Georgia’s agricultural industry is preparing to commission a study of the financial losses it suffered this year as a result of severe labor shortages some fruit and vegetable growers have tied to the state’s new immigration enforcement law.
The study – to be due Oct. 1 – would help quantify the farmers’ losses, guide state lawmakers considering future immigration-related legislation and bolster efforts to create an improved national guest worker program, said Charles Hall(cq), executive director, of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association.
Hall said his association is among several state agricultural groups that are seeking the report. The study will be conducted by John McKissick(cq), former director of the Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development at the University of Georgia. Hall and McKissick said they are still working out the details but both indicated the study will help quantify the direct and indirect economic impacts of the labor shortages for farmers and Georgia communities.
Many farmers have complained Georgia’s tough new anti-illegal immigration law has been scaring away the migrant Hispanic workers they depend on to pick their fruits and vegetables. JEREMY REDMOND
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Researchers at Emory University’s vaccine center have created a new way of predicting in three days -- with up to 90 percent accuracy -- whether a person who receives a flu vaccination will develop enough protective antibodies against the virus.
The findings could help scientists more rapidly develop vaccines against emerging infections and better monitor immune responses in the elderly, babies and people with weakened immune systems. MISTY WILLIAMS
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