South Georgia Insider

Welcome to the South Georgia Insider Podcast, hosted by Thressea H. Boyd, editor of South Georgia Business Magazine. Join us as we chat with business and civic leaders and community influencers about the exciting—and sometimes challenging things happening throughout South Georgia. Topics range from business and manufacturing to entrepreneurship and rural prosperity, economic development, agriculture, education, healthcare, tourism, and the arts.

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South Georgia Insider

Saving America's Family Farms

October 23, 2020 • Thressea H. Boyd, Host • Season 1 • Episode 2

Episode Notes

From the cotton sheets on your bed to the food you eat and the clothes you wear, the agriculture industry impacts everyone.

In Georgia, agriculture is the state’s No. 1 industry representing $73.3 billion a year. But not everything is “peaches and cream” in Georgia, where last year 41 family farms filed Chapter 12 bankruptcies, a number that is up from 26 the previous year.

As we talk with Russ Goodman, a fourth-generation farmer from Clinch County, we discover some of the issues facing American farmers, especially in South Georgia, which include:

Cost of federal mandated Tier 4 emission standards
The declining share of the retail dollar
Creating a “level playing field” with foreign competition (U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement)

Bringing awareness to the issues, Goodman has joined forces with farmers and ranchers across the country to promote the Demand American Grown movement. A grassroots effort that started in 2019, Demand American Grown, has a mission to educate and empower people to protect America’s food supply chain.

Goodman says, “If nothing is done in the next 20 years, and I don’t think I am overstating this, we could be dependent on other countries for our food supplies, at least in terms of fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Read more about issues facing South Georgia produce farmers in the article “A National Movement: Demand American Grown” featured in the Summer 2020 issue of South Georgia Business Magazine.

Join us next time as we continue to highlight why South Georgia is a great place to live, work, and play.

Subscribe to the South Georgia Business Magazine and South Georgia Insider (monthly e-newsletter), both available at no charge.

Thanks to our sponsor Smalltown Broadcasting and WDDQ, home of the Scott James Matheson Show, where you can listen to live from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., Monday through Friday on Talk 92.1 http://talk921.com/ or through the TuneIn app https://tunein.com/radio/Talk-921

South Georgia Insider is produced by Spencer Van Horn, Smalltown Broadcasting

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