Newspaper Page Text
io7n’ i«,M»KR°W©20I1 •••www.thismodemwor1d.com...twittor.com/tomtomorrow
FARMERS DESERVE BETTER
For all the emphasis that our political lead
ers put on bringing business giants like Kia
and Porsche to Georgia, it's easy to lose sight
of this fact: the state's largest industry is still
agriculture. The people who operate our farms,
dairies and orchards bring in more dollars for
the state's economy each year than any other
business segment. You would think our politi
cal leadership would appreciate the contribu
tions of our farmers and do everything they
can to help them. That has not been the case.
This year, as the state was still struggling
to dig out from the worst economic downturn
since the Great Depression, the Legislature
went out of its way to make it more difficult
for people in agriculture to stay in business.
They passed a restrictive immigration law that
was intended to address the issue of
Georgia's undocumented immigrants.
The new statute turned out to be
very effective at keeping immi
grants out of the state—and that
was the problem.
The migrant workers our
farms hire to harvest such crops
as blueberries, cucumbers and
Vidalia onions stayed away in
droves. Even the seasonal workers
who had the required permits to be
in this country steered clear of Georgia.
One survey last summer indicated a
shortage of at least 11,000 farm work
ers in Georgia. Bryan Tolar, of the Georgia
Agribusiness Council, said the unavailability
of labor left the state's farms with 30 percent
fewer workers on average.
The results were predictable. Fruits and
vegetables often were not harvested, and in
many cases farmers plowed their crops under.
The economic losses attributed to the labor
shortage were estimated to be somewhere in
the range of S300 million to $400 million—
at a time when the state desperately needed
every job and dollar it could get.
"Georgia is the poster child for what
can happen when mandatory E-Verify and
enforcement legislation is passed without an
adequate guest-worker program," said Charles
Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit
and Vegetable Growers Association.
"We don't need to stall the largest eco
nomic engine in this state, and we don't need
to scare off our workforce," said Zippy Duvall,
head of the Georgia Farm Bureau. "Skilled farm
labor is a necessity, just like land, water and
equipment. Without timely access to a stable
work force, large segments of agriculture will
grind to a halt."
Gov. Nathan Deal and other supporters of
the new immigration law have maintained
there was an easy solution to the labor issue:
hire parolees and released prison inmates
to replace the migrant workers. That did not
solve the problem either.
"These jobs are in the hot sun, high
temperatures—98 to 100 degrees,
eight to 10 hours a day, and require
lifting, bending and stooping,"
Hall noted. "It is not something
that the average citizen can do."
While many state-level politi
cians have pretended the labor
problem doesn't exist, two of
Georgia's congressmen are actually
facing up to reality.
Reps. Jack Kingston of Savannah
and Lynn Westmoreland of Sharpsburg
have introduced a bill to streamline and revise
the federal H2A guest worker program so that
farmers can more easily hire documented
labor. Westmoreland admitted that Georgia's
farms have been hit hard by their inability to
get enough workers. "It's just a problem, it's
a real problem," he said. "When you've got
something in the field, you've got to get it
picked. We need to be sure we have workers
for what is still the state's largest industry."
It's difficult to say if Westmoreland and
Kingston will be able to get a vote on their
bill—it could be that there's a better solution
out there. At least they're willing to admit
there's a problem. That's a start.
Tom Crawford lcrawford@gareporl.com
THIS MO»htM WORL»
AN ADMITTEDLY
INCOMPLETE
AND UTTERLY
SUBJECTIVE
YEAR IN
REVIEW
PART THE FIRST
FEBRUARY*. SOUTH DAKOTA
LAWMAKERS CONSIDER BILL
JUSTIFYING HOMICIDE IN
DEFENSE. OF A FETUS.
WE CALL IT THE -OPEN
SEASON ON ABORTION
DOCS** ACT
(BILL IS LATER WITHDRAWN
MAT I! BIN LADEN KILLED.
