December 8, 2016
www.gfb.org
Vol. 34 No. 37
GERALD LONG ELECTED GFB PRESIDENT, ORGANIZATION SEATS BOARD Georgia Farm Bureau voting delegates elected the organization’s 2017 board of directors Dec. 6 during the 79th Annual GFB Convention held on Jekyll Island. GFB voting delegates elected Gerald Long to a two-year term as president of the organization. He began serving as GFB president on Jan. 12, 2016, when former GFB President Zippy Duvall resigned after being elected president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. Long, of Bainbridge, is a diversified farmer who raises cattle and grows peanuts, vegetables, corn, cotton, hay, small grains and timber with his family on their farm near Bainbridge. He was first elected to the GFB Board of Directors in December 1999 as a GFB 9th District director representing 14 counties in Southwest Georgia. In 2006, GFB voting delegates in the 53 counties in GFB’s Southern Region elected Long as GFB South Georgia vice president, a position he held until Jan. 12. Additionally, GFB voting delegates statewide designated Long to serve as Gerald Long GFB 1st vice president each year from 2008 – 2015. A Farm Bureau member since 1970, Long currently serves on the Decatur County Farm Bureau Board of Directors; he is a past president, vice president and secretary/treasurer of the Decatur County Farm Bureau. Long and his wife, Janice, have three adult children: Justin and daughter-in-law, Kelli; Jared and daughter-in-law, Lori; and Jeanie and son-in-law, Diego Izurieta; and two grandchildren. The Longs are members of the First Baptist Church of Bainbridge where Long has served as a deacon and on numerous committees. In addition to his Farm Bureau leadership, Long is a member of the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association and serves on the board of the Decatur County Cattlemen’s Association. Prior to becoming GFB president, he represented Georgia Farm Bureau on the Georgia Beef Board and served as treasurer of the board. Long was a founding board member of both the Georgia Peanut Producers and the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association, and the Flint River Water Planning Policy Center. He also serves on the Decatur County Industrial Development Authority. He attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College where he majored in crop science and animal science. He then served six months of active duty in the Georgia Army National Guard and six years of reserve duty. GFB members in the organization’s South Georgia Region elected Daniel Johnson of Pierce -continued