Peanut Plant Hot Topic At Ag Event

Georgia’s top elected officials will mingle with leaders of the state’s agriculture industry this morning in Atlanta. The occasion is the annual breakfast of the Georgia Agribusiness Council. But this year, a hot topic of discussion is expected to be the salmonella outbreak linked to a southwest Georgia peanut processing plant. Governor Sonny Perdue is scheduled to speak at the event and make his first public comments on the matter. Other officials on-hand this morning include Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.

Other news concerning the peanut plant--The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will meet with federal officials involved with the criminal investigation into the plant and the owner—Peanut Corporation of America. Governor Perdue has called-on the GBI to review whether any state laws were broken.

Carrolton food initiative wants to feed more

An innovative food initiative in west Georgia looks to expand after its successful trial run over the summer.

Several groups hope to expand the community garden project to provide food for charitable organizations.

Organizer Mike Gilroy is project director for a sustainable-agriculture educational program called The Growers School.

Gilroy and other members of the West Georgia Community Food Initiative worked to create the Buffalo Creek Community Food Project.

By the time all of the summer crops had been harvested, the garden yielded more than 1,000 pounds of fresh produce for the Carroll County Emergency Shelter.

Shelter director Martha Boyce says the fresh produce the shelter received provided great relief over the summer to those in need.

Besides Gilroy, members of the West Georgia Community Food Initiative include representatives from groups such as the Carroll County Cooperative Extension Office, the Carroll County Master Gardeners, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office and others.

(AP)

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UGA gets 4.1 million dollars to lead bee study

The University of Georgia will get $4.1 million to lead a nationwide study on the disappearing honeybee. The grant will go toward study of causes of colony collapse disorder and other diseases affecting bee populations. Bees contribute around 15-billion dollars a year to U.S. agriculture through their pollination of plants. UGA heads the study, which will involve 17 colleges and universities.

U.S. Agriculture department won't appeal sludge case in Augusta

A significant court case questioning the use of sludge as fertilizer on farms will stand, without protest from federal officials.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not appeal a ruling that it compensate a farmer after he used toxic sludge on his farm near Augusta.

Andy McElmurray had sued after finding the sludge contained arsenic, lead and other heavy metals.

The sludge, from the Augusta wastewater treatment plant, had killed his cattle herd and poisoned his farmland.

The ruling had questioned a program endorsed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 30 years: Convert sewage sludge into fertilizer.

Farmers use it for free and federal officials say it's a cheap way to clean up water pollution.

And research by the University of Georgia had indicated that the sludge was free of health risks.

But in a separate lawsuit, McElmurray and David Lewis, a former researcher for the EPA, says UGA researchers used false data to make that claim in a study funded with grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"The evidence shows that the EPA basically colluded and colludes with educational institutions to create bad science," says Edwin Hallman, McElmurray and Lewis's attorney.

Hallman alleges that federal grant money was the motive.

An attorney representing UGA declined to comment on that case.

As for the case against the U.S. Agriculture Department, the next step is for the court to determine how much compensation McElmurray will get, says Hallman. The agriculture department had until April 25 to appeal the case.

The city of Augusta last year settled a lawsuit over McElmurray's cows for $1.5 million last year.

Beef Recall Includes Georgia

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a Chicago based company JSM Meat Holdings is recalling an "undetermined amount" of ground beef. Federal officials say no illness has been reported related to the recall. They are concerned the beef was possibly contaminated with E. Coli 0157h7. Consumers are cautioned to return any ground beef packaged under the Morreale Meat brand, or with the inspection number "EST.6872" on the label.

Farmers watching peach crop

Georgia peach farmers are keeping an eye on the weather as forecasters predict freezing temperatures.
Last spring a late freeze wiped out most of Georgia's peach crop. Temperatures dropped into the upper 20's over the Easter weekend, destroying more than 28-million dollars in peaches.
Wendy Barton is with Lane Packing Company in Peach County. She says tonight's forecast of temperatures in the low 30's should not cause problems. Temperatures need to stay below 28 degrees for at least four hours to cause major damage.
In fact, she expects this years harvest to be very successful.
"This year should be a great crop. We've gotten enough water. We've gotten enough cold hours. It looks like the peaches are going to be, it's just going to be one of the best years we've had in a couple of years."\
Georgia's peach industry is mostly concentrated in Middle Georgia. Growers there will begin harvesting peaches in mid May.

Georgia's Agruculture Economy Overview

Agriculture experts from the University of Georgia met with local farmers to discuss the industries outlook for the upcoming year. Crops across the board, such as corn, pecans, soybeans, and peanuts are selling at an all time high. But, the drought has wiped out Georgia’s livestock feed, and fuels costs have tripled. John McKissick, an agriculture economist from the University of Georgia said livestock farmers aren’t as lucky as crop farmers.

“Beef cattle producers are faced with rising costs from the energy side, yet their selling prices aren’t going up, in fact their's is going down some,” said McKissick.

According to the University of Georgia's Department of Agriculture, Georgian agribusiness brought in $2.5 billion dollars last year, even with the slump in landscaping and livestock profits.

It's "pray for rain" day

Governor Sonny Perdue is asking the federal government to declare many drought-stricken Georgia counties disaster areas. In the meantime, he wants people around the state to pray for rain.

The governor proclaimed Monday a statewide Day of Prayer for Agriculture. All but 15 of the state’s 159 counties are experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions.

Farmers are putting off planting many crops because the soil is too dry. Cattle and dairy producers are struggling to feed their herds. Many are being forced to sell their animals.

On Monday Governor Perdue met with farmers in Macon and asked everyone to get pray for rain. He told the crowd, “Folks I’m here to tell you that we don’t need the Governor’s help, we need God’s help.”

The governor is seeking Federal help as well. On Friday, Perdue asked the United States Department of Agriculture to begin the process of declaring eligible counties disaster areas.