Author Archives: John Holcomb

USDA Extends Application Deadline for Dairy Margin Protection Program

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WASHINGTON – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue today announced the re-enrollment deadline for the Margin Protection Program (MPP) for Dairy will be extended until June 22, 2018. The new and improved program protects participating dairy producers when the margin – the difference between the price of milk and feed costs – falls below levels of protection selected by the applicant. USDA has already issued more than $89 million for margins triggered in February, March, and April, and USDA offices are continuing to process remaining payments daily.

“Last week we re-opened enrollment to offer producers preoccupied with field work an additional opportunity to come into their local office to sign-up. We did get more than 500 new operations enrolled but want to continue to provide an opportunity for folks to participate before the next margin is announced,” said Secretary Perdue. “More than 21,000 American dairies have gone into our 2,200 FSA offices to sign-up for 2018 MPP coverage but I am certain we can do better with this extra week and a half.”

The re-enrollment deadline was previously extended through June 8, 2018. The deadline is being extended a second time to ensure that dairy producers are given every opportunity to make a calculated decision and enroll in the program if they choose. This will be the last opportunity for producers to take advantage of key adjustments Congress made to provisions of the MPP program under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 to strengthen its support of dairy producers. USDA encourages producers contemplating enrollment to use the online web resource at www.fsa.usda.gov/mpptool to calculate the best levels of coverage for their dairy operation.

The next margin under MPP, for May 2018, will be published on June 28, 2018. Therefore, all coverage elections on form CCC-782 and the $100 administrative fee, unless exempt, must be submitted to the County FSA Office no later than June 22, 2018. No registers will be utilized, so producers are encouraged to have their enrollment for 2018 completed by COB June 22, 2018.

All dairy operations must make new coverage elections for 2018 during the re-enrollment period, even if the operation was enrolled during the previous 2018 signup. Coverage elections made for 2018 will be retroactive to January 1, 2018. MPP payments will be sequestered at a rate of 6.6 percent.

To learn more about the Margin Protection Program for dairy, contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency county office at offices.usda.gov or visit us on the Web at www.fsa.usda.gov.

Rodeo Clown Discusses Career

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Meet Trent McFarland. Trent is a professional rodeo clown that’s getting ready by putting on his signature make up. It’s second nature these days for Trent especially since he has been putting it on since he was 13 when his father first asked him to join him in the arena.

“Most kids are born into a rich family. I got extremely lucky and was born into a rodeo clown family. So, when other fathers were teaching their sons how to throw a football, hit a baseball, or cool stuff, my dad was teaching me how to put on makeup,” says Trent.

He has since continued to put on that makeup since those childhood days. For 11 months out of the year, you can find him and his wife and kids at rodeos all across the country, cracking jokes, making people smile, and helping make the rodeo go smoothly.

“I’m hired to be the entertainer, the comedian,” says Trent. “Throughout the show, it’s my job to help during transitions from one event to the other when there’s a break in the arena, and if something goes wrong, it’s my job to say, ‘hey, hey, look at me,’ while they’re doing something in the background.”

He also serves another purpose, and for that purpose, he is assigned the unofficial title of “bull target”.

“Now, during the bull riding I transition a little bit from an entertainer, to more of a safety person. When bull riders get wiped out, I go in and do whatever I can to take the pressure off of them and give the bull a great big target to look at and come to,” says Trent.

When he’s not dancing around in the arena or dodging bulls, you can find him assisting people in another way – In surgery as a nurse.

“I work in surgery as a registered nurse, first assist is my title. It’s cool, my ADD that I have in the arena, the other side of ADD is hyper focus, so we get those really intense cases, I’m zoned in it works really good, crosses over.”

Living the life of a nurse and on the road as a rodeo clown is busy, but he says wouldn’t have it any other way especially when he has his family by his side the whole time.

“I truly enjoy doing what I do, and the majority of that is being on the road with my family.”

He has also roped his wife, Wendy into his act and even takes the kids into the arena sometimes.

“She’s a big part of all the acts that I do, and the boys, you know I got a 3 year old and a 2 year old, Cody and Ryder, and they’re coming along nicely. I’ll get them out in the arena, and they love the spotlight, you know, it’s fun, I’m trying to keep it fun for them,” says Trent.

