Georgia farmers discuss issues at Ag Issues Summit

Will Bentley from the Georgia Agribusiness Council said pretty much every commodity is down this year.

HAWKINSVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Farmers and lawmakers gathered this week at the 2024 Agriculture Issues Summit to discuss issues facing Georgia’s agriculture industry.

The owner of Dawson Brothers Farm, Rodney Dawson, is a peanut, grains and cotton farmer.

He attended the 2024 Agriculture Issue Summit to stay up-to-date on issues he’s concerned about, including how cotton is doing in the marketplace.

“When you’re losing $100-something dollars an acre, and the [UGA] Extension is saying we need to make 1,250 pounds at 81 cents to break even, the price today, cotton is 69 cents, so that’s a negative number, so you multiple that by a 1,000 acres, that’s a $100-and-something acre loss,” Dawson said.

Will Bentley from the Georgia Agribusiness Council says pretty much every commodity is down this year.

“Input cost, whether that’s fertilizer or fuel or labor cost, are through the roof,” he said. “We’re seeing inflation impact our farmers when they go to purchase equipment, so it’s really pretty much a difficult year,” he said.

The summit also focused on insights from House and Senate committees on agriculture and consumer affairs.