing that we could have in our industry is another disease outbreak,” says Sandlin.
Sandlin says that the ultimate goal of course is to protect the industry, but not while putting producers’ sensitive information at risk, which is why he says only certain data is being collected and securely stored.
“One thing that we did want to make absolutely sure of was the protection of the data that’s being collected through the program. So when that tag is put in that cows ear and she is going to an approved citing location or to, say a veterinarian that’s required to list the citing, what information is being pulled, is the premise I.D. number of the operation, the tag number, the location that it was cited at, and the date. That’s the only information that’s being collected through there,” says Sandlin.
Sandlin encourages producers to reach out to the Georgia Department of Agriculture for help with implementing electronic ID tags on their operations, including how to get them.
For a farmer, there’s nothing quite like seeing the fruits of your labor come to fruition, and farmers here in Georgia are getting to do a lot of that as the 2024 harvest season is in full swing. One farmer who’s busy doing that now is Brad Thompson, a peanut producer in Seminole County who is busy in his fields after a long growing season.
“We’ve had a really good harvest season so far. Hopefully in two days we’ll be through with the peanuts. We’ve started out and we’ve got very little rain. Of course, we had a threat from a hurricane and we got like probably three or four inches at one time, but that was nothing compared to what we could have got. We were really fortunate and dodged a bullet on that,” says Brad Thompson, Owner of Thompson Family Farms.
However, according to Thompson, despite having good harvest weather, the yields he’s getting are disappointing, as he says this past summer’s heat must have been too much for the crop despite most of it being under irrigation.
“Our yields are probably off 500-700 pounds and every year it seems like we’re dropping fifty pounds, one hundred pounds. I would say part of our yields being down, I guess it’s everybody’s guess because we’ve had years that we felt like our yields were going to be off and they were actually up, but this year I feel like it was the heat, the stress on the peanuts. The dryland was kind of average crop on dry land, but our irrigated crop, that’s where we were so much off and we’re about ninety-eight percent irrigated,” says Thompson.
According to Thompson, what’s most disappointing is the fact that this isn’t what he or any other producer needs right now, as he says the price for a great crop was already too low.
“This was a year that I was really hoping we was going to have an outstanding crop, because we really need it. The price of our inputs is going up. The price of equipment is just through the roof now. What it’s costing us an acre to plant a crop and harvest a crop is not really looking good on paper, not with the yields that we’re receiving. I really don’t know how we’re going to continue to go on, but I know a lot of people say, ‘well the prices in the grocery stores are up,’ but our commodities, we’re not getting any more for them than we did thirty years ago,” says Thompson.
Thompson says that despite the situation producers all over the state and country are in, he hopes to make it through this season, but is afraid that might not be the case for others that have endured many years of hardship and will have no choice but to call it quits.
“Last year, I would say that there was probably ten to fifteen percent of people that is not farming this year; backed out of farming. I would probably say we’re going to be looking at another fifteen to twenty percent that’s not going to be farming. Farming in general, it’s not about the money. It’s about planting a crop, growing a crop, and living for the Lord because really, that’s what keeps us going. I mean, it’s faith that next year’s going to be better, that things are going to get one day where we can relax,” says Thompson.
Not even a decade ago, citrus production here in Georgia was almost nonexistent. But thanks to a recent boom there are now more than half a million trees planted on nearly four thousand acres of land within the state. And while some growers were affected by the recent storms, it is still shaping up to be some huge yields.
“We’re estimating that we lost about five percent of our trees statewide, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s not as bad as some of the other commodities. When we look at individual groves, we saw anywhere from zero to forty percent fruit loss, just depending on where in the path of the hurricane they were, what variety it was, and how old those trees were. It’s looking very promising even though we got hit by Hurricane Helene, it’s still looking like this is going to be a record year for citrus,” says Mary Sutton, Citrus Extension Specialist.
That is very good news for the industry, as it suffered through two straight years of little to no production due to the late freeze in 2022.
“So, this year especially, was a very heavy crop load. So, after the freeze in 2022, 2023 was a rebuilding year for a lot of trees. So, we didn’t see a big crop last year. So, the trees are kind of overcompensating this year. If you go out and look at trees, most of the limbs are almost laying down, they have so much fruit on them, which is good for this year, but that means in the future, like next year might be a lower year just because they’ve invested all their resources into this year,” says Sutton.
With that in mind, it’s imperative growers are well prepared for the coming harvest and what to do with the crop once it is off the trees.