Keeping it fun, just in case one day they decide to continue the family business, something that Trent says he wouldn’t mind one bit.

“I would be extremely honored for my kids to want to be a rodeo clown, but just growing up around this environment is important to me,” says Trent. “Some of the happiest memories I have of my growing up from the time I was 13, 14 until my mid-twenties, my dad and I rodeoed together about every weekend. We’re extremely close.”

By: John Holcomb

Goodson Pecans Wins Flavor of Georgia Contest

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Leesburg, GA – Whether you eat them in pies, salads, or just straight out of the can, pecans have been a staple of many diets across the south. However, recently a new market has opened up using this product thanks to innovative businesses like Goodson Pecans in Leesburg.

“There were no pecan butters at the time and so I asked, ‘what would happen if we tried to make pecan butters,’” says David Goodson, owner of Goodson Pecans? “So, we started slow. We moved out of our home as a cottage kitchen and moved to a store front with a commercial facility and just began the slow process of making and sort of trying to perfect our butters and how we did them. We were learning a lot as we were doing them.”

This multi-generational, family owned company uses the freshest pecans straight from their field to create this unique product. As for the taste and texture can be attributed to plenty of testing in their kitchen.

“We have found in just our experimentation with it some varieties that worked really well together in making the butter. You know, that was part of our process to get it tweaked just right so that the pecan is just super creamy and has got just a good overall sweetness to it. It’s great. I love not only having my wife part of this, but seeing my kids, every one of my kids is involved in some level. They will come up and help in different ways at the store and even when we go to shows, I have my oldest son who will go with me,” says Goodson.

Recently, they left one of those shows with some hardware, as they were named the overall winner for the Flavor of Georgia contest.

“The fact that we won the grand prize at the flavor of Georgia was just a huge burst of joy for us because we have been working hard and really for three years just trying to work on some things,” says Goodson. “We entered in our honey cinnamon pecan butter into the flavor of Georgia. That’s what we went up there with as a finalist.”

Even though the ingredients to this award-winning product might sound simple, the process of getting it to their standards was anything but that.

“We experimented with several different varieties of honey to find something that would pair well with not only pecans, but also with cinnamon and also with sea salt, and overall the whole thing would just have a great flavor profile to it. That’s what we feel like what we found in our honey cinnamon pecan butter is that it’s just a great balance of flavor in all those four aspects of the ingredients that are with it,” says Goodson.

It’s not just the taste consumers will come back for, as this pecan butter, as well as others Goodson Pecans sell can be part of a healthy diet.

“It’s got a lot of great nutritional value to it,” says Goodson. “It’s very high in antioxidants from the pecans but it’s also got other properties that you’re going to find from the honey, from the cinnamon, from the sea salt. We offer not just the honey cinnamon, but also our creamy and crunchy. Those are also great for you and if you love pecans, if you love other butters, it is worth trying it.”

They hope this is just the beginning, as the Goodson’s are always looking to update their product list.

“We are not only excited to be pecan farmers, but also developers of pecan products and I think there are just tremendous days ahead,” says Goodson.

By: Damon Jones

 

Electric Companies Essential for Farming Operations

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Carrollton, GA – Electricity isn’t something most of us think about until, well, we don’t have it, but we depend on it so much. This dairy and poultry farm in West Georgia is the same way, except if they don’t have it for too long, there could be a lot of money lost.

“Power failure in the middle of making milk, completely kills us,” says Becky Treccia, Processing Manager for West Georgia Creamery. “We either have to throw out the milk, or it’s got to sit in the vat for a long period of time until the power comes back on.”

Not to mention that when the cows don’t get milked, it could harm their health.

“If we do not milk our heifers, they will get sick, it’s just like any other human, naturally if we create something, it has to be pulled from our bodies,” says Treccia.

For the most part though, they don’t have to worry about power outages, but when they do lose power, there’s a good reason for it.

“We actually have power pretty well down here, the only time I think we didn’t have power for a long period of time I think was in the snow, and that snow was heavy,” says Treccia.

That reliable power can be contributed to Carroll EMC. We got a chance to visit the command center, so we can get a look at what all goes into making sure the grid is up and running. In order for that to happen, someone is in this room 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“When the storm comes through, this the main hub, this is where all the outages come to, once members call and report their power out,” says Carmen Hopson, System Control Technician.

