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By Clint Thompson Southeast specialty crop producers are once again facing a substantial increase in the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for 2025. Georgia and Alabama are experiencing a 9% increase to $16.08, an increase of $1.40 per hour from the previous rate of $14.68 in 2024. Florida’s new AEWR is estimated to be $16.23, a 10% increase from the …
President-elect Donald Trump has selected Brooke Rollins to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in his second term. Currently, Rollins serves as president and chief executive officer of the America First Policy Institute. Rollins was formerly director of the Domestic Policy Council and assistant to the president for Strategic Initiatives in the White House under President Donald Trump, where …
Alabama Christmas tree farmer Steve Mannhard remembers a time when trees were purchased a day or two before Dec. 25. That’s not the case anymore. Families will flock to Christmas tree farms across Alabama this weekend with hopes of finding the perfect tree and set up before Thanksgiving. Being a producer with Fish River Farms in Baldwin County, Alabama, Mannhard …
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Florida invites farmers, ranchers and forest landowners who were impacted by recent hurricanes to participate in a webinar focused on available FSA disaster recovery resources. “The Farm Service Agency is here to help Florida agriculture recover from damages caused by hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton,” said Deborah …
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced it has partnered with Alabama to award $5.9 million for six projects through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI) to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain and strengthen local and regional food systems. “Projects funded through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program …
RALEIGH – The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services soil testing lab is about to hit its busy season. Growers and homeowners are encouraged to submit soil samples by Nov. 26 to avoid peak-season fees and to get results and recommendations sooner. Peak-season fees will be waived for the western counties impacted by Hurricane Helene. “Accurate lime and …
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff pressed both political parties on Wednesday on the urgency of passing agricultural disaster assistance for Georgia before the end of the year. Ossoff testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations on the urgent need to support Georgia agriculture after the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene. “The numbers are staggering, but this isn’t about …
By Clint Thompson The Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association (GFVGA) is eager to work with the President-Elect Donald Trump and his administration. Though this will mark Trump’s second term as president, his administration will look much differently. Chris Butts, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, discussed his organization’s mindset when working with newly appointed leaders …
ATLANTA, GA — The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) has received confirmation from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the first detection of Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula or SLF) was made in Fulton County, Georgia on Oct. 22, 2024, and confirmed by USDA APHIS on Nov. 14, 2024. The first confirmed detection of the Spotted Lanternfly was made in Pennsylvania …
Imagine a future where nursery growers can effortlessly manage their plants with cutting-edge automation technologies, using potting or weed-spraying robots, instead of having to dig each hole or spray each pot by hand. With the help of a $9.8 million grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), this vision is becoming a reality. UF/IFAS will use …
