By Clint Thompson
A recent meeting with members of Georgia’s legislative delegation allowed the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association an opportunity to convey its continued insistence that a farm bill be passed sooner rather than later.
Chris Butts, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA), discussed the meeting’s importance and why growers need a farm bill as soon as possible.
“We met with most of the members of the Georgia delegation and as you can imagine farm bill is at the top of that conversation and the need for getting that passed for our other commodities and some of our row crops; those guys are really in dire straights. They were receptive,” Butts said. “We pushed hard for the urgency of passing a farm bill and the urgency of bringing relief, not just to the fruit and vegetable sector but all of Ag.
“I think our position is, we will continue to try to make our lawmakers aware of the situation that we’re facing with imports, input costs, labor and everything else so that whenever it does move, we’re ready and they’re aware of our concerns and are actively helping us to try to find solutions.
“In terms of when it will happen, I hate to hazard a guess on that. We’d like to see it happen in a lame duck session, but political forces may delay that out until next year.”
The farm bill is a piece of legislation that is renewed every five years. President Trump signed the current farm bill into law on Dec. 20, 2018.