Southwest Georgia farmer speaks to U.S. Senate ag committee | VIDEO

WASHINGTON — A Southwest Georgia farmer gave other Georgia growers a voice Tuesday at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Mobile users can view the video of Ronnie Lee’s Senate testimony here.

Freshman U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., introduced Ronnie Lee of Bronwood to the committee. Lee is a producer of cotton, peanuts, wheat, corn, soybeans, pecans and cattle with farming operations in Lee, Terrell and Sumter counties. Lee also has a cotton ginning operation and warehouse in Bronwood and Albany.

“As I traveled across the great state of Georgia, I met with Mr. Lee and other family farmers who lead our agriculture communities,” Perdue said. “Washington should draw on their wealth of knowledge and their experiences in the field. Their voice and concerns are critical as we discuss the importance of the farm bill and other agricultural issues that impact our farmers directly.”

Lee spoke to the committee about the important impact of farm policy.

“Our industries believe that sound farm policy is essential to the economic viability of the cotton and peanut industries,” Lee said. “It is critical that U.S. farm policy is designed and implemented to provide a sound foundation for agriculture production.”

Lee talked to the senators about the importance of insurance programs in the farm that are directed at major Georgia crops including peanuts and cotton.

“While goal of farm policy does not completely remove the risk that is associated with farming,” Lee said, “policy should strive to provide opportunities for effective risk management.”

Lee noted that the marketing loan program for cotton is “crucial tool” for multiple segments of the cotton industry to effectively market the crop throughout the year and to provide cash flow for producers with the current low cotton prices.

Lee said that the “unified payment limit” for producers in multiple crop markets has been a challenging aspect of the 2014 farm bill. He urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address the issue by using its authority to follow “the intent” of the marketing loan program.