Tag Archives: John holcomb

Will a New Farm Bill Bring Relief to Producers?

Posted on by

Washington, D.C. |

Each and every day, farmers and producers continue to struggle as input prices, regulatory burdens, and overall costs of production continue to rise. Couple that with uncertain weather and markets, and it’s no doubt been a challenging time for producers across the country. That’s of course why a new Farm Bill passage is so imperative. The good news is that there has been movement on a bill, but the process of getting it to the President’s desk will most certainly be a challenge as the majority of the more than one trillion-dollar bill isn’t designated for production ag.

“One of the challenges with getting the farm bill adopted is that SNAP and other nutritional benefits now consume, no pun intended, over eighty percent of total farm bill spending, which means that less than ten percent of what we call the farm bill is going into ARC, PLC, and the other risk mitigation tools that our farmers depend on. So, as we write the bill, we have a total dollar figure that we can spend on the bill, and as the snap portion, the food portion of the bill has become larger and larger over time, that has driven down what is available for production agriculture,” says Representative Austin Scott, from Georgia’s 8th District.

However, for Scott, that’s why getting updated reference prices is a priority, as he says producers have a high risk due to the increased costs associated with production, which constitutes better protections.

“Without that increase in reference prices and loan values, our farmers simply would not have the risk mitigation tools that they need to cover their operations if you have a commodity price collapse. So that’s one of our big concerns for the bill and as we push it forward, making sure that with the increased cost of production, our farmers have those stop losses in place, that keep them growing the crops next year. So we’re focused very much on the production ag, the commercial production ag, the tons of food that we need in this country, so that we’re able to walk in the grocery store and buy the food that candidly, we’ve become a little bit spoiled with in this country,” says Scott.

Another major issue producers are facing are increases in farm labor, as hourly wages and fees associated with guest worker programs have risen year after year, something Scott says is a big burden as producers can’t prepare for such drastic, unexpected increases in costs and is something that needs addressing at the congressional level.

“People expect reasonable increases in the rates, but when they come back with twenty percent and then tag it with another twenty percent, those aren’t the exact percentages, but you understand what I’m getting at, you can’t make those adjustments in your business. So on one hand, the USDA and other government agencies complain that while the size of the farm is getting larger and larger and larger, and on the other hand, they continue to adopt policies that drive the small farmer out of business. So, I think you will see um, the wage rate addressed,” says Scott.

By: John Holcomb

One Family’s Love for Beef Transformed into a Thriving Business

Posted on by

Bostwick, GA

In Morgan County, it’s truly a labor of love for Stan and Vanessa Nabors, owners of Faithway Cattle – a family run cattle operation that specializes in farm to table beef. It was journey they started a few years back when after wanting to make a change with their operation, which, according to the Nabors, turned out to be a great decision for their farm.

“We started with just beef cows, did that up until seventeen, and started then raising beef for consumers. The reason for that was there was just not enough money left over in the calf/cow operation to be able to sustain the farm and make it worthy to keep,” says Stan. “So, we started that in seventeen, and has really been good for us. My wife helped me a lot with that. She’s the one that does the marketing, and it has grown every year. It really has taken off. You know, from the first year we harvested one, to now we harvest thirty to forty a year.”

“We’ve had great reception, the public wanting to know where their food is coming from, they’re wanting to support local, they’re wanting to have that relationship and also there’s a lot of people outside of just wanting to support local and their local farmer, knowing where their food’s coming from, is about the health benefits, so I will say it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done because I didn’t grow up in this, however, it’s one of the most rewarding things that I am doing, and so I’m very grateful for that to provide a good product, a premium product that not only is wonderful in taste but just the health benefits behind it,” says Vanessa.

As they stated, their business has grown year over year, which of course can be attributed to having a great product, but it also has to do with their marketing efforts, which allows them to show their customers who they are as producers and also gives them a chance to share recipes, management practices, and other digital content that helps build relationships with customers.

“What’s important to me about that is to be able to provide a premium product to the customer, that can have a relationship with their farmer and know where their beef comes from and the quality of it that they can expect of it,” says Stan. “The public has really brought it to light, you know, that they need to know their farmer because of all the issues. I think they benefit from it, it’s a good thing for them and for me too.”

