$1.9 Billion – Amount Buying Locally Grown Produce Sales Would Pump Into Georgia’s Economy, Study Says

For the first time we can begin to paint a picture of the impact that buying locally grown produce would have on Georgia’s economy, thanks to research conducted by the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development.

The study, “The Local Food Impact: What if Georgians Ate Georgia Produce?” reports that, if each of the approximately 3.7 million households in the state devoted $10 per week to produce grown in Georgia, more than $1.9 billion would be pumped back into the state’s economy.

And for every 5 percent increase in local produce purchasing, the state would see 345 additional jobs, $43.7 million more in sales, and $13.6 million more in farmer income.

“These findings are some of the strongest demonstrations so far of what a small change in consumer behavior could mean for farmers, and for the entire state,” says Georgia Organics Executive Director Alice Rolls. “More than that, I hope this study gets leaders state-wide asking why we don’t see every day foods for our Southern diets growing in the fields of Georgia.”

The study also found that Georgians eat less than the national average of locally grown food. The study’s authors generated scenarios that approximate what agriculture production would be like if Georgians consumed the national average of locally grown food. Currently, direct farmer to consumer sales contribute 132 jobs, $4.5 million in labor income, and $14.4 million in sales.

If Georgia produce farmers increased direct farm-to-consumer produce sales to the national average level, the result would be an overall statewide contribution of 228 jobs, $8.1 million in labor income, and $25.8 million in sales.

In addition, study authors analyzed the potential of individual crops by comparing the amount that average Georgians eat, and the amount that Georgia farmers grow.

They found, for example, the average Georgian eats about 30 pounds of fresh lettuce per year, or about 285 million pounds state-wide. Yet the state produces less than 245,000 pounds per year, which is less than one-tenth of one percent of the amount of lettuce that Georgians consume. Closing that gap would generate an additional $83.6 million in lettuce sales.

Similarly, there are major gaps for other produce, including a $228 million gap for apples, a $62 million gap for bell peppers, a $46 million gap for a broccoli, a $12.8 million gap for carrots, a $124 million gap for pecans, a $235 million gap for tomatoes, and a $93 million gap for watermelon.

“Looking at the quantity of foods directly marketed in Georgia, there is a tremendous opportunity there,” says author study Kent Wolfe, agricultural economist with the Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. “Georgia’s food product sales directly to consumers account for a small fraction of their total sales. Farmers get to keep a larger percentage of their food dollar when they sell directly to stores, restaurants or other consumers.”

According to the 2007 Agricultural Census, Georgia’s direct sales accounted for .18 percent of their total sales. Rhode Island sold 9.5 percent of its agricultural products directly to consumers and Massachusetts sold 8.5 percent through direct sales.

To access the entire study, which was funded by the Center of Innovation for Agribusiness along with the other partners, click here.
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New farm bill must chart a new course, not go with the flow

World population is swelling like a slow-moving tidal wave. In the past decade, the world’s population increased by almost 1 billion. Within the next four decades, experts expect the wave to grow by 50 percent, increasing to 9.4 billion people.

At the same time, food prices have risen, investment in food production has fallen and available land for growing food has dwindled. The wave of population growth and the ebb in available food has eaten away at food security, stirring concern for how we will meet future demand.

Last year, 1 billion people across the globe went hungry. The United Nations projects an additional 100 million will go hungry this year. Population growth is on track to outpace food production, if we don’t stem the tide.

And, we can. We have.

Between 1970 and 1990, the number of our neighbors going hungry decreased in large part due to U.S.-driven innovations in food production, particularly those put in place in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Visionary policy needed

We can turn the storm if we ramp up food production now. The southeastern U.S. is the ideal place to chart a brighter, secure future. But we must have visionary policy in the 2012 Farm Bill.

The five-year federal farm policy laid out in a farm bill influences areas of agriculture including farm payments, supplemental nutrition assistance programs (food stamps), international trade, conservation programs, rural community development, food safety and agricultural research.

Improving federal investment is more important to the survival of the nation’s agricultural research and education system as state support is quickly evaporating. As we explore new ways to increase food production, ensure safety and improve storage and delivery, investment in the proven U.S. system of agricultural innovation is as important as your next meal.

Many areas of the world simply will be unable to respond to this challenge.

Asia has poor soils and limited rainfall and will be hard-pressed to increase food production. Africa remains hopeful, but until political instability is resolved, the continent will never be able to feed itself.

South and Central America, while blessed with good soils and rainfall, will not likely cut down rainforests for enhanced production. And Europe, also with good soil and rainfall, will likely produce less food due to a variety of social policies that are causing the continent to stagnate.

This leaves North America as the world’s hope for expanded food production. But even here, production patterns are changing. Available water in the West is declining. A decade from now there will be less food produced west of the Rockies than is produced there today. In the northern U.S., temperature and sunlight limit the amount of new food that will be produced.

Southeast in perfect position

U.S. food production must increase, and the Southeast can lead the way. It’s an obligation and opportunity. In 2009, the U.S. imported $72 billion of agricultural products while we exported $98 billion of the same. We can widen the surplus even more.

But past federal policies haven’t always focused on agriculture in the Southeast. This farm bill should.
Congress is now holding listening sessions for the new farm bill that will see us through the next five years. Federal farm policy can either promote production in the Southeast, meeting the need, or limit production, putting more of the world’s poor in peril. We must explore every avenue for increasing production to keep more people fed.

