Agribusiness

NEWS - Agribusiness

By Lou Phelps
SBJ Staff Report

Oct. 10, 2011 - The University of Georgia’s Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development has released a report written by professors John C. McKissick and Sharon P. Kane, that captures the labor shortage that Georgia farmers experienced this past Spring and early Summer, and the economic losses to the State.

The new Georgia immigration laws, and perception by migrant farm workers of enhanced enforcement in Georgia, has led to a worker-drain so far this year according to agriculture industry leaders.

Affording to the UGA report, various Georgia agricultural businesses have reported labor shortages during this time period. “The situation appeared most acute in those perishable fresh fruit and vegetable crops just reaching harvest in spring to early summer. These crops are most dependent on timely seasonal harvest and packing labor in order to market perishable, high valued products,” they state.

The report provides a preliminary summary and analysis of the magnitude and economic impact actually reported by producers of seven primary Georgia berry and vegetable crops including Georgia blueberry, blackberry, Vidalia onion, bell pepper, squash, cucumber and watermelon crops which accounted for more than $578 million dollars of production value in 2009.

In addition to a survey instrument developed by the UGA team, the authors and their staffs conducted follow up interviews on incomplete surveys. All raw data collected absent any respondent identification was provided to economists at the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development for analysis and summary.

Of the total responses, 41 of the respondents, representing 19.7 percent of the survey production acreage and 9.1 percent of Georgia’s 2009 acreage, responded they did not experience harvest/packing labor shortages. 148 survey respondents reported they had experienced labor

shortage, representing 80.3 percent of the survey production acreage and 37.3 percent of Georgia’s 2009 acreage. “It is apparent that a significant number of Georgia’s spring Berry and Vegetable producers experienced labor shortages in the spring of 2011,” they conclude.

The Economic Consequences
Utilizing detailed historical and 2011 production and cost data supplied by the survey respondents, the authors calculated production losses or gains incurred by the survey respondents and those attributed to labor for the seven spring crops.

Multiple questions allowed for consistency checks across the data as did the historical yield and price data. Loss calculations were derived from expected yield and price questions and compared to actual production realized from the acreage available for harvest.  The direct losses attributable to labor shortages were estimated to be 5,244 farm laborers and $74.9 million in losses from those seven crops.

Their conclusion is that taking in other factors, the total loss attributed in 2011 from just the Spring and early summer alone, due to labor in the seven crops, would be about $140 million based on loss per acre per crop. But that’s just the loss by the farmers.

Using multiplier impacts, they include money normally generated from all processing companies, suppliers to the farmers, retail sales and retail businesses that would have had customers from those employed by the fruit and vegetable producers and suppliers.

The impacts reach further into the economy as the retailers then ultimately purchase less from others. “On and on the impacts spin through the state and region’s economy, resulting in fewer goods and services or state output produced in a multitude of industries and business not directly associated with fruit and vegetable production,” they explain.

If the survey results were representative of all acreage, the total yearly impact could be as high as $391 million and the job loss would be another 3,260 on a statewide basis.

NEWS - Agribusiness

SBJ Staff Report

Sept 12, 2011 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s agreed last Thursday to declare 150 drought-stricken counties in Georgia disaster areas, as requested by Gov. Nathan Deal. Seven counties in the Coastal Georgia area were included including Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, Bulloch, Liberty, McIntosh, Camden and Glynn.

Since April 2011, many parts of Georgia have experienced extreme weather conditions and suffered numerous crop losses. With the USDA Secretarial Disaster Designation, Georgia farmers will be able to apply for emergency loans and other benefits to ease losses.

“This is good news for farmers in our state,” said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “Our producers battle severe weather conditions year after year, and this designation will help ensure that they can recover from the severe drought conditions. The disaster designation is the first step in that recovery process, and I appreciate Gov. Deal’s hard work on this issue.”

”Producers in the designated counties are now eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008. Farmers have eight months to apply for emergency loan assistance. FSA will consider each application on its own merit by taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.  

Sen. Chambliss encourages producers to check with their local FSA offices regarding eligibility for SURE and other disaster assistance programs. Additional information can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov or www.fema.gov.

 Published by Savannah Business Journal.®All Copyrights Reserved ©2011. www.savannahbusinessjournal.com®

NEWS - Agribusiness

Story to come

NEWS - Agribusiness

 

April 20 - Will Harris III was honored today as Georgia’s 2011 Small Business Persons of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Harris’ farm operation, White Oak Pastures, is one of the largest producers of organic, grass-fed beef in the country. 