“In the coming months, just keep a very close eye on your crop. With all this cold weather we’ve been having you can expect the fruit to start coloring up and just make sure you’ve got a good plan in place for where you’re going to send the fruit. I’ve heard some interest in exporting the fruit to Florida and make sure you’ve got the right certification so you can actually get them over the state lines,” says Sutton.
That’s because citrus production in the Sunshine State has fallen more than ninety percent over the past quarter century due to hurricanes and citrus greening. And while it is a relatively new industry here in the state, Georgia is well positioned to help fill the void.
“Right now, research is really just getting started. So, one of the things we want to focus on is freeze protection methods because that is one of the things that most threatens the industry here. We don’t have the disease pressure that places like Florida do. Right now, the Georgia citrus industry is still pretty small, so you have pockets of citrus, so they’re pretty isolated and that keeps them safe from most of that disease,” says Sutton.
That being said, there is still plenty of research to be done in order to maximize yields year in and year out.
“A lot of the questions are just cultural management practices, fertilizer questions, when they should be fertilizing? How much? Similarly with canopy management, should they be pruning? When should they be pruning? Also with irrigation, how much water should they be putting out and stuff like that. So, there’s a lot of questions that still need to be answered. So, it’s an exciting new area of research for the state,” says Sutton.
Known as the fungus among us, mushrooms are one of the most versatile ingredients to any dish. And this farm in Ellijay is looking to get them out of the dark and into the spotlight here in Georgia by inviting the public out to see exactly what goes into growing these culinary delicacies.
“We started out with agritourism with our farm shop, which is open Thursday to Sunday, which allows people to come to our U-pick flowers and also come check out these amazing mushrooms that our team grows, and getting them out here and going into the greenhouses allows them to kind of figure out what is a mushroom farm and what do we do here,” says Howard Berk, President of Ellijay Mushrooms.
What they’ll see is plenty of hard work and attention to detail, as growing three different types of mushrooms requires proper timing and constant attention each and every day of the year.
“The logs take about seven to fourteen days and then they start growing pins. After they start growing pins, they start growing fully every day. So, we harvest about three a day. So, every morning, we have to harvest. Once they’re fully open, you can tell that’s when we need to harvest. If they’re not fully open, we can leave them, wait until tomorrow, they’ll eventually grow big,” says Israel Bautista, Farm Manager at Ellijay Mushrooms.
Growing big is exactly what their client list has been doing over the past few years as they ship these mushrooms all over the region. However, despite their initial success, Ellijay Mushrooms is still looking to expand in a big way.
“We currently sell to Whole Foods in the south, Ingles, Michelin star restaurants. We sell to all the restaurants in Ellijay, Blue Ridge, all over the eastern seaboard. We’re trying to keep growing. We’re looking for more opportunities every day. For us to make this farm work, we need more volume. Currently, we grow five thousand pounds a week. We’d love to double that or even triple that,” says Berk.
That would not only help the business, but the community as a whole, as providing both good jobs and opportunity to those within the area is one of the main goals for this family run operation.
“It’s the thing that drives us, because if we didn’t have our community, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do, meaning that if we don’t have any employees, we couldn’t harvest mushrooms, and mushrooms don’t sleep so, we need everybody. So, every dollar spent goes right back into our community. Meaning that we can hire more young men and women in our community and give them opportunity to grow as well, like our mushrooms,” says Berk.
While it’s not easy starting up your own business or growing mushrooms, it is a decision Berk doesn’t regret one bit.
“We’ve had a lot of trial and error, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of scratching our head, but it’s been very rewarding to figure out all those challenges and to be able to feed people good, healthy, organic mushrooms. It might sound silly but, every day you go into the greenhouse and you see these little fellas just popping up, it still makes me happy every time I see one even though they don’t sleep and they have to be harvested even at three o’clock on a Sunday. It’s still very rewarding knowing that we’re growing great food for people to eat and consume,” says Berk.
For the second year in a row, kids coming through the Georgia Grown building at the Georgia National Fair got the chance to be a part of a unique educational experience known as the Georgia Grown Classroom – a small, learning center that was meant to expose elementary school aged children to agriculture and did so with a variety of lessons and activities.