Their goal is to have the power restored as fast as possible and as safely as possible.

“To have someone dispatched out to an outage is usually within 5 minutes, of course if it’s a major outage, it may take a little bit longer to get the correct crew there, once we look at the map and see who’s the closest,” says Hopson.

That’s the easy part compared to what comes next, and that is actually fixing the lines.

“A lot of times when we’re out there working, it’s many, many hours, sometimes all night, we have worked anywhere from 18 to 24 hours straight before we can get some help or relief in,” says Wesley Benefield, a lineman with Carroll EMC.

Obviously, there are a lot of dangers involved when working out in the elements, not to mention the fact that they’re working with high voltage lines.

“It’s very dangerous because we have been working several hours, then we’re working with high voltages, 7200 volts, or 14400 volts and a lot of times we haven’t had sleep that we might be wanting,” says Benefield.

There are also some other things on their minds.

“You’re having to be totally aware of your surroundings and what was going on, and not to mention our families at home, you know we all have families that we’ve left that we’re thinking about how they’re doing or what’s going on with them, so there’s many things going through the mind and a lot of hazards out there that we’re dealing with,” says Benefield.

By: John Holcomb

11 Year Old Poultry Farmer Shares Story

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Carrollton, GA – Born in 2007, Patrick Hutchinson is a self-proclaimed first-generation poultry farmer whose initial interest in chickens began when he was six years old. Routine trips to the hardware store built the foundation of what would become Patrick’s future endeavor.

“It started when I was in Boy Scouts,” says Patrick Hutchinson. “I used to go to Ace Hardware and get some Boy Scout supplies, and I always used to ask my mom, ‘Are the chicks here yet? Are the chicks here yet?’ And my mom said, ‘No, not yet.’ And every time I was there, I used to go there and look at them, and I said, ‘Mom, can I get one?’ She said, ‘Well, we have to own our own house. We can’t live in an apartment and have one.’”

“We moved here to our home and I’m so grateful for it. When we moved, when we came to look at the house and there was a little coop there, he was like, ‘This is the house.’ And I said, ‘Well, are you sure?’,” says Janie Hutchinson, Patrick’s mother.

With the help of the Carroll County 4-H Chick Project, Patrick and Mom Janie made the commitment to learn everything and anything about their chickens and other aspects of agriculture, including large and small animal sciences, as well as poultry judging. On February 28th of this year, Patrick officially registered his business with the Georgia Secretary of State Corporation’s Division. Since he’s only 11-year-old Mom Janie serves as the registered agent while his grandmother Teresa has the title of company organizer.

“I started off not selling eggs. I just ate the eggs. Then my mom, she said, ‘Why don’t you give the eggs away?’ And I gave them to one of my favorite teachers and my teacher told her friends and then they told their friends and that’s how I got started. And what’s fascinating about them is about how chickens, they don’t have to have males to lay eggs,” says Patrick.

“Once he gets out of school, it is like I do not fight with Patrick. We get out of the car. Patrick puts his backpack down and he works. He’s in the chicken coop. He lets the girls out for some exercise. He’s feeding them. I am Patrick’s uber. I get him to where he has to go, get him on time, deliver the eggs, make sure he goes to his extracurricular activities, because he’s a busy young man. Like, he’s in Boy Scouts. He is a part of the poultry judging team at the Ag Center. He’s a part of the Horse Club at the Ag Center. He swims with the Blue Fins with Carrollton Swimming,” says Janie.

Still not impressed? Well, consider this. Not only does he have his own LLC, his own bank account, his own business card, and a customer base of over 50 people, Patrick recently became a Farm Bureau member. At 11 years old, he is one of the youngest, if not the youngest Farm Bureau member in the state of Georgia.

“Well, it’s not really me. I pray every day before I go to bed, and God told me one day you should get more chickens. And I said, ‘Well, how many?’ He said, ‘600 or less.’ So, my goal is to get 600 chickens,” says Patrick.

“I attribute all that to the Ag Center,” says Janie. “You know, he was interested in poultry and they said, okay, well, we’re going to expose you to agriculture. He’s learned so much; from the safety of poultry farming, expenses of poultry farming.”

