December 10 , 2014
www.gfb.org
Vol. 32 No. 49
DEAL, PERDUE SPEECHES HIGHLIGHT GFB 77TH ANNUAL CONVENTION More than 1,500 Georgia farmers and agribusiness leaders from across the state met on Jekyll Island Dec. 7-9 for Georgia Farm Bureau’s 77th Annual Convention, highlighted by speeches from Gov. Nathan Deal and U.S. Senator-elect David Perdue during the Dec. 8 general session. In a 25-minute address, Deal thanked GFB for its support in his re-election campaign and touched on a variety of topics. He noted that the state’s population and economy are growing, that the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project will pay dividends for Georgia farmers, that adjustments to the Flint River Drought Protection Act should help with the water lawsuit in the Supreme Court filed by Florida. He also discussed EPA regulations, transportation and the Georgia Agricultural Tax Exemption (GATE). “The GATE program is always subject to legislative oversight,” Deal said. “As you use your GATE cards responsibly, I hope you will encourage your neighbors to do so as well. We do not need to revisit this issue under the cloud of inappropriate use.” In what he called his first public opportunity to speak since winning the election to succeed Saxby Chambliss in the U.S. Senate, Perdue discussed labor, government regulations, energy and term limits in Washington. He said he is lobbying for a spot on the Senate Ag Committee. Agriculture, he said, “is the backbone of our state. It’s the backbone of our country. What you do is an honorable profession. Our future as a country to some degree resides in whether or not we have a healthy agricultural community. In Georgia, you’re the largest business we have, and that’s what you do. You run a business every day.” American Farm Bureau Young Farmer & Rancher Chairman Jake Carter also spoke on Dec. 8. The three-day convention included a trade show and commodity conference where farmers heard updates on policy and production issues affecting Georgia’s major agricultural commodities. The convention featured GFB’s annual award program and the final round of the 2014 GFB Young Farmer Discussion Meet. Attendees were treated to a showing of the documentary film “Farmland” and a demonstration landing of the AirEvac Lifeteam, for which GFB members can receive discounted memberships to use the service in life-threatening emergencies. During the Dec. 9 business session, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black spoke and voting delegates approved the organization’s policy and elected its leaders for 2015. GFB President Zippy Duvall highlighted the organization’s key initiatives in 2014, including membership growth, Farm Bureau’s Ditch the Rule campaign against the water rule proposed by the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and many others. “It has been a busy year and we can all be proud of our success,” Duvall said, “but we can’t live on past success. Just like on our farms, the end of one year is the beginning of the next. We have many challenges ahead.”