“One of our department’s priorities is to promote the next generation of ag leaders and this fits right in with that priority because we’re bringing in elementary aged students and getting them exposed to Georgia agriculture in different ways by different entities. We have students coming in from different colleges talking to students, we have Farm Bureau coming in and talking to students as well, and then different divisions within our department are actually coming in and talking about food safety, pest management, pesticide safety, and things like that. So this is just a really great way to not only tell Georgia’s story of agriculture, but to also promote that next generation of ag leaders,” says LeAnna Merritt with the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
Throughout the ten days of the fair, numerous groups and industries got the chance to lead some of the sessions, and Georgia Farm Bureau was certainly no exception as volunteers from different parts of the state came together to hopefully give the kids an impactful perspective on Georgia’s sheep industry.
“What we’re doing today is just so important. The kids are already excited coming out to the fair, getting to see so much, but a lot of these children have never been exposed to the different types of agriculture that we’re able to provide from Georgia Farm Bureau. We all have different knowledge, and we all come from different backgrounds, and by joining together and being able to provide this 45 minute class today, I feel like they are at least going to take home something that they did not know and it may spark an interest to go down a different path, whether it be raise livestock or maybe become more interested in learning some of the different skills to raise livestock,” says Stephanie Branch, Georgia Farm Bureau’s Women’s Leadership Committee Chair.
The dividends were two-fold as GFB not only got the chance to interact with students, but the opportunity also gave them the chance to speak with teachers and fill them in on all the ways that Farm Bureau can help them promote ag in their classrooms.
“This is an opportunity for us to talk to students from who knows where. So, we’re getting a diverse population. We’re able to also interact with teachers. So, we created teacher bags for the school to take that with them that has books based around sheep and knitting, how those wools are dyed to be used for scarves and things like that. So, in our outreach, it’s not just for the students, but for the teachers as well to let them know what is AG in the classroom and what is Farm Bureau. Get to know us a little bit more to be part of the organization and help us continue our mission to educate anybody about agriculture,” says Lauren Goble, GFB’s Educational Programs Coordinator.
One of the highlights of each and every Sunbelt Ag Expo is the annual Willie B. Withers luncheon, where farmers, legislators and university officials gather under one roof to recognize all the good work being done across the industry. It’s an event that takes on even more significance this year.
“After what the region’s been through in the last month, it’s really great to see the family of agriculture come together and celebrate agriculture. It’s a chance for our friends that’s been devastated by the hurricanes to come in and be with like-minded people and be consoled to a certain extent and be around positive people that gives them light at the end of the tunnel,” says Chip Blalock, Executive Director of the Sunbelt Ag Expo.
That’s exactly what the Weathered but Strong hurricane relief fund is hoping to provide as well, with the goal of reaching one million dollars. And thanks to a donation from the Sunbelt Ag Expo, it’s off to a strong start.
“We have that Weathered But Strong relief package going on and anything that we can do to help our farmers is a big deal. We appreciate Chip and the Expo contributing to it. The farming community is what the Expo is all about. All I can do is say ‘thank you’ and good luck to everybody that we are going to help with this fund,” says Tom McCall, Georgia Farm Bureau President.
As always, there was plenty of anticipation for the announcement of this year’s Southeast Farmer of the Year. And for the first time in the competitions 34-year history, it was a woman that took home the award, with North Carolina’s Faylene Whitaker claiming the 2024 title.
“Wow is all I can say, is wow. It’s such an honor. There’s so many good farmers in the United States and the Southeast and it’s just humbling. It’s not about being proud. It’s just being humbling. It is such an honor. It gives my hope that women in agriculture will continue to be recognized for the job they do and for how they contribute to US agriculture,” says Faylene Whitaker, Sunbelt Expo Southeast Farmer of the Year.
Speaking of firsts, Georgia Farm Bureau recognized the winner of their inaugural Farm Dog of the Year contest, Belue. This Shetland Sheepdog provides not only constant companionship, but also plenty of important work both on and off the farm.
“Belue goes to school with me every day and he’s part of the education process. Just the chance to give back and utilize Belue to promote agriculture is a great experience and we appreciate the opportunity. He’ll round up a sheep on the farm or he’ll round up kids out on the football field. Just a lot of companionship when the kids are depressed or I’m depressed, he’s right there for you,” says Brinson Brock, owner of GFB’s Farm Dog of the Year.
“The dog that won this year does a lot with Ag in the Classroom and teaching kids, which is what we do. So, we are proud that we’re able to present that in front of a bunch of different states this time at this Farmer of the Year luncheon,” says McCall.
