By Clint Thompson
Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture is focused on educating congressional leaders about the importance of passing a new farm bill sooner rather than later.
Speaking at the Georgia Farm Bureau meeting last week, Tyler Harper talked about the significance a new farm bill will have on specialty crop production throughout the Southeast.
“We were all hoping that they would get the farm bill done before the expiration date this year. We’ve continued those open lines of communication with our congressional delegation on the issues related to the farm bill through our office, ensuring that they know and understand the importance of getting it done,” Harper said. “The farm bill is probably the most important ag policy legislation in America. Our farmers and producers in the Ag industry depend on it. They depend upon a strong farm bill to allow us to be successful as an industry. It’s vital that we get that done. I’m going to continue to encourage our friends on the congressional level to get that across the finish line.”
Help with Current Challenges
Harper is adamant a new farm bill will assist farmers with certain challenges they faced in 2023.
“Talking about the tough times that we’ve had in agriculture this year, we can help address those issues through certain policies in the farm bill. We can help ensure that specialty crops are addressed, addressing reference prices and other things and ensuring that our crop insurance programs work and make sense for everybody involved in agriculture,” Harper added. “That will go a long way in helping farmers look forward to a strong 2024 when they know they have strong policies to help them in their industry.”
Georgia’s peach producers suffered extreme losses following a pair of freeze events in March. Pecan growers in the southeast part of the state were devastated by Hurricane Idalia on Aug. 30. That follows another year where farmers were impacted by soaring input costs, unfair trade and low crop prices.