By: Ray D’Alessio

Artist Welds Art made of Horseshoes

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Ellijay, GA – Justin Howard is a native of Florida that moved to Georgia a few years ago when given the chance.“I got the opportunity to move to north Georgia in 2013 and I got the opportunity to work on my cousin’s ranch, they have a 100-acre ranch in talking rock, Georgia, just south of Ellijay, Georgia,” says Howard.

Justin was a welder back in Florida, and one day while at his cousin’s ranch, something captured his attention.

“I happened to see some horseshoes laying around the barn and I decided to go ahead and buy another welder just to tinker around a little bit,” says Howard. “I made a few pieces and went to the local farmers market and people really liked it, so I started making more, and just a few months later, I decided to do it full time.”

That’s when he started Justin’s Horseshoe Art. He has since grown that business into more than just farmer’s markets.

“I’ve been doing it for a little over four years now,” says Howard. “I do about 25 festivals, rodeos, craft shows a year, I have a website and local antique store in downtown Ellijay called TJ and Company.”

Justin says that he loves getting to be creative and make things with his hands, but it’s the reactions from customers and people that stop by his booth that he loves most.

“The thing I enjoy most about what I do is just getting to meet so many different people at all the different festivals and rodeos I get to attend, because they come to my booth and they just love it. I just love it when people enjoy it and just think it’s amazing. I think it’s pretty cool myself, that’s why I enjoy it. I enjoy looking at it and using it as well,” says Howard.

Making the art is actually a good bit of work, so much that he had to get someone to help him.

“The whole process of getting the horseshoes and getting them cleaned and actually building something is a very labor-intensive process,” says Howard. “So, a lot of times I do need help. I do have a full-time employee right now and have pretty much kept somebody full time for the last 4 years.”

It actually ends up being a two-way deal, as the people that help him are people that are needing some help in life themselves.

“I actually use a place called the Isaiah house, right here in Ellijay, Georgia. It’s a halfway house for men that suffer from addiction and alcoholism, which I have also suffered from, so it’s part of me, getting to work with those guys, not just as a labor perspective but also as a mentor and positive encouragement,” says Howard.

At the end of the day, he is just thankful that he gets to do something he loves and that makes him happy.

“I just feel very fortunate to get to do what I do. It’s something I absolutely love to do, and I believe that some decisions I made in my life that God gave me these talents to be able to do something that I love and I’m extremely grateful to get to do it,” says Howard.

By: John Holcomb

Vidalia Onion Harvest Underway

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Lyons, GA – While Vidalia onions went into the ground just 5 months ago, it’s probably seemed like an eternity to producers as the growing season saw its fair share of obstacles. And that’s after Hurricane Irma rolled through South Georgia while they were getting their seed beds ready.

“After that, we did okay as far as getting everything planted,” says UGA Area Onion Agent, Cliff Riner. “But, then the first week of January, where we had about 5 inches of snow here and the snow didn’t really hurt us as much as that whole week it was 40 degrees as a high. So, the majority of the time, that full week, we were in the 20s at night and the 40s during the day.”

Despite all the challenges, there will still be plenty of delicious sweet onions on the shelves.

“We’ve actually had snow,” says Delbert Bland, President of Bland Farms. “We’ve had cold weather. We’ve had everything that you could imagine this year. But believe it or not, these onions are pretty tough. They made it through it all and we are pretty excited about this crop. We’ve been shipping out about a week and they look excellent. And we shouldn’t have any problem. We’ve already done over 200 loads, so we’re letting them roll.”

That’s just the beginning of a busy harvesting season that will see more than 2 million boxes of onions ship out of the Bland Farms processing facility. While the growing conditions did have some effect on this year’s quantity, the quality will remain the same.

“The yields have been a little off in terms of total weight per acre,” says Riner. “However, the quality has been pretty good. We have had some quality issues on the first side on some onions, but others have made up for that. We see a tighter onion, it’s firmer, it might be a little smaller but he flavor is there.”

This year, you should be on the lookout for bags of the smaller onions called Lil’ O’s, which have the same big flavor in a smaller package.

