Page 1 - 042220-Market-Bulletin

EstablishEd 1917 a CEntury of sErviCE

GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE • GARY W. BLACK, COMMISSIONER • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2020 • VOL. 103, NO. 9 • © COPYRIGHT 2020
The GDA is open for business

Employees support public health, agriculture through pandemic

1917 – 2017
By Amy Carter The final number of contacts will
amy.carter@agr.georgia.gov 100th Anniversary include 16,000 retail food establish-

While most of their coworkers la- ments – convenience stores, retail
grocery stores, retail bakeries, retail
bor from the relative safety of home, meat markets and home-based food
the staff of the Georgia Department operations, Adan said. The division
of Agriculture’s Seed Lab report to has seen a jump in applications for
their Tifton office daily in support of licenses in that last category, known
growers who produce half of the na- as Cottage Food Operations, since
tion’s supply of peanuts. the novel coronavirus forced many
The GDA has been open for busi- retail stores, restaurants and schools
ness and operating according to CDC to close. Within the last two months,
guidelines for preventing the spread the division has licensed an addition-
of COVID-19 since a global outbreak al 1,000 home-based food businesses.
of the virus prompted the declaration “That shows the climate of the sit-
of a national emergency March 13. uation. People are not able to work at
The department’s headquarters in At- this time or are trying to provide food
lanta is open Mondays, Wednesdays others can’t get to,” Adan said. “They
and Fridays and staffed at a reduced can use their home kitchens, but
number to comply with physical dis- only for certain products, so it’s the
tancing requirements while still car- non-potentially hazardous products –
rying out the department’s mission. cookies, cakes, jams, jellies – things
Food and agriculture were rec- that don’t require refrigeration, things
ognized as critical infrastructure by that don’t require pH monitoring.”
the U.S. Department of Homeland Inspectors use visual tools such as
Security on March 19. Workers in Facetime or Zoom to perform virtual
fields deemed critical – such as health inspections and discuss regulations
care, pharmaceuticals and food sup- Tifton Seed Lab Manager Dedria “DeeDee” Smith pulls a sample of peanut seed from the library at the lab in this file photo with owners whose applications for
ply – “have a special responsibility from 2018. Seed lab personnel are following CDC guidelines for social distancing while staffing the lab to perform tests critical licenses were already in the pipeline.
to maintain your normal work sched- for Georgia growers. (GDA file) Inspectors will revisit those sites
ule,” according to a memo issued by in person once the COVID-19 crisis
Chris Krebs, director of DHS’s Cyber and Infrastructure Se- businesses open.” has passed. The same is being done with complaint inspec-
curity Agency. Most GDA employees – including field inspectors – are le- tions of licensed facilities to minimize physical contact.
“Food and agriculture are a vital part of ensuring our econ- veraging technology to work remotely. Natalie Adan, director “We are still trying to protect public health, and we’re do-
omy continues to operate at the highest level,” said Georgia of the Food Safety Division, said her staff has made more than ing what we can, just in a different way,” she said.
Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black. “We commend the 4,000 phone calls to licensed and regulated establishments Adam Buuck, director of the Animal Industry Division,
many workers within this industry for keeping us all fed and under their jurisdiction to verify their status and ensure that said the four programs in that division – animal health, live-
healthy during this unprecedented time. Our agency will con- those still allowed to operate through the state’s shelter-in- stock and poultry, companion animal/equine, and meat in-
tinue to do our part to keep food safe, animals protected and place order are doing so safely. See OPEN FOR BUSINESS, page 15
COVID-19 redefines laws of supply, demand

Produce growers fret over lost buyers Dairy farmers struggle with dumping orders

By Jay Jones By Amy Carter
jay.jones@agr.georgia.gov amy.carter@agr.georgia.gov

Bill Brim has heard the stories from friends in Florida about As a consumer, it’s hard to reconcile images of thousands of gallons
farmers who have plowed squash, beans and other produce into the of deliberately spilled milk with visions of empty dairy cases at the local
ground because there is nowhere to sell them. He had to mow a grocery. Or full dairy cases plastered with signs limiting the quantities
couple of fields of collards at Lewis Taylor Farms in Tift County, consumers can buy. It’s been tough for the dairy industry to understand,
Please deliver this paid subscription to: Published by the Ga. Department of Agriculture Gary W. Black, Commissioner we get everything coming in like bell peppers, cucumbers, squash other time of year. The climate is right, it’s not real cold, it’s not real hot,
but it hasn’t gotten bad enough to start taking those types of losses
too.
elsewhere.
That’s because the COVID-19 outbreak is hitting milk producers at
peak production, during the so-called “spring flush.”
“It’s really got us worried where the markets are going to be when
“Dairy cows produce more milk between February and May than any
and eggplant,” he said. “We just have to see, but I tell you one thing,
if it’s 50-60 percent off, you can come on over and get my farm.”
they’re out grazing, the grass is growing really fast. It’s just that time of
year when everything starts coming alive, and dairy cows are no differ-
That reality is faced by Georgia’s produce farmers who have been
ent,” said Matt Johnson, owner of Providence Dairy in Climax, a town
affected more so by the COVID-19 economic shutdown than other
about 10 miles east of Bainbridge.
growers. It’s bad all around for agriculture, but for vegetable and
Typically, the extra milk goes to balancing plants. There are two that
fruit growers, timing is essential to getting crops harvested and to
receive milk from Georgia producers – one in Alabama that makes pro-
shippers.
“When produce gets ready, you’ve got to pick it. It ain’t like going
cessed cheese, and a second that removes the water from milk to make
to a grocery store and getting a can of fruit or vegetables,” Brim
condensed products.
See DAIRY FARMERS, page 15
See PRODUCE GROWERS, page 13