“Everyone deserves to have good food and if they choose to want to buy local and know their farmer behind it, I look at that as just an extra bonus too,” says Vanessa.

As for the future, the Nabors say that they have plans to take their operation to the next level but aren’t sure when those plans will take place – all they know is, just like in the past, they’re relying on faith to get them there.

“We definitely want to expand our herd and we are entertaining some agritourism to happen here on the farm and we both would like to have a retail store. Don’t know all the details of how that’s going to look, we both are firm believers and know that we all have a journey here and when it’s meant to be, in the perfect time it will happen,” says Vanessa.

By: John Holcomb

Summer Storms Damage Southwest Georgia Cotton Crop

Posted on by

Doerun, GA

Things can certainly happen in a blink of an eye, and cotton producers here in Southwest Georgia know that all too well after recent storms brought high winds, hail, pouring rains, and even tornadoes that hammered their crop. It’s something Camp Hand, Extension Cotton Agronomist with the University of Georgia, says is a bad situation as seedling cotton is a vulnerable crop, but believes there’s still hope.

“Cotton right now is anywhere from first bloom if you planted early to just coming out of the ground, so there’s a lot of variability in our crop and the impacts on the crop, kind of depend on what stage it’s in,” says Hand. “The field that we’re at today, it’s probably the second week of squaring, which is where I would imagine most of our crop is right now, and this field looks better than it did a few days ago. It’s starting to come out of it a little bit, the terminals were broken out of this cotton, which means it’s kind of got to divert resources back to vegetative growth to compensate for that loss, but that’s kind of the situation we’re in right now is waiting on sunshine.”

However, according to Hand, at this point, it’s just a waiting game, as they won’t know the full scope of the damage for a while.

“It’s hard to tell what the losses are going to be right now,” says Hand. “I will say that depending on the stage of crop could change things. Seedling cotton is a little more vulnerable to something like this and if the hail was a little bit worse in seedling cotton fields and you see some sticks or like it broke off everything and coddle leaves were gone, then that plant is dead, but these right here, you still see green leaves, it’s still, you know, photosynthesizing, still working, so this crop definitely has got a chance and a lot of potential, and of course, whether it’s seedling and stuff like that, it kind of changes what we think about what we need to do going forward, but right now, we’re just kind of in a tough spot.”

Tough spot indeed, as Hand says it’s too late to replant, and says that the only thing producers can really do is wait on sunshine and warmer weather.

“The thing about it is, if you’ve got seedling cotton that was killed pretty much, today is what, June twentieth I believe it is, so I wouldn’t replant today and you can’t, because it’s too wet. So either you’ve got to stick with what you’ve got, or we’ve got to change course, because it’s a little too late to replant cotton. In terms of trying to bring it out of this, what we really need is sunshine and ninety degree days and that’s not really in the forecast, but on a day like today, this is exactly what the crop needs. There’s nothing you can spray, nothing really you can do to kind of hasten the crop coming out of this,” says Hand.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Cattlemen’s Association President Dedicated to Organization, Industry

Posted on by

Blairsville, GA

For Joe Garner, this farm here and this herd of cattle is a lifelong dream that, after many years, has finally become a reality. Garner, who’s family had cattle when he was younger, has always longed to have a herd of his own someday and now that the day is finally here, he says it’s nothing short of a blessing.

“I got my interest and my feet dirty in the garden,” says Joe Garner, President of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association. “I started driving a tractor when I was in the eighth grade. We still put up hay and those kinds of things, but the cattle, they made a decision when I was five, to market the cattle. And so, I yearned for that day to cattle to come back into my life from that moment. So I started showing calves, steers, eventually showed some heifers throughout late middle and high school, and I guess it’s always been a dream to have a farm. It’s really a blessing to have a place like this.”

In 2014, Garner decided to get involved with the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association at the local level, where he has since served in various roles, the most recent of which is state President – something he considers an honor as he wholeheartedly believes in the organization and its mission to advance and advocate for the beef industry and serve the cattlemen of Georgia both in the field and Atlanta.