“See, when you do onions in the field, you’ll have anywhere from a 4″ onion down to a 1″ onion. So, you get all different sizes all the time. The smaller onion, that we have not marketed in the past, it’s the smaller onions that taste just as sweet and is just as good a quality but there’s not as much size on them. But they’re perfect for putting in stews and different areas that you can use them in,” says Bland.

So far, there has been a large demand for this product, which means consumers can expect to see them in their stores soon.

“What we would do with them is put then in a bag and just sell them bulk as peewees and stuff like that,” says Bland. “But there really wasn’t a market for them. They were real cheap. But marketing is all about how someone perceives the product and you got to make them want it. And that’s what we’re doing here.”

So, no matter the size of the onion, consumers can expect the same great taste year after year thanks to the time, effort, and money these producers put into growing this crop.

“You know, they’ve invested a lot in the research center as well as some of the other trials we do with the University of Georgia and that’s really paid off,” says Riner. “More and more producers are producing a sweeter and sweeter onion.”

By: Damon Jones

AMERICAN PECAN COUNCIL NAMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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Fort Worth, TX –  Alexander J. Ott, an agriculture industry leader with more than a decade of experience leading category organizations, will join the American Pecan Council (APC) as its new Executive Director beginning July 1, 2018. Ott currently serves as Executive Director of the California Apple Commission, the California Olive Committee and the California Blueberry Commission, and will relocate from California to Texas to lead the APC.

The APC’s mission is to help build demand for pecans, America’s native nut.  The Council recently launched the pecan industry’s first-ever consumer campaign: American Pecans, The Original Supernut™, a brand positioning and education initiative to get Americans to think about pecans in a new way. In addition to overseeing the domestic marketing for pecans, Ott will work in close partnership with the Council to conduct research, gather industry data, assessments, oversee grades, standards and packaging – which are enabled by the recent passage of the Federal Marketing Order for pecans.

“I’m excited to join an organization that has built such strong momentum in such a short time, thanks to the dedication and passion of the people behind it,” said Ott. “I’m humbled to be able to work on behalf of the thousands of American pecan growers, shellers and handlers across the entire pecan belt to help drive production, support research, educate trade and ultimately grow consumer demand for the American Pecan.”

Ott brings 14 years of experience working with federal and state marketing orders and various export programs to support California’s apple, olive, kiwifruit and blueberry industries. Prior to his work with commissions, Ott served on the staffs of California state assemblymen and United States Congressman John T. Doolittle, focusing on agriculture and natural resource issues. Ott earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from California State University, Sacramento and his Master of Arts in International Relations and Political Science from California State University, Fresno. Ott also graduated from the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation.

“Alex Ott has the experience, the education and the vision to lead APC well into the future,” said Mike Adams, chairperson of the American Pecan Council. “An 11-member working group was charged with selecting the new executive director and unanimously chose Alex – a true testament to our collective confidence in what he brings to this organization and industry.”

Russell Reynolds Associates, a global executive search firm, assisted the American Pecan Council and its search committee in the recruitment of the executive director.

For more information about the American Pecan Council, membership and the Federal Marketing Order, visit www.AmericanPecan.com.

FFA Talent Competitions Highlight More Than Just Ag

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Macon, GA – If you can sing, play an instrument, or better yet, do both, then FFA has a spot for you. As the organization continues to improve year in and year out, so too does its annual talent show.

“The talent show began as a way for students who don’t necessarily compete in the CDEs or things such as that and they have something outside of just the normal agricultural round for them to really embrace their talents and skills that they were given and showcase those to the other students that we have,” says Sierra Milligan, National FFA Talent Coordinator.  “It allows them to be up on stage and really sing their hearts out. I can’t even describe how exciting it is. I work with the Georgia FFA Talent and I also work with the National FFA Talent and to see students not only from our state excel, but from all the states across the nation do so well. I can’t say anything other than it’s amazing.”

Amazing definitely describes this young lady. Victoria James is a Senior at Pataula Charter Academy in Edison, Georgia and tells me she’s a small-town girl with big world dreams. Victoria says she started singing in the 5th grade and has had a passion for music ever since. One of her biggest fans is her FFA advisor, Kitty Bodiford.