The only way the Southeast can increase food production to the region’s full potential is through science and technology. They aren’t making any more land. We must efficiently use what we have. U.S. agriculture is largely dependent on federal funding for research, development and training that leads to higher production. Yet, many agriculture funding streams are shrinking or drying up.

More research needed

More research is needed to find ways to reduce production costs and increase farm profitability. While some research is generated from private companies, the private sector has no incentive to reduce inputs, which reduces their profits. No private business will invest in technologies that have limited economic return, but are vital to increasing food production.

Reduced pesticide and fertilizer use, integrated pest management, water-use efficiency and natural resource conservation are important for the public good. We need these research and outreach programs. Only local, state and federal governments will support them.

The land-grant university system was established to fill this void. Our federal, state and local partnership is the envy of the world. Many studies credit much of the success in American agriculture to the land-grant system.

Our country has come a long way since the Great Depression, when nearly four out of every 10 Americans worked in food production. Today, less than 2 percent of the country’s population works on the farm.

In the U.S. today, we spend much less on food than when 40 percent of Americans worked on farms. Many of the improvements that help farmers produce abundant, affordable food for exponentially more people came through technology developed at land-grant institutions.

The land-grant system is ready to meet the challenges ahead. But the system requires commitment and funding to continue research into new technologies and to get them into the marketplace to improve the livelihoods of farmers around the world and to produce enough food to alleviate hunger.

U.S. agriculture has a bright future. Strategic security needs for the U.S., pressing economic need for a positive trade balance and the humanitarian need to feed the world are coming together in a way that makes agriculture more important today than ever. Policies set forth in the next farm bill will dictate the direction we take.

By J Scott Angle
University of Georgia

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UGA to host statewide agricultural forecast

Pending changes in food safety policy will make 2010 complex for agriculture. Anyone interested in the latest information about Georgia’s current agricultural and agribusiness price and profit prospects, pending U.S. farm and energy policies or food safety updates and policy changes should attend one of the five informative meetings planned across the state January 25-29.
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will host its fourth annual Ag Forecast Breakfast Series 7:30 a.m. -10 a.m. Jan. 25 in Rome, Jan. 26 in Gainesville, Jan. 27 in Statesboro, Jan. 28 in Tifton and Jan. 29 in Macon. Participants will hear from farm and food safety experts and be able to ask them questions.

Registration is $40 per person and includes breakfast and a copy of the 2010 Ag Forecast publication. Reserve a table for eight for $300. Registration is required and closes Jan. 22. For more information and to register, visit the Web site www.GeorgiaAgForecast.com.

The series is sponsored by Georgia Farm Bureau.

University of Georgia

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Manure Info, Anyone?

Animal Manure Management Finds Internet Home

The University of Georgia and its partner universities and organizations are using new media to help get the word out about solutions to a long-time issue – animal manure. They’ve combined resources and given animal manure management a home on the Internet.

The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that, nationwide, 257,000 livestock and poultry operations on 15 million acres of cropland need plans to manage their 780 million tons of animal manure.

To help deal with the manure challenge, UGA professor Mark Risse and his colleagues from universities in Washington and Nebraska created the online Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center, now housed on eXtension’s Web site (www.extension.org).

eXtension is a nationwide clearinghouse of research-based information on topics ranging from animal manure to financial crisis to science, engineering and technology for youth. Land-grant universities across the nation, including UGA, contribute scientific information to the site.

“As we get fewer and fewer resources, we’ve got to be able to work together like this,” said Mark Risse, a UGA Cooperative Extension engineer and animal waste specialist.

The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center is designed for one-stop shopping on issues surrounding animal manure. Risse’s goal is to help people indirectly involved in animal manure, whether they deal with policy issues, help animal producers or deliver technical services – and whether they live in Alaska or Florida.

Currently, the site averages 10,000 to 20,000 hits a month, and 2,000 people subscribe to the monthly newsletter.

Of the 200 to 400 people who listen to their monthly webcasts, each in turn helps about 200 producers each year. That brings the Web site’s impact, through those listeners, to between 40,000 and 80,000 people annually.

The number of hits the site gets doesn’t equal success for Risse.

“I’m less concerned with numbers,” he said. “Success is that people are finding what they want on our site.”

So far, people are finding what they need, and they’re asking for more.

The Web site’s reach stretches internationally, too. That was something Risse hadn’t considered, but it isn’t what amazes him most.

“Our biggest surprise is the Environmental Protection Agency and policymakers make up 25 percent to 30 percent of the audience for our webcasts,” Risse said. “Our stakeholders find that very good, because they know and trust the information on our site.”

The EPA and others aren’t just listening in. They’re using the center to distribute information. The EPA approached the center about doing a webcast in December. That session had their “highest attendance ever,” Risse said. As the EPA discussed its new regulations for confined animal feeding options, 400 people listened.

Risse and his colleagues use both webcasts and research briefs to address issues and deliver answers to problems livestock producers may have. They pull from their own research or from expertise from the nation’s top animal specialists. They also have databases of “Frequently Asked Questions” and an “Ask the Expert” platform on the Web site.

The site prides itself on “connecting experts with those [who] need the information. Animal producers are getting information from the person in the country who knows the most about it,” Risse said.

For more information on the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center’s Web site, visit www.extension.org and click on the Livestock and Poultry Learning Center link.

By Stephanie Schupska
University of Georgia

Stephanie Schupska is a news editor with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

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