“The Cattlemen’s Association is charged to educate our producers, to help with marketing in some ways. We also have a strong legislative component where we actively follow bills and legislation through the process, each forty-day session there at the State Capitol,” says Garner. “It’s really a critical link for all of us, not just the cattle producers, but all farmers in general, to kind of keep some of that legislation at bay that may cause us undue harm, because they don’t see it from our angle. They don’t understand the implication that food and fiber doesn’t just happen at a grocery store. Food and fiber happens out here in the field.”

Not only does Garner believe in the Cattlemen’s Association, Garner also believes in the power of beef and says that it’s a wholesome, renewable product that not only feeds people, but enhances their lives by what beef cattle and beef cattle operations have to offer.

“Beef is a wholesome food. It is packed with many vitamins and minerals. It’s a firm source of protein and it is renewable. It allows us to keep the green space that is critical for all of our lives across the state. You know, many people may not own cattle, but I would venture to say a majority of people enjoy cattle out grazing in a field. They enjoy that green space. And that to me is a critical piece to the quality of life for all Georgians,” says Garner.

By: John Holcomb

Broccoli Harvest Underway in Southwest Georgia

Posted on by

Moultrie, GA

Down in southwest Georgia, it’s time for some fresh broccoli, and operations like this one, Hartco farms are hard at work in the fields, harvesting this year’s crop. It’s been a season full of hard work, but it’s certainly paid off as they’ve grown a good, quality crop they are certainly proud of.

“I’d say at this point our yields are above average,” says Clay Sellers, Owner of Hartco Farms. “We’ve really had a good growing season on this broccoli, but I would say at this point right now, we’ve had as good of a growing season as we could have had.”

Even though Sellers says they had a great growing season, that doesn’t mean it was an easy one, as sellers says broccoli is a tough crop to grow – one that requires a lot of attention, especially when having to deal with the unpredictability of mother nature.

“Broccoli is a very temperamental plant in South Georgia, as our seasons vary. A lot of heat and humidity in South Georgia. The growing season in the spring can vary from sixty to ninety days. The biggest thing with broccoli is the harvest interval, whenever that thing gets ready, you’ve got to cut it. So, some of that broccoli we’ll end up cutting four times; we have cut it five in instances,” says Sellers.

Sellers says one big factor when growing produce like broccoli is water and the availability to it, as Sellers says there are times when, if they didn’t have irrigation, they wouldn’t be able to grow a crop.

“Our seasons, the way they are in South Georgia, you could be watering that broccoli four times a week or you could be watering it one, it all depends on climate. We’ve tried soil moisture sensors in the past, but those things are not as accurate as they would need to be in this instance, just because a lot of times, we’re watering that broccoli for maintenance to keep that plant from stressing. Our soil moisture conditions could be high at that point, but that plant could be wilted because it’s under heat and a lot of stress, so we’ll use that water to ease the stress on the plant and to make it continue to produce a viable product,” says Sellers.

According to Sellers, the biggest factor they’ve faced the last couple of years, however, is not weather related at all; it’s the costs of much needed inputs that continue to rise when commodity prices remain stagnant.

“Inputs absolutely are probably one of the biggest challenges we face. Fertilizer being number one in the last two years. I use a lot of rainbow homogenized fertilizer, and that stuff is up three hundred bucks a ton what it was two years ago. Nitrogen, same deal, I mean, right across the board. Inputs in general are up. The problem we as producers face is the product we’re selling has not increased at the same pace as the product we’re buying,” says Sellers.

By: John Holcomb

Thomas County Citrus Tree Nursery Growing Certified Trees, Georgia Citrus Industry

Posted on by

Ochlocknee, GA

Two years ago, this greenhouse full of young citrus trees was just a dream for Lindy Savelle, Owner of Georgia Grown Citrus here in Thomas County. However, as you can see, that dream has now flourished into a reality; one in which Savelle grows a variety of different citrus trees designed to be more vigorous and suitable in colder climates.