 

Harris received his SBA statewide awards from Terri Denison, SBA Georgia District Director,    at an Atlanta luncheon hosted by the Georgia Lenders Quality Circle, a group of active SBA bankers and other small business lenders. Harris was nominated for his award by David D. Dunn at the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center in Albany.   

 

Harris will represent Georgia as the state’s top entrepreneur at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week events, May 18-20, in Washington, D.C. The week’s events and educational forums will mark the 58^th anniversary of the agency and the 48^th annual proclamation of National Small Business Week. 

 

 

NEWS - Agribusiness

The Savannah Tree Foundation  in partnership with Chatham County, the Georgia Forestry Commission  and more than 125 volunteers successfully planted 260 trees in the Westlake area on Saturday, Jan. 15   and Sunday, Jan. 16 , 2011.

Under the leadership of the Savannah Tree Foundation student volunteer groups from Savannah State University, Georgia Tech Savannah Campus, SCAD, Johnson and Windsor High Schools and many other volunteers planted the trees in three hours on Saturday.

The Savannah Tree Foundation is a 28-year-old not-for-profit  urban and community forestry organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and planting canopy trees in Savannah and Chatham County.

The Savannah Tree Foundation’s  mission is, “to  promote, through direct action and education, an awareness of trees as vital environmental resources and an important part of our cultural heritage.”

The foundation’s key program areas include:  community volunteer tree plantings; tree care & maintenance workshops; educational presentations & programming about the value & benefits of trees; public policy work and grassroots advocacy for trees at neighborhood, community, local, state, regional & national levels; Forest Steward volunteer training program; Forestkeeper volunteer program, which helps care for previously planted trees; and stewards of the Candler Oak.  Other current projects include developing natural walking trails at Bacon Park Forest for the City of Savannah and installing landscaping projects for Chatham County, in support of the county’s efforts to be the “Greenest County in Georgia.”

The Savannah Tree Foundation’s next volunteer work day will be Saturday, Feb. 19 at 9 a.m. at the East Broad Street Elementary School. Friday, Feb. 18 is Georgia Arbor Day and the Savannah Tree Foundation members and volunteers will be mulching trees on the school grounds, in observance of Arbor Day.
More information on Arbor Day can be obtained at www.arborday.org. Details about the foundation are available online at www.savannahtree.com.

NEWS - Agribusiness

By Lou Phelps, SBJ Staff

Jan 3, 2011 - Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary W. Black held a press conference today to call attention to his department’s analysis of the impact on agriculture labor in Georgia due to recent changes in federal regulations.  And, Black offered his views on practical solutions to address the concerns of what he termed ‘Georgia’s largest and oldest industry.’

The report, required by Georgia House Bill 87, was delivered to Governor Nathan Deal, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and Speaker David Ralston earlier today.

“The results of this survey continue to make clear that the solution to labor issues facing Georgia producers rests in the hands of the federal government,” Black said Tuesday.  “Agriculture is our state’s number one industry, yet the federal government is failing to provide our farmers with the skilled labor they need to harvest crops in a legal and efficient manner. It is time that our friends in Washington step up to the plate and provide us with a system that works.”

Black’s first recommendation in the report points out that only the federal government has the ability to reform existing agriculture guest worker programs to make them useful and effective for farmers. “Available options for farmers are too cumbersome, unreliable and bureaucratic to be practical in today’s modern economy,” he said.

Additionally, more resources need to be put in place for educating the agriculture industry about the federal H-2A program. And, his third and final recommendation includes the need for more research be conducted in order to fully understand the complexity of agriculture labor in Georgia.

“More than 40 percent of respondents in our study said the federal H-2A program is not applicable to their operations,” Black said, noting this includes year-round agriculture needs, such as dairies, ginners and landscapers. “Another 20 percent of respondents were completely unfamiliar with the option of H-2A for hiring workers, and an additional 16 percent had only heard negative things about it.

“The findings of this report also indicate there are opportunities for improved relations between the agriculture community and the Department of Labor for worker recruitment, while education and outreach will help provide better resources for growers,” Black continued. 

According to Black,  in 2011 Georgia Senators and Representatives offered proposed federal legislation addressing agriculture labor. “We need Senators and Representatives from other states to join this effort in creating a solution to fix the problem,” he said. “Our livelihoods are at stake.”

As consumers increasingly want to know more about where their food comes from, the Department of Agriculture’s survey illustrates the need for a real discussion about a solution to fix labor issues.

