Agriculture is the number one business in South Georgia, and Wayne Johnson, who is working hard to replace Sanford Bishop in Congress, says farmers in Middle and Southwest Georgia are in “serious, serious peril.”
“The business of agriculture across South Georgia is, at its core, in serious jeopardy,” said Johnson, who is a farmer. “It does not matter if it is a small farm or large farm, it is highly likely that no less than 25% and as high as 40% of our farmers in South Georgia will no longer be in business in two years.
“All of this is happening right under the nose of Rep. Sanford Bishop, who claims to be the farmer’s best friend. Sanford sits on two critical committees in Congress, but he has not used those positions to do all he can to help Southwest Georgia. He sits on both the House Agriculture Committee and the House Appropriations sub-committee on Agriculture, but it seems over the past two decades he seems willing to go along more with Midwest farmers than he has for South Georgia farmers.
“This opinion is something I have heard from every farmer I have talked with, and I have talked with many farmers. At the recent Agricultural Summit held in Perry, I heard Sanford say that the Farm Bill would once again not get passed this year because of the need to appease Midwest farmers. It is truly astounding that Sanford Bishop will simply accept this.”
Johnson is working hard to defeat Bishop in the November General Election from Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Columbus, Albany, Macon and 30 counties in Middle and Southwest Georgia.
As Johnson entered the 2024 congressional race, he had a broad overview of the troubles facing the business of agriculture. He approached getting into the details the same way he has approached difficult issues through his 40 years as a successful businessman; Johnson dug in.
“Farmers told me that to become an effective congressman who can address their issues, I had to dig deeper into the business of agriculture,” Johnson said. “I had to understand about the farming business in South Georgia to Alabama to the Florida panhandle and east to South Carolina. I had to get firsthand information.”
Johnson works hard to understand farm issues
Johnson traveled across Middle and Southwest Georgia meeting with small farmers, black farmers, ranchers, mid-sized farmers and large-scale farmers who are investing $10 million a year in their crops. He visited cattle farms, dairy farms, chicken houses and pork growers.
Johnson met with the businesses and people who support farmers, including cotton gin operators, peanut shellers, the Georgia Farm Bureau the president of the Georgia Association Of Groundwater Professionals (well drillers), Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, lenders who finance agriculture. He attended the daylong Agriculture Summit in Perry, Ga. Johnson met with the Dean of Agriculture and other professors at the University of Georgia.
“I had farmers spend some of their precious hours showing me their books and discussing the economics they are struggling with,” said Johnson. “There is a long-standing joke that farmers are always poor mouthing and talking about how bad it is but after researching the issue, I can say it is not a joke. The business of agriculture in South Georgia is headed into a bad situation.”
A key solution: Pass a strong, fair Farm Bill
Johnson said the failure of Congress and Sanford Bishop to pass the Farm Bill has the most impact on farmers. The Farm Bill is supposed to be updated every five years. It was last approved in December of 2018, but the Agriculture Committee, Bishop’s committee, failed to update the Farm Bill in 2023. Instead, President Biden signed an extension to the Farm Bill in November of 2023 which provided little or no relief.
“Bishop failed every farmer in Middle and Southwest Georgia by not updating the Farm Bill,” said Johnson. “It is the first thing mentioned by every farmer I talked with, and they are angry at Sanford Bishop.”
Johnson said the Farm Bill is the definitive piece of Federal legislation that governs all aspects of Federal farm policy. He said the entire agriculture economy in the United States is engineered to react to the policies set in the Farm Bill and that the Farm Bill is the gateway to getting funds from the Federal government. The Farm Bill establishes the operational mechanics to support farmers, such as access to crop loss insurance and crop price protection.
“The bottom line is that the Farm Bill determines whether a farmer is going to be successful or not,” said Johnson.
Johnson pointed to the fact that farmers are suffering because of the connection of the Farm Bill and foreign trade policies.
“Times have gotten much tougher on peanut and pecan farmers,” said Johnson. “There was a time not long ago when we specialized and led the world in growing pecans and peanuts, and farmers made money because they had a robust export market. However, Federal farm trade policy allowed our crop production expertise to be copied in places like Mexico, South America and China.
”What was once our world ownership when it came to peanuts and pecans is not anymore. These countries took our South Georgia formula for these crops and then undercut our farmers because of their access to cheap labor.”
Hard-working Johnson Versus passive Bishop
Johnson said he will begin work on day one in Washington to bring relief to South Georgia farmers and then to be aggressive going forward.
“Unlike Sanford, I truly give a damn about farmers because agriculture is the No. 1 driver for the South Georgia economy,” said Johnson. “For every one farmer, there are 30 people supporting that farmer each year. The Farm Bill does not need to be updated every five years. It needs to stay current on a year-to-year basis as circumstances change worldwide in the agriculture markets. It needs to be a living document.”
Johnson said he will work to see that farmers have access to long-term, low-interest loans so as to provide irrigation to their crops. Irrigated farmland is much, much more productive than land that is not irrigated.
“Farmers need water, and we have lots of water in South Georgia,” said Johnson. “The problem is that the EPA regulations prevent farmers from digging new wells that can support irrigation; and even prevent bringing up to standard or relocating old wells.
“One of the great ironies of farming in South Georgia is the reality that farmers here will break even if they do everything right. However, if a hurricane comes through, the disaster will be recognized by the Federal government and the farmers will get enough cash to survive for another year. A better farm policy would help farmers do better than just break even every year.”
Many farmers have told Johnson that a change in Washington would be good for the farming community, which includes more than 3,000 farms in the 2nd District.
“The farmers I am connecting with have come to appreciate that I will be a strong advocate in Washington. I will use my convening power to bring together local, state and federal agencies to develop plans for agricultural success in South Georgia, a Farm Bill for Southwest Georgia. I will make sure our problems are understood and will not allow them to be continually ignored, as they have under the congressional representation of Sanford Bishop.”
“In short, I will raise hell on behalf of our farming community in Southwest Georgia!”