“I’ve always believed that there was something in agriculture or FFA for everyone regardless of their background, regardless of their career choice and this is an example of that,” says Kitty Bodiford, Advisor with Pataula Charter Academy. “Something that I’ve always been able to do is encourage students who I know have talent and push them towards this and that’s why I’ve had so many kids participate in it. It gives those kids that have a little something extra an opportunity to pursue music or to pursue that side of FFA.”

As far as experience, Victoria certainly had the edge in this year’s competition. That’s because as recently as October she was front and center on a much larger scale as in the National FFA show in Indianapolis.

“It was nerve racking at first, I’m not going to lie,” says Victoria James, a senior at Pataula Charter Academy. “That was my biggest crowd. Just the Lord was over me, I couldn’t do it without him and just seeing the crowd with me, FFA is the best crowd you can ever sing in front of.”

Like Victoria, Pickens High School freshmen Emma Long also shared the spotlight in Indianapolis. When asked how the talent competition has benefited her FFA experience, Emma says it’s taught her more about stage presence than anything and has even helped her with public speaking engagements.

“What it does for someone like me, is if you do want to pursue a career maybe in the performing arts industry, it helps you learn more about how you are as a performer, because it’s like anything else, you have your own style the way you do things. My style of performer is, I like to talk to the crowd, I like to get them involved,” says Emma Long, a freshman at Pickens High School.

“So, we definitely gotten some more support which I am thankful for that,” says Milligan. “I want to thank all of our sponsors that do sponsor the talent competition and we have some really great people who back us, and I foresee the future growing even further.”

By: Ray D’Alessio

FFA Students Volunteer Time to Macon Community

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Macon, GA – Living to Serve. It’s the last three words in the FFA motto, and it was put into practice on the first day of convention, as high school students from all over the state volunteered their time in the Macon community that served as their host for the weekend.

“Roughly 800 FFA members of the approximately of the 6,000-7,000 that are attending convention this weekend will be out in the community,” says Kevin Jump, Central Region Ag Education for the FFA. “This year, we will be at 12 sites.”

One of those was the Rescue Mission of Central Georgia, an organization that serves as a life recovery program for both men and women in need. This particular project was a natural fit for the FFA, as the kids got a chance to showcase some of their Ag knowledge.

“I mean, it’s always good to do work and research other stuff, but it’s always good to sort of return to your roots literally and physically,” says Jump. “It’s good to work with the soil, you know, it’s hands on. That’s what I really love about it. It’s hands on. You’re returning back to what you did first year, what you did as a kid really.”

“We’ve got these wonderful kids with the FFA out here planting gardens, and not just planting, they weeded the raised beds and they put a lot of hard work into that,” says Pat Chastain, President of the Rescue Mission of Middle Georgia. “So, we’re going to take pride in making sure this thing is maintained in the right way. So, to see them and their hard work was huge.”

While all this hard work will certainly benefit the Rescue Mission, it’s also helpful for the students, as they get pride in knowing they had a big hand in improving the community.

“I really think it’s great to help the community just because, you know, you’re becoming a part of it,” says Kevin Poole, part of the Locust Grove FFA Chapter. “You’re not just standing aside. You’re being active. You’re helping yourself be helping other people and that’s truly a great feeling.”

“These young kids come out and wanted to know how they could give back and how they could help somebody that was in need and volunteered their time and effort so that we could have fresh vegetables here to serve our men and women,” says Chastain. “So, that touched our hearts.”

This effort will be appreciated by the 36 men, 7 women, and 22 children at the Rescue Mission that will be able to enjoy meals that are literally farm to table.

“There’s a few things that we really use around here a lot and that can go a long way, like tomatoes and squash and peppers. So, I think that’s going to be the bulk of what’s planted and the guys really appreciate fresh vegetables. So, what’s grown in that garden goes right back in house,” says Chastain.

All this is truly a labor of love for these students, as they genuinely enjoy the community outreach.

“You know, I really like it just because all my friends are out here. All my teachers are out here, my advisors, people from different schools. I can really meet new people, new other members and just having a great time helping people,” says Poole.

Having the nearly 800 members helping out in the community is not just a great message being sent by the FFA, it also serves as inspiration to those involved with the organization.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see and it’s incredibly contagious,” says Poole. “It actually brings life back into us older teachers who have kind of been around a while, been there done that, that new enthusiasm that the student shines is just a bright light to see.”

By: Damon Jones