“Georgians are concerned about where their food comes from; it is important to them. Our state has a great production capacity, but we need an effective way to get those products from the farm to the table,” Black said. “I challenge consumers to look at the produce available in local stores – you’ll always be able to find blueberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, peaches and the other products you desire – but where these products are grown and sold is directly linked to who is available to harvest them.”

The study obtained responses from 138 Georgia counties, with more than 800 producers responding to the survey, including those from small and large scale operations.

Additional highlights from today’s Georgia Dept. of Agriculture report include:

- Forty-eight percent of respondents found their part-time workforce to be roughly the same over the past five years, while 20 percent reported their workforce to be smaller.

- Twenty-one percent of respondents indicated that fewer full- and part-time workers were hired in 2011 when compared to the last five years; major reasons included a poor economy, loss of revenue, poor worker retention and lack of available workers.

It is unknown if the lack of full- and part-time workers in 2011 was a direct result of the passage of Georgia HB87, however, the study’s findings suggest this could be an issue and identifies a perception that the lack of workers could be related to the passage of HB87, according to Black.

The survey shows producers pay both full and part time workers at, or above, federal minimum wage.

In 2011, more than 50 percent of survey respondents who are producers of blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, squash, tobacco and watermelon reported income losses.

More than 40 percent of respondents said H-2A was not applicable to their farming operations; another 20 percent indicated they were unfamiliar with the program. And, most respondents said they used word of mouth to recruit workers; approximately 13 percent use the Georgia Department of Labor and 3.4 percent reported using H-2A.

This past fall, the University of Georgia issued an analysis and report on labor shortages in Georgia in the ag industry, concluding “during the spring of 2011, numerous agricultural businesses in Georgia reported labor shortages. A survey conducted by the Georgia Department of Agriculture reported a shortage of more than 11,000 jobs during this time period. The situation appeared most acute in those perishable fresh fruit and vegetable crops just reaching harvest in spring to early summer. And UGA estimated the direct and indirect costs to the State to be in the millions.

The full report by Black’s office today is available online at www.agr.georgia.gov.

 

NEWS - Agribusiness

UGA Small Business Development Training

A workshop entitled “Starting A Business” will be held on Thurs, Aug. 19, 2010 at UGA’s Resource Center at 111 East Liberty St., Savannah.  The cost is 69.00 for the three-hour class. 

“If you are thinking about starting a small business, then taking this workshop is a crucial first step,” according to the Lynn Vos, director.

The course includes traits of successful entrepreneuers, market research, legal structures for businesses, estimating start-up costs and cash flow projections, financing alternatives, failure factors and business planning.

Registration is available at www.georgiasbdc.org/ce/savannah or by calling 912-651-3200.

NEWS - Agribusiness

SBJ Staff Report

June 21, 2010 – Amidst the crisis in the U.S. Gulf, Georgia’s critical shrimp fishing season opened on June 8, with the waters now open to power-drawn trawls. Commercial and recreational cast netters, as well as persons using a beach seine can harvest food shrimp from waters open to the use of these gears.

“Catches of shrimp in coast-wide scientific surveys have continued to be below normal in our creek and sound stations, but well above normal at stations located in traditional fishing grounds just offshore,” according to Jim Page, the Coastal Resources Division (CRD) biologist responsible for monthly shrimp sampling.

“Water temperatures are presently 10% above normal and count size looks great so we believe adequate numbers of white shrimp have had an opportunity to spawn,” he adds.

“After considering the results of shrimp population sampling, environmental and economic factors, and discussions with our Shrimp Advisory Panel, we believe opening on June 8 will allow trawlers and other commercial fishers to take advantage of the valuable white shrimp in state waters,” explained Patrick Geer, chief of marine fisheries for CRD.

As of March 1, 2009, both recreational and commercial cast net fishermen are required to use cast nets with a minimum mesh size of 5/8-inch. Commercial harvest of food shrimp with power-drawn trawls are restricted to a period from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Federal waters (beyond 3 miles offshore) are open for food shrimp harvest 24 hours a day.

And, there have been other changes in regulations for the commercial shrimp industry. Trawler operators must not e certified on Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs) and Turtle Excluder

Devices (TEDs) which must be in use on their trawls while operating in both state and federal waters. The Georgia DNR Conservation Rangers, the United States Coast Guard and NMFS agents all enforce BRD and TED requirements.

Trawler operators must also adhere to a 1,000-foot “Boating Safety Zone” along the beaches of Tybee Island, Sea Island, St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island which is in effect from May 1 through September 30. Motorized craft, both recreational and commercial and including personal watercraft, are prohibited in these zones during this period.