“To be successful in Georgia, you really need to have a tree on a cold hardy rootstock,” says Savelle. “If you buy it from someplace else, it may not even be on a rootstock. It might just be grown from a clipping or it might be on a rootstock that is an aggressive grower and less cold hardy. So that’s the first thing. You want to have a rootstock that’s cold hardy in nature and then it has to come from a certified rootstock seed. Then, the next thing is our trees are budded, very similar to grafting, but it’s a bud being placed on the rootstock, and that needs to come from a certified mother tree, or a scion tree.”

Not only are Savelle’s seeds and root stocks USDA certified, so is her greenhouse, which means all of their trees are kept in a disease-free environment and are tested before they are allowed to sell them.

“We have people in neighboring states; Alabama, Mississippi, that drive all the way here to purchase trees, but also, we ship trees throughout the US. We’ve shipped to Maine, to Washington and down,” says Savelle. “So, in order to ship outside the state, you have to be USDA certified, but what that actually means to the consumer is that the trees are tested twice a year and the facility itself is inspected once a month. Which, if you’re looking for a citrus tree, you want it to be one that’s grown in an environment that is close to being disease-free as, as you can get it and that’s what we’re striving for, is disease free trees.”

According to Savelle, the importance of greenhouse nurseries like this one with disease tested and free trees can’t be overstated, as citrus is very susceptible to disease and an outbreak could be detrimental to the state’s citrus Industry.

“Florida, our sister state, has lost eighty percent of its production due to disease, primarily citrus greening, which is a devastating disease. It oftentimes takes about five years for that disease to surface where you know something’s wrong with that tree,” says Savelle. “We have a commercial industry now in Georgia of citrus, and we’ve got half a million trees in the ground and a hundred and fifty plus growers who are planting this for a commercial production. So, it’s so important that we protect their investment, our investment. We also have a commercial growth as well. So, you’ve put out a lot of money, you want to protect it from disease. Citrus is one of the highest disease potential commodities that there is.”

By: John Holcomb

Third Generation Logger Working to Keep Business and Industry Thriving

Posted on by

Cochran, GA

Logging is no doubt big business here in Georgia, as it contributes almost forty billion dollars to the state’s economy, which of course wouldn’t be possible without hard working loggers and logging operations like this one in middle Georgia – Sanders Logging, a family run operation that’s hard at work harvesting timber with the next generation taking over the reins.

“I’m a third generation, so my grandaddy and my father started this company back a long time ago and they incorporated it back in 1982, so that’s how we started off; we started off short wooding and it kind of transformed into what it is today,” says Harry Sanders III, Co-Owner of Sanders Logging. “I was born in ‘91 and I knew from a young age that I always wanted to be a logger, so I grew up around it and as soon as I could get out here and get on a piece of equipment, I did. I was fortunate enough to go to the University of Georgia to Warnell for forestry school and I graduated back in 2014 and I’ve been full-time with the company ever since.

Sanders has certainly found his stride, as he still has the same passion he had when he was younger, even taking that passion a step further by becoming an advocate for the state’s forestry industry and the work they do every day – something he believes is important for the future of the industry and business.

“I thoroughly love what I do and I love to tell people about what I do because a general consensus of the logging industry or a logger in general is we’re cutting trees, we’re hurting the environment and all, but we’re really not. We’re really managers of a crop we call trees, so I guess one of my biggest things is I just want to educate the public on what we do and I feel that you need to get out in front of people that don’t quite understand what we do,” says Sanders. “So, that’s been my biggest driver is really telling my story and in doing that, that’s given me opportunities to speak at the capitol, it’s given me opportunities to speak to schools, classrooms of all ages, and I’ve really enjoyed doing that and I hope to continue to be able to do that.”

It’s because of that passion, hard work, and dedication that Sanders not only loves what he does but has been named the titles of Georgia Logger of the Year and Southeast Logger of the year – an honor he says was earned by not only him, but everyone that he works alongside day in and day out.

“Sometimes you get lost in the day to day, just the work we do every day and when somebody gives you a pat on the back; sometimes it’s worth more than money can buy, so I would say that’s kind of my stance on it is that I’m really blessed that somebody saw that we’ve done a good job and they wanted to put us forth,” says Sanders. “It’s been a blessing to see that my peers and other industries voted us, not me, it’s my whole crowd the Georgia Logger of the Year and the Southeast Logger of the Year as well.”

By: John Holcomb