Ag Forecast prepares farmers for coming year

Albany Herald (GA)

Feb. 02--TIFTON -- The annual Ag Forecast presented by the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences drew record attendance at the UGA Conference Center in Tifton on Friday, due no doubt in large part to the devastating effects of Hurricane Michael on farmers in southwest Georgia.

Kent Wolfe, the director for the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, said this year's Ag Forecast, held in Macon, Carrollton, Watkinsville, Lyons, Bainbridge and Tifton, had record attendance at all six events. Wolfe said the forecast held in Tifton generally has higher numbers than events at other locations.

Registration for the Bainbridge forecast, held on Thursday, and the Tifton forecast on Friday were free this year because Hurricane Michael had such a heavy impact on both areas.

"We reached out to Georgia Farm Bureau and AGCO and asked them if they'd be willing to sponsor this event because we know folks down here got hit really really hard," Wolfe said. "We thought if we could cover the cost of their admission, then maybe we could get more people here, and people wouldn't feel like they had to spend $35 they may not have to come. They were very generous."

The goal of the annual event is to provide information to farmers and other community stakeholders about market trends with major agricultural products in the state of Georgia. The seminar discussed the impact of the renegotiation of the Farm Bill, trade sanctions with China, and the impact of Hurricane Michael and how those issues are affecting the current market.

"I think it gives (attendees) a broad overview of what's going on," Wolfe said. "A lot of times people may not think about (big picture issues). We talked about the swine fever in Asia, and that can have a potentially huge impact on pork or the hog markets. So I think just providing them with some of that background information and letting them see how the global markets and domestic markets work together (helps)."

A presentation by Assistant Professor Adam Rabinowitz with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences showed trends in crops, while a presentation by Wolfe looked at trends in protein, or meat, for consumption.

Rabinowitz said slightly depressed prices for row crops like peanuts, corn and cotton were especially important in the southwest Georgia area. He explained that such trends are due to excess supply and stressed the importance of the export market in being able to move the excess.

"What we're looking for really is for these trade issues to be resolved and the tariffs to go away and ultimately for more free trade to allow itself to move these products throughout the world," Rabinowitz said.

Both Rabinowitz and Wolfe also discussed the importance of disaster assistance in the southwest Georgia area to help make up for some of the losses caused by the hurricane.

"Hopefully, when the federal government gets back in, they can get some disaster relief out to the farmers (and) they can go ahead and start making plans for the upcoming year," Wolfe said.

"We're looking at disaster assistance as being something that's really needed for our agricultural producers," Rabinowitz added. "Crop insurance is one aspect that a lot of producers have, but it doesn't really make those producers whole again from the losses that they sustained. So looking for Washington, D.C., the federal government, to come through with some disaster aid will certainly help our producers to cover their operating loans from last year and to be able to plan for this year and continue that production activity."

Wolfe also explained that, looking at current trends, consumption should be strong for the protein sector in the coming year. Both he and Rabinowitz said they saw the annual seminar series as beneficial to the community and to farmers.

"This event really helps the agricultural community in Georgia give an outlook for the year to come," Rabinowitz said. "This is a critical time for our producers in the agricultural community for planning, and as they're trying to decide what crops to produce and how much of that to produce and how to best market their crops, this gives them that information about those opportunities that exist and what decisions to make."

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