‘Agriculture as a pawn’: Ga. farmers caught in political battle

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper called on Congress to the federal spending bill.

The spending bill includes nearly $100 billion in disaster relief, including relief for Georgia farmers. If not approved by a midnight deadline on Friday, the government will shut down.

”From soaring input costs to low commodity prices, the expiration of the Farm Bill, and devastating natural disasters, these past few years have been some of the hardest for our farm families in our nation’s history,” Harper said in a statement. “We have worked around the clock to do everything in our power to get our farm families back on their feet, and thanks to the diligent work of those of Congress who are fighting on behalf of agriculture, including a number of those in our congressional delegation, it is my understanding that a deal on disaster assistance and economic relief has been reached and will be released later today.”

Harper said while the destruction from Hurricane Helene is still “too raw and real in Georgia,” some in Washington D.C. have been “using agriculture as a pawn and apparently, don’t seem to care about the farm families that deliver the food, fiber and shelter that this country relies on every day.”

“The continued success of our farm families, our nation’s national security, and our consumers, who will benefit from lower prices at the grocery store, all depend on Congress ing significant disaster relief and economic assistance,” Harper said. “It is time for Washington, D.C. to do its job, and it is imperative that our entire congressional delegation these measures to ensure our farm families remain strong and consumers can continue to enjoy the safest, most abundant and most affordable food supply in the world. The eyes of Georgia and the nation are watching — and it cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Tom Smith, professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, said not helping farmers could hurt consumers.

“I think that if farmers don’t get the relief that they need and you see farmers go out of business, you would see a decline in food supplies and then see an uptick in prices. And as we know, consumers are not very happy with the trend in food prices. And so if farmers don’t get some relief, you’ll end up seeing some other farmers go out of business,” said Smith.

A preliminary assessment from the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the Georgia Forestry Commission and the University of Georgia found that Hurricane Helene left behind an estimated $6.46 billion in damage to Georgia’s agriculture and forestry industries.

Georgia’s top commodity is pecans. Pecan orchards in the counties hit by Helene range from 30-70% tree loss and a loss of 36 million pounds of pecans, according to UGA Pecan Extension.

Georgia’s second biggest commodity is cotton. The hurricane hit around harvest time for cotton crops. The wind flattened fields, stripped cotton from the plants, and lowered the quality of surviving bolls. As of Oct.10, it’s estimated that 500,000-600,000 bales of cotton were lost with an economic impact of $207 to $220 million.

Southeast Georgia poultry producers lost about 800 houses to Helene and are estimated to have suffered $500 to $520 million in damages, according to the preliminary loss estimates released by the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Georgia’s horticulture sector was hit hard and is estimated to have sustained $450 million in damage to crop loss, future income and greenhouses and other infrastructure, the UGA CAES preliminary damage report found.

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