OBAMA DECLARES >*WE
CAN DO WHATEVER WE
SET OUR MIND TO.-'
AS LONG AS WHAT WE SET
OUR MIND TO IS KILLING
SOMEBODY.
i=zz;"^^r
VG THE \
HOMY, , ( -
So WJCH.f y*=
FIXING
Economy,
NOT
MONTH OF JANUARY*. SEN
SITIVE, CARING REPUBLICANS
TRY ‘TO REDEFINE RAPE.
IT DOESN'T COUNT UNLESS!
IT WAS FORCIBLE!
JAN. 8*. REP. GIFFORDS
SHOT, SIX OTHERS killed;
USUAL GUN NUT CRAP
COMMENCES.
OTHERWISE
YOU WERE |
ASKING
For it.
zv
by TOM TOMORROW
JAN. 10 *. SOON-TO-BE-
FoRGOTTEN CRAZY PERSON
GLENN BECK URGES SOON-
TO-BE-FORGOTTEN SELF
PROMOTER SARAH PALIN
TO HIRE MORE SECURITY
BECAUSE—
ALSO*. HEAVY SNOWSTORMS
GENERATE PREDICTABLE
RESPONSE FROM RIGHT
WING IGNORAMUSES.
AND*. AS EGYPTIANS OVER
THROW MUBARAK, AMERI
CANS CHEER For democracy.'
ITS SO INSPIRING WHEN
ONE OF OUR CLIENT
DICTATORS IS TOPPLED.'
APRIL*. G.O.P FIGHTS TO
ELIMINATE GOVT FUNDING
For family planning.
ALSO*. DONALD TRUMP
5TAKE5 HIS SHORT-LIVED
PRESIDENTIAL HOPES ON
OBAMA'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
MAY 26*. SENATORS WYDEN
& UDALL SEEM TO BE
TRYING TO WARN US
ABOUT SOMETHING.
MAY 26*. OBAMA NONE
THELESS SIGNS FOUR YEAR
EXTENSION Of SAID> ACT.
OH WELL.' WE WEREN'T
USING THOSE CIVIL LIBER
TIES ANYWAY!
“--AN ATTEMPT
ON YOU COULD
BRING THE RE
PUBLIC DOWN'"
FEB. 7*. VERY SERIOUS
DEFICIT COMMISSION
CO-CHAIR ALAN
5IMP50N CALLS
SOCIAL
SECURITY--
“—A MILK
COW WITH
300 MILLION*
TEATS!"
APR. 2*. COMPANY THAT
OPERATED DEEPWATER
HORIZON AWARDS EXECS
SAFETY BONUSES. /
IF YOU IGNORE THAT ONE
LITTLE ACCIDENT-
JUNE 16*. ANDREW
BREITBART AQUIRES PICS
OF ANTHONY WEINER'S
PENIS,* WORLD'S STUPIDEST
SCANDAL ENSUES.
I CAN NEITHER CONFIRM
NOR DENY THE IDENTITY
OF THAT PENIS.
17
urwm
REPAIRS • APPRAISALS • CUSTOM DESIGN
Original Design by Aurum designer Louise Nomell
«$§■*
m
'■M l
JEWELRY • ART DOWNTOWN ATHENS * 706-546-8826
evte t&evi way!
(y06)850-1580
1307" Prince Avenue
from the Jricndlieit: and
cAjoit Jcdcnted ,%)ck itari
in C/ftheni
Massage • Facial • Nails * Waxing
Exfoliations ‘Wraps • Special
Jfolidaii $pa ijilt Garth
C/fuiilalilc!
J295 E. DPI GIIEHTY ST. • 706.425.9700 • foimdryparkinn.coni^
flagpole
Gtotm BaaaiDGxar sg
8® Usamar^ s
See you in 2012!
DECEMBER 21, 2011-FLAGPOLE.COM 5
