The COVID-19 pandemic has put farmers in line for a third — for some a fourth — tough year thanks to bad weather and the Chinese tariff war blockages.

Georgia’s $13.7 billion agricultural industry is likely to see losses that will ripple up and down the economic ladder, especially in rural communities.

Gary Black, the state agricultural commissioner along with the University of Georgia’s agricultural college and its network of farm cooperative extension offices are scrambling to create markets for Georgia produce from asparagus to zucchini. Also, some help could come from the federal Department of Agriculture under Secretary Sonny Perdue, which is starting a new national Farmers to Families Food Box program to buy and distribute up to $3 billion in meat and produce.

“It’s rare that you can see a storm coming,” Black said. But Florida’s sudden collapse of its winter vegetable market gave Georgia a good forecast.

His staff, UGA extension workers and farmers have been brainstorming ideas to open new markets for Georgia crops. Black said his workers met with representatives from 60 hospitals last week to create a cooperative to buy Georgia vegetables. The university’s cooperative extension offices are helping sell boxes of vegetables direct to consumers, and other teams are working on a project to create pop-up farmer’s markets in Atlanta and other locations.

As the picking season in Georgia has just begun and the food service businesses that were closed are just beginning to reopen, it’s difficult to forecast how the 2020 farm season in Georgia will pan out. Farmers will soon have to begin making decisions about what to plant and how much to plant in summer crops, which will be harvested in